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Quoted By: >>1602566
https://www.justice.gov/usao-hi/pr/former-federal-aviation-administration-employee-sentenced-severing-air-traffic
HONOLULU, Hawaii – A federal judge today sentenced Joelyn DeCosta, 48, of Honolulu, Hawaii, to two years of probation and a $5000 fine for willfully and maliciously interfering with the working and use of a communication system operated and controlled by the United States, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1362.
According to documents and information presented in court, DeCosta was an Airway Transportation Systems Specialist for the Federal Aviation Administration, and had worked for the F.A.A. for approximately 26 years. On January 4, 2019, she willfully and maliciously severed communications between Air Traffic Control in Honolulu and aircraft flying in U.S. airspace above and around Honolulu, in an area known as Sector 4, which covers flights between Oahu and Maui, Lanai, Moloka’i, Kaho’olawe, and the Big Island. The main and standby communication lines between Hawaii Air Traffic Control and pilots of approximately six planes during one incident and approximately four planes during a second incident were affected by the outages. In total, pilots could not hear instructions from Air Traffic Control for a total of two minutes, as a result of the outages caused by the defendant.
The defendant had previously pled guilty pursuant to a plea agreement. As part of her plea agreement, she resigned from the F.A.A. before sentencing. As a result, she lost her retirement benefits, which were estimated to have been worth in excess of $500,000.
One of the pilots of an aircraft affected by the outage spoke as a victim at the sentencing. He emphasized the danger to himself and the 40 passengers onboard his aircraft posed by the outage.
HONOLULU, Hawaii – A federal judge today sentenced Joelyn DeCosta, 48, of Honolulu, Hawaii, to two years of probation and a $5000 fine for willfully and maliciously interfering with the working and use of a communication system operated and controlled by the United States, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1362.
According to documents and information presented in court, DeCosta was an Airway Transportation Systems Specialist for the Federal Aviation Administration, and had worked for the F.A.A. for approximately 26 years. On January 4, 2019, she willfully and maliciously severed communications between Air Traffic Control in Honolulu and aircraft flying in U.S. airspace above and around Honolulu, in an area known as Sector 4, which covers flights between Oahu and Maui, Lanai, Moloka’i, Kaho’olawe, and the Big Island. The main and standby communication lines between Hawaii Air Traffic Control and pilots of approximately six planes during one incident and approximately four planes during a second incident were affected by the outages. In total, pilots could not hear instructions from Air Traffic Control for a total of two minutes, as a result of the outages caused by the defendant.
The defendant had previously pled guilty pursuant to a plea agreement. As part of her plea agreement, she resigned from the F.A.A. before sentencing. As a result, she lost her retirement benefits, which were estimated to have been worth in excess of $500,000.
One of the pilots of an aircraft affected by the outage spoke as a victim at the sentencing. He emphasized the danger to himself and the 40 passengers onboard his aircraft posed by the outage.
