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Date

Pilot Pleads Guilty To Making False Statements in Connection With a Plane Crash

On July 28, 2017, private pilot Brian Woodhams pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court, Buffalo, New York, to making false statements to FAA aviation safety inspectors and a DOT-OIG special agent regarding the crash of his airplane on October 31, 2015 at Perry-Warsaw Airport in upstate New York. At the time of the crash, Woodhams was a certificated student pilot prohibited by FAA rules from having passengers in his aircraft without a flight instructor present. However, he had a passenger during this particular flight, which he denied when interviewed by FAA and DOT-OIG officials. The passenger was injured in the crash.
 
This investigation is being conducted by DOT-OIG and FAA’s Flight Standards District Office. The prosecution is being handled by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Western District of New York.