After decades of studying major aircraft disasters, I've discovered a recurring theme; someone in the chain of command had warning that their actions, or lack thereof, would end in catastrophic circumstances but they turned a deaf ear to the warnings until a disaster occurred. Seeing the fuel leaking on the hangar floor, reminded me of what happened to a Chalk's Airways Seaplane. It exploded over the ocean after leaving Ft. Lauderdale. The investigators discovered that maintenance at the airline was substandard, they did patchwork repairs and shockingly, the plane that exploded, had, had documented complaints about a fuel leak but nothing was done. It also didn't help, that they flew 60 year old seaplanes. I'm 58 and I've been alive long enough to know, that most disasters were preventable, if the people in charge cared more about safety instead of profits. Greed kills and I would have quit. Resigning over safety concerns, is a good reason to terminate an employment contract. If my boss showed a blatant disregard for my safety, I'd say that's a game-changer.

I worked for Key Lime Air way back in the day. It’s just a matter of time until they have ANOTHER fatal accident. I can unequivocally say working there was nothing short of the worst job of my life. One of the only jobs I ever quit without having another job. I say this now as a 15,000 hour A320 captain for a major U.S. carrier. It saddens me that after all these years they still haven’t learned. But I’m not surprised.

Key Lime has had this reputation all along. My mom used to work for the FAA Denver FSDO, this company has always been troublesome and questionable in her mind. A lot of really stupid stuff, as well as maintenance and pressuring pilots to fly things they shouldn't, there's just a lot of pressure on them to cut corners, numerous incidents of pilots being irresponsible. One incident I recall the pilot was doing the engine run-up while taxiing and lost control - that's supposed to be done with the plane stopped, brakes set firm. Another incident the pilot accidentally taxiied onto a closed taxiway that was dug up, the plane getting stuck in the dirt. But then he tried to get the plane out under its own power, presumably in an effort to cover up his mistake, causing far more damage to the plane than if he'd just shut down and had it towed out.

"Impeccable safety record?" So far. But, the company's response of "No comment" says everything one needs to know. I wouldn't board a Denver Air if my life counted on it and I worked for a major US carrier for 35 years.

Now I know that news outlets regularly drum up news stories to make airlines/airplanes/airports seem more dangerous then they actually are, but this is one of the first times that I wholeheartedly agree. These stories in this video about instruments going out in low vis and at night where you can lose ground references is really scary. Essentially flying with a blindfold on.

Key Lime Air is a freight courier first and foremost. Denver Air Connection (DAC) is the passenger division under Key Lime Air. Most of the aircraft are old as hell. I’ve been inside a handful of the cargo metroliners and I’ve actually flown on both DAC passenger metroliners. They show their age. DAC is the only airline in the USA that still flies Metroliners on regular scheduled passenger routes; the metros themselves are some of the oldest scheduled passenger aircraft still in full scheduled operation outside of Alaska, with metroliners peaking in popularity during the era when Douglas DC-9s and Boeing 727s dominated the skies with some of Key Lime’s cargo metros rolling off the assembly line in the early 1970s. Key Lime Air needs to drastically up its treatment of its employees and it needs to start replacing it’s old cargo metros with newer second hand aircraft like the Beech 1900D (Like how Alpine Air began slowly replacing their older 1900C aircraft with newer 1900D models purchased from the now defunct Denver-based “Great Lakes Air” in 2019). DAC should remove its passenger metros entirely and replace them with either Cessna Caravans, Beech 1900s, Pilatus PC12s or Technam P212s. The issues mentioned in this video seem to boil down to general aircraft neglect and contempt / carelessness from corporate towards their employees as well as countless ignored safety concerns involving the decaying metroliners: both passenger and cargo. Granted, I still love seeing the metros; their distinct sound, their ugly yet appealing design, they’re a relic from a bygone era of aviation long before my time, but it’s time to turn the page. They’re now less of a novel workhorse and more of an aviation nightmare waiting to happen. Also, I must address the elephant in the room: the airline should be held responsible for ignoring their employees’ concerns and knowingly endangering their workforce and passengers: all in favor of keeping cheap old aircraft on the brink of falling apart in order to save money and maximize profits; I feel this is statement pretty obvious but I feel that I needed to reiterate.

