Louisiana flight school owner facing theft charges

GatorFC

Well-Known Member
Caught this on the local news the other day. It's the same old familiar pattern over and over again.

Flight School Owner Faces Theft Charges
WDSU news said:
HOUMA, La. -- The former owner of a Terrebonne Parish flight school is a wanted man, and authorities say in the past few years, he has bilked nearly two dozen people out of hundreds of thousands of dollars
WDSU news said:
"My goal was to allow my child to fulfill his dream, in order to have a great quality of life one day for himself and his children," said Eudolia Arabie, who paid tens of thousands of dollars for her son Landon to attend helicopter flight school.

...The two checked out Johnston Flying Services based just outside Houma. Arabie met with the owner, Clyde Jewett, and his partner at an airport hangar. She said everything seemed legitimate.

"He said Landon would be certified with a pilot's license, commercial license, with the instrumentation and certification as well," Arabie said.

And they wanted the money up front.

...A few months later, she learned that the school had closed down and that more than 20 people, including employees and flight instructors, were owed money.
The mom likely didn't know any better, but 28K for helicopter flight training seems awfully/too good to be true cheap, though.
 
I don't feel bad for these people. If you want a service, you pay for it after the service has been rendered, not before. People pay people all the time upfront for say, home improvements and get scammed out of money. And I bet it happens more than in the flight training industry. What were they thinking?!!
 
That really sucks. Its easy to blame the victim, but sometime we as humans tend to think with our emotions and not with reason, especially when it comes to our kids future. All the lady wanted was a better future for her son, but some scum bag decided to make money off it. Hope he rots in jail
 
I'm pretty soft hearted and can sympathize. But in this case or any like it, I agree with Mike. What were they thinking?

In the spirit of someone here who said we are to guide the up and coming in this industry: Never, ever, DO NOT pay up front for flight training.
 
I can see paying 1 or 2k up front for a block rate. I'll never understand the gullibility of somepeople
 
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