Summary

On September 8, 2009, Douglas Bradley, former pilot and ex–president of the New York Finger Lakes Soaring Club, pled guilty in U.S. District Court, Rochester, New York, to a felony charge related to his use and possession of a forged FAA Standard Airworthiness Certificate (SAC) for a glider aircraft.

In the summer of 2008, Mr. Bradley installed a fraudulent SAC on a newly–acquired glider aircraft that had not been inspected and certified as airworthy by the FAA.

The investigation, which was initiated as the result of an FAA referral, revealed that the glider was flown by multiple club members, including Mr. Bradley, at least forty–one times during the 2008 Labor Day weekend. Mr. Bradley was arrested on April 28, 2009.

The investigation was conducted by DOT/OIG with assistance from FAA.