Crash course ‘coverup’

Customs and Border Protection has papered over damning details about a helicopter crash during a training exercise in 2021 — and attempted to cover up violations at an “under wraps” flight school that led to it, whistleblower disclosures exclusively obtained by The Post show.

CBP’s Air and Marine Operations division abused its authority and posed “a substantial and specific danger to public safety” by allowing most of its AS350 light helicopter fleet to operate without crash-resistant fuel tanks and permitting pilots to fly with minimal certifications, according to the revelations.

Contemporaneous reports from an ABC affiliate describe how on May 12, 2021, a CBP pilot in training and an instructor narrowly avoided death when a maneuver caused their helicopter to crash in a field outside Oklahoma City.

Copter chaos

The aircraft “burned down to its frame” and the pair were briefly hospitalized for minor injuries — but the reasons for the crash were never disclosed.

CPB has used the flight school — whose first trainee was involved in the crash — to help pilots with minimal qualifications “pad their logbooks,” said a source familiar with the probe.

“This leads to minimally skilled aviators being selected for very difficult pilot assignments,” the source said, noting a half dozen other mishaps caused by poor safety precautions.

The AMO division’s funding is tied to its recorded flight hours, which are supposed to focus on operational duties rather than training, according to the source.

An internal mishap report following the crash found the trainee was the “primary causal factor” and had presented an invalid waiver about flight hours before operating the helicopter.

But officials tried to conceal the details of that report.

Robert Blanchard, executive director of AMO, “improperly attempted to remove critical information” from the findings in December 2021 to avoid “a negative public response and increased legal liability,” a whistleblower alleged and a CBP investigation later confirmed.

Speaking up

Ex-AMO director of training, safety and standards, Joseph Adams, made the protected disclosures to the Office of Special Counsel after Blanchard asked him to remove the information.

Adams, who retired in October after 15 years, also alleged his higher-ups retaliated against him.

A CBP investigation in May found that 81 of 97 light helicopters lacked crash-resistant fuel tanks and that Blanchard tried to hide that fact and other details he called “a litigation hazard.”

The tanks have been required for CBP light helicopters since 2006. But aircraft designed before 1994 are exempt.

In response to an Office of Special Counsel query from August, CBP Acting Commissioner Troy Miller on Sept. 18 wrote in a letter that a disciplinary board would review the report, while noting Blanchard was slated to retire by the end of the month.

He also said CBP would “retire and replace” the aircraft.

The letter makes no mention of flight-school policy changes.

Adams in July wrote to the White House that other CBP officials aware of the scandal also had been allowed to quietly retire without disciplinary action.

The Office of Special Counsel has requested from CBP a supplemental report, to which a response is expected by today.

“CBP takes its obligations to investigate all allegations seriously,” a spokesperson said.

OSC did not respond to a request for comment.