DOT Fines Air Ambulance Service Provider $15,000
February 17, 2014
The DOT fined BestCare EMS, Ltd. $15,000 for overreaching its economic authority and for engaging in unfair and deceptive trade practices. BestCare is an indirect air carrier specializing in air ambulance services. BestCare does not operate flights, but instead arranges medical air transportation. BestCare also employs the emergency medical technicians and paramedics who accompany patients on flights that are operated by direct air carriers, pursuant to contracts with BestCare. The DOT allows indirect carriers to hold out, arrange and coordinate the operation of air ambulance services without a certificate, so long as they meet certain conditions. In particular, indirect carriers cannot hold themselves out to the public in a way that would create the impression that they are direct air carriers.
The DOT found that BestCare was creating the impression that it was a direct air carrier through numerous improper statements on its website. Some examples include posting an FAA 135 Air Taxi Certificate on its website with the statement “Copies of Certification and Insurance Available upon Request.” This statement implied that BestCare operated flights and had an air carrier certificate, when in fact it did not. Other statements included “Read more about the BestCare Air Ambulance Fleet,¨ implying that BestCare operated its own fleet of aircraft, when no such fleet existed.