Chalk’s Airline To Resume Flights

Chalk’s Ocean Airways, which operated seaplanes out of Fort Lauderdale for decades before a fatal flight last year grounded the fleet, is ready to resume service to the Bahamas on Nov. 9. Instead of its Grumman Mallards, the company, now known as Chalk’s International Airlines, will operate a 19-seat Beech 1900D leased from Big Sky Airlines of Billings, Mont. Chalk’s is working with the FAA to eventually return its Mallards to the air. The airplanes were grounded after a crash that killed 20 people on Dec. 19, 2005.

Editorial Staff

Published Nov 1, 2006 12:00 AM EST

Chalk's Ocean Airways, which operated seaplanes out of Fort Lauderdale for decades before a fatal flight last year grounded the fleet, is ready to resume service to the Bahamas on Nov. 9. Instead of its Grumman Mallards, the company, now known as Chalk's International Airlines, will operate a 19-seat Beech 1900D leased from Big Sky Airlines of Billings, Mont. Chalk's is working with the FAA to eventually return its Mallards to the air. The airplanes were grounded after a crash that killed 20 people on Dec. 19, 2005. On Tuesday, officials in the Bahamas said Chalk's approval to land there had expired, and wouldn't say how long it might take to reinstate it.

Editorial StaffAVweb