This
is part five of a nine part series will illuminating the FAA’s
complacency and the role the FAA’s concession played in the
violence against Water Protectors. A listing of the other eight
articles is at the bottom of this article.
Arnold Johnson Jr.
of Mina, South Dakota owns a yellow Bell Ranger 206B helicopter
employed to fly over the camps. Ultimately, Johnson is responsible
for the activities of the aircraft because can refuse assignments at
anytime. In spite of FAA regulations to the contrary, Johnson decided
the public had no right to know he was the owner of the aircraft
buzzing the camps.
In order to obscure
his ownership, Johnson changed the tail number on his aircraft.
A yellow Bell Ranger
206B was easily photographed while flying low over the camps on
September 8 - 9, 2016 flying with the tail number N10767.
Checking the FAA
tail number registry showed N10767 is the number of a Piper fixed
wing, single engine airplane; not a helicopter. The Piper airplane
was registered to Kansa Development Corporation Inc, in Junction
City, Kansas.
Flying under a false
tail number is a criminal offense under 49 U.S. Code § 46306(b)3. It
reads:
“…a person
shall be fined under title 18, imprisoned for not more than 3 years,
or both, if the person - (3) knowingly and willfully displays or
causes to be displayed on an aircraft a mark that is false or
misleading about the nationality or registration of the aircraft”
A complaint was
filed with the FAA. The FAA determined the further action was
warranted and confirmed that compliance action had been taken.
Johnson justified
his choice to falsify his tail number to investigators when he said,
“this
was due to threats made against registered owners of aircraft being
flown supporting law enforcement during the oil pipeline protests
near Bismarck, North Dakota.”
Johnson’s
helicopter’s tail number is N16757 and it has been seen over the
camps at all hours of the day and night for the months since the
“compliance action.”
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