Aero Virgin Islands

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Aero Virgin Islands was an airline based in St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands.

[edit] History

Aero Virgin Islands began operating in the Caribbean during the early 1970s, specializing in inter-island flights to and from Henry E. Rohlsen International Airport on St. Croix. The airline had frequent flights to many points in the Caribbean, including Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport in San Juan, and St. Lucia. The airline used DC-3 airplanes for their flights.

On January 2 of 1978, one of their DC-3's (registration #N15598, built in 1940) crashed into a beach near San Juan. All 40 passengers in the aircraft survived the accident.

Aero Virgin Islands' main competitor was the Puerto Rico based airline, Prinair–at least until 1984, when Prinair went bankrupt. Then, in September 1989, Aero Virgin Islands suffered a setback when six of its planes suffered damage during Hurricane Hugo. In 1986, AVI recruited 4 pilots with DC-3 experience to fly for the airline while they tried unsuccessfully to upgrade their FAA part 135 certificate to a part 141 certificate and place a Martin 404 on the certificate. The 4 pilots would be used to offset other pilots who were to be pulled off the line to train on the 404, which they did get.Peter Pess and James Beekman were unsuccessful in transitioning AVI to be the flag carrier of the Caribbean.

Increased competition from such airlines as LIAT, Air Sunshine and American Eagle forced Aero Virgin Islands out of business by the mid 1990s.