The fact you have to have a contract to force a pilot to work for you says a lot.

It is all good until the aircraft makes unscheduled descent into ground terrain and only then will chit hit the fan.

Ahh classic regional/small airline tactics. Run a shady operation and blame the pilots for it.

If there is a crash involving this carrier - which, incidentally, I pray doesn’t happen - then I hope the whole management team goes to prison!

That company’s management has quite some nerve for suing them over quitting due to safety concerns. Unbelievable!

I used to fly Key Lime all the time to and from Denver, and I'll never fly them again! I'm also going to tell everyone I know to never fly them!

Where is the FAA?

The fact that the airline would sue the pilots because they quit over safety concerns is unreal. The pilots are whistleblowers, and I hope they'll be treated as such by the legal system.

I flew one of these last summer, as we were boarding I heard a member of the ground crew say "you couldn't pay me to get on that plane." During the flight we shot a gap between to storm cells that would've taken down planes much larger than us. If you're going from southern Nebraska to Denver just take the Amtrak.

Key Lime maintenance motto: "Beat to fit, paint to match" - but really, this stuff goes on all over the place in aviation.

What in the actual hell? What does management think is going to happen to the company when they kill a plane load of passengers because of blatant negligence?

Welcome to flying with a small aircraft airline, all they care about is keeping that plane flying no matter what, I have worked for these companies and always got a serious talking to from management each time I had to snag the plane. never stopped me though as it was the right thing to do.. it's funny how during onboarding/indoc training they say safety is NO#1 and safety this and that, then when on the line when you try to implement the things you learn about snagging and weather/ice ect its always "just go and try" or "how are we going to get the pax home if you snag it?" or the complete disregard for duty hours.... the government knows all this and does nothing too

As a former pilot I can say that this airline is not acting outside the norm for most airlines and THAT is very troubling how broken our system has become. Solely through greed of the company and it because of the government or the pilots who fly those suspect aircraft every day. Maintaining aircraft is very expensive but not as expensive as maintaining the salary and lifestyle of those who own and operate these airlines.

Hoping these pilots can get past this crap. Standing up especially in aviation usually has a retaliatory effect. Safety is #1 always and when employers overlook that, then the employees need to take a stand. Its a shame that most employees are afraid of losing their job vs dying because of safety issue. I guarantee that 90% of the employees feel the same way but are too chicken shit to do anything about it. My hats off to the select few here that the balls to stand up for whats right and had enough of the BS.

That Metroliner is still kick ass...

Why isnt the FAA investigating ,i worked for Great Lakes Airlines that had the FAA was in their business

They have already had a few incidents, including a midair collision. But that was not their fault according to the reports.

I suppose if the plane can't be pressurized and the pilots fly on emergency oxygen, the passengers will sleep through the flight and not engage in drunken misbehavior.

As a fellow pilot, I can tell you it may not seem like it to most, but it is a very small industry. I promise you the only reason they are a pilot at key lime air is because they have numerous check ride (pilot failures) thats it. They cant get hired by anyone else which is hard to do. BTW key lime air/denver air connection, same thing. One is cargo, one is passenger. Do everyone a favor please and rent a car, or take the drive. Dont rely on the faa to make changes because they wont until something happens. thats history and thats who they are. They arent the faa, they are local faa thats the way any government works so it takes YOU the people to make a difference or nothing will change.

Why would anyone fly that airline? Its like a mom and pop airline that stop caring

jeez, they cant even fix a garmin430 jeez. and this issue with key lime has been well known with the pilot community, glad that this is getting hear now by the gen pop.

