Silver States Helicopters Shut Down
Wow, 70K is a lot of money for tuition. I finished law school spending a whole lot less than that. I hope no APCer is affected by this. However, if you are one of the students locked out, definitely be part of the class action suit referred to in the article.
From KING5:
ARLINGTON, Wash. – Students at the nation's largest chain of private helicopter schools learned Monday the company is shutting down, including centers in Tacoma and Arlington. Employees have been fired, students were sent home and the helicopters are locked away.
The KING 5 Investigators have been looking into Silver State Helicopters for several months now.
With its flashy ads on TV and radio, as well as seminars where would-be pilots could sign up on the spot, Silver State became one of the fastest growing companies in aviation.
But students like Ken Leverington saw that all come crashing down.
"That school's shutdown and we're out a lot of money," said Leverington, relaying what he was told. He says he's out about $73,000.
Silver State students were required to pay their $70,000 tuition up front for the promise of helicopter training that would certify them as flight instructors and commercial pilots.
In a few short years, Silver State opened some 40 helicopter schools nationwide.
Now, its helicopters are grounded and no one at Silver State's Arlington location was offering explanations to students or to KING 5 News.
"I guess the next thing will be getting a lawyer or guess. I don't know," said Leverington.
The KING 5 Investigators spoke with several current and former students who said Silver State took their money but didn't have the equipment or staff to deliver the necessary flight hours.
Christian Holtz of Seattle is part of a class action lawsuit to try to get his money back.
"Silver State Helicopters does not do refunds. They have $43,000 of my money," said Holtz.
Now, 3,000 more Silver State students nationwide could be added to the list of those who didn't get their licenses or their money back.
"That's a good chunk of my retirement I was planning on working on," said Leverington.
Most of the students took out loans to pay for the school -- loans they will still be required to pay. It's not clear if their flight hours can be transferred to another school.
Employees were told the company shut down for financial reasons, but there was no official word from the company Monday.