JF LAB Headquarters Alaska, United States Ceased operations 2008 | LAB LAB Founded 1956 | |
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L a b flying service summer 2008
L.A.B. Flying Service was an American airline based in Haines, Alaska, U.S. It operated scheduled, charter and sightseeing flights in Southeast Alaska. Its main base was Haines Airport, with a hub at Juneau International Airport.
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History
The airline was established and started operations in 1956. It had 55 employees as of March 2007. L.A.B. Flying Service, named for its founder (and President), Layton A. Bennett, was Alaska's oldest continuously-operating small passenger airline. Layton A. Bennett received the Federal Aviation Administration's Wright Brothers Master Pilot Award for his work in operating the airline for over 50 years.
2008 grounding
In July 2008, Alaska Public Media reported that the FAA had grounded LAB's entire fleet, because, in their words, "LAB Flying Service lacks the care, judgment and responsibility required to hold an air carrier certificate." One of the seven counts listed in the grounding order stated that LAB mechanics took an engine off of an airplane that had been destroyed in a fire with temperatures in excess of 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit and re-mounted it on another airplane, intending to put it back into service. LAB's website and email system turned off August 26, 2008.