I'm a student pilot who has been in love with aviation my whole life, and I'm close to getting my PPL, and I'm also an A&P in training who will be testing for my airframe license soon as well. And the first things that I was taught in A&P school are the FAA regulations that bind aircraft maintenance, and why aircraft maintenance is so important. That image they showed of the strut is very alarming to me. Because there is usually a good amount of chrome showing on the strut. But from what I can tell, it looked like the o rings failed on the strut, and all the hydraulic fluid and nitrogen inside it leaked out. And that amount of fuel on the ground is even more alarming to me. Because jet fuel, in that stage, is still flammable. Through my time learning about aviation, I watched air crash investigation quite a lot to give me an idea of what to look for in maintenance, learn how to improve as a pilot, and what to look for in an airline, and the biggest episode that stood out to me is the episode about Alaska Airlines flight 261. Where an MD-80 went down due to a jack screw that failed because of faulty maintenance. That beginnings of that crash are very similar to this. Key Lime Air clearly does not have any care for the maintenance of their aircraft. They're only worried about money, Alaska airlines was the same back in the late 90s when the economy dropped. And they extended maintenance service intervals to increase profits, but put thousands of lives in danger. And it caught up to them. I'm terrified that the same thing will happen to Key Lime Air if they keep this up, because these are the kind of airlines that need to be shut down. The ones that done care about safety, and only worry about making money.

This is mostly an FAA issue. All they have to do is send an inspector and shut them down.

Helios Flight 522 is the reason why we don't mess with cabin pressurization safety, and this among a laundry list of other problems apparently

Genuinely infuriating. In this country we’ve worked incredibly hard to raise the bar for safety to a level where the average airline passenger is considered more superstitious than reasonable for safety concerns. Now some small time management team thinks their top positions at their mediocre company are worth ruining that by risking people’s lives?

I found out the hard way years ago myself , that the FAA exists to advance and maintain commercial aviation in the US, not to investigate safety concerns. They will look at the safety record of this airline and if no crashes , will say “ no problem here, we’re done “ and these airlines know this. Hope those pilots land jobs soon.

I would never put my family on one of their planes.

I have lots of hours in the Metroliner, but 30 yrs. ago…🤔

Wait, Management is putting profits above safety? Of course, of course, Shareholders have to get their money first.

When the company starts avoiding the issues like this you know u have a problem

Sounds like Kay Lime is not living up to their end of the bargan of keeping the equipment operational to do the job as advertised. Broken equipment is not acceptable. I am retired pilot who flew the metro liner for a living at a different company who kept the aircraft superbly operational. It is a demanding aircraft and needs to be tip top.

the Merlin, Metro's are very fuel efficient, hopefully they can get the pressurization and avionics issues fixed, and the leaking tanks, and the struts, and get those bugs of the windshield, and that SAS system guage sticks

Anybody remember ValuJet?

Looks like I dodged a bullet by not working for this company when I was a low time pilot. The truth is that all operators are like this to some extent. Every aviation company I've ever worked for had issues that were swept under the rug, retaliation was given for doing maintenance write ups on the aircraft or even mentioning issues, or refusing to accept the aircraft in this condition that it was found in. You can report these issues to the FAA (FSDO), but nothing is ever done about it. From my experience, the FAA is just as much to blame as the aviation company(s) by not enforcing the complaints their receiving from pilots that come forward and by not conducting proper audits. I've never met a pilot that made it in the industry that didn't have to "try to survive" through their career working for people like Key Lime Air.

Keep whistle blowing to the FAA

Utilizing metros as passenger birds in this day and age is just plain idiotic and irresponsible.

Pilots should walk away if they are not safe. Period. You and you alone are the FIRST line of defense.

I hope Key Lime Air is finally going to get what they deserve

The FAA is no joke, they will likely have a field day with this firm soon

As an airframe & powerplant mechanic all I can say is wow. Smh.

So much more common than you think can name at least 3 or 4 companies that operate this way.

"Broken strut" Maybe leaking nytrogen or oil but it doesn't look like its broken

So the pilots should refuse to fly and put the plane out of service.

Yikes… reset of a circuit breaker is what likely brought down FLT592… I watched the breaker reset that started the fire.

I worked for great lakes airlines the FAA on several times would ride with them on a regular basis

"An Impeccable Satefy Record" normally means that they are actually Really That Good (which is normally administrative).... or Really Good at Hiding their Problems.

