The pilot in control of the plane that crashed into an Akron apartment building on Nov. 10, 2015 — a disaster that killed all nine people on board — was terminated from his previous employer because of subpar piloting skills, according to investigatory records released Wednesday.
Renato Marchese, 50, the first officer who — according to cockpit transcripts — was attempting to land the plane, had missed training sessions with his last employer and was “having difficulty transitioning from the sterile environment of the simulator to real world line flying,” one class instructor noted.
He and Captain Oscar Andres Chavez, 40, were employed by ExecuFlight, a Fort Lauderdale, Fla., aircraft charter business.
Marchese also failed to have aspects of flight committed to memory, requiring aircraft manuals to aid him.
“This is not acceptable,” wrote management at the now-defunct Sky King Airlines, his former employer. “All attention is required to focus on flying the aircraft.”
In December 2014, Marchese was shown to have arrived late to work without explanation on two occasions. Later that month, he was asked to explain the cause of his delays but never did.
In all, his superiors described his aviation proficiency as “well below the acceptable progression levels.”
Marchese had been hired by Sky King in September 2014 and was terminated in February 2015. The reason for his firing was listed as “unsatisfactory work performance.”
Chavez, the other pilot, also was terminated from his previous employment at Heralpin USA in April 2015 for failing to obtain proper training.
However, interviews conducted by the Beacon Journal suggest Chavez did not complete the training because he had accepted a position with ExecuFlight and would be required to undergo the same training there.
— Nick Glunt