This is an American airline? That is unbelievable. Me watching Green Dot Aviation and Mentour Pilot videos, im surprised that his is going on in the US

Not dedicated to saftey. What about the Key Lime plane that hit houses off the end of 35?

2:17 a 430 and OLD kx175 is crazy in that large of planes

I’d expect this to be in Key West, not Colorado

Yeah-That is what happens when you use older planes, even though the Metroliner is only 50-ish years old and Buffalo Airways uses older. They should definitely do something.

This is nothing new with KLA, I don't think the pilots will have a leg to stand on if the paperwork is done correctly. As many items can be deferred. (Meaning fixed at a later time acording to a minimal equipment list). But saying that that place is a grinder and some of the problems they have are very concerning. I know a few coworkers that have left that place and couldn't be happier to get out of that drama.

No freight dogs detected

You don’t fly an EMB-145 single pilot. As you can plainly see in that video it’s a crew of two, also it was never certified single pilot

There should be some sort of immunity/protective standard for pilots given how easily you could figure out who reported a problem "anonymously". Too many aviation accidents in the past in which folks were intimidated/discouraged etc. from reporting safety issues. Whether maintenance or pilots... Thanks to all the pilots out there as well!

Where is the FAA ? Wake them up so they can start doing the job they are assigned for.

Rotts o ruck key lime air FAA will shut you down. I wouldn't fly them sounds like a death ride to me.

Key Lime is going to Key Lime.

I have heard first hand the shitty practices that this company has in place, very dangerous to passengers!

Management needs to be terminated and who is the company or what is the company that supposed to provide the maintenance?

Profit over Professionalism very sad and worry some.

Take a lesson from some of the major carriers like Alaska flight 261, and American flight 232!!!!

Seems like the key lime went sour

Resetting circuit breakers in mid-flight?

Leaking fuel and broken strut, that’s wild man.

Welcome to part 135 freight! Everyone wants to be a freight dog until they have to do freight dog stuff.

There will be a crash before the FAA does ANYTHING.... Im posting this now so I can say "I told you" next year. The airline won't do shit unless somebody makes them

Sad,real sad

Wtf?! This is terrible, especially not pressurizing the cabin…people need to stop flying this airline

Crazy

This is the whole USA aviation field. The FAA is 100 years behind.

I am shocked. This is appalling... Where is the FAA?.... Someone needs to wear silver bracelets.

Holy crapppppp😮

that gps looked beat to shit

Truck Drivers have the same problems with dealing with Safety issues. The government is working for the Big Companies that pay big taxes. Safety Last!

You couldn’t pay me enough to fly for them.

Jail the entire management team! Send a loud message to these airlines that this is NOT ACCEPTABLE! THIS IS RUSSIAN ROULETTE!!!

This is common. I know a flew pilots who signed contracts with 135 operators and will do anything to get fired lol.

FAA are you listening?

it sounds personal to me. ''f@ck my boss this company blows''

Key Lime first in slime.

Slow news day in co. Nice hit piece though.... i'd fly them any day. Signed, 121 major airline pilot

Wow 😳

The answer is simple...Don't fly an unsafe plane. I am a commercial driver and have refused to operate a truck/trailer that had safety defects that made it unsafe to operate on a public road. Can't understand why a pilot would take an aircraft up in an unsafe condition. If they fire you for refusing to fly an unsafe craft, guaranteed you will prevail in a lawsuit

Have we not learned anything over the past years of aviation accidents? Like c'mon now. Most of these I am hearing sounds like a few too similar incidents.

I blamed FAA

Sounds like a slipshod operation.

That company has a bad reputation on the airport

This is exactly how Silver Airways was and is.

Everyone trying to cut corners today. Everything is so expensive for everyone!

Safety First Safety Second Safety Third Do a job once Do it Right Why put pilots and passengers Lifes at Risk ?

Cow boy company good on the pilots and speaking out

i believe the pilots

Well these pilots are flying cargo on 40 year old Metros. There ya go.