MEDFORD, Ore. (AP) — One three-letter word has cost one of the nation’s oldest air ambulance operators $30,000.
The word is “our” — a possessive personal pronoun meaning it belongs to us.
But the U.S. Department of Transportation says that was the wrong word for Mercy Flights of Oregon to describe a helicopter with a Federal Aviation Administration certificate owned by another company.
The Mail Tribune reported that federal officials ruled there is no “our” when it comes to the helicopter purchased for the exclusive use of Mercy Flights because a separate company was formed for the deal back in 1998 and has ownership — on paper.
The nonprofit Mercy Flights was fined $30,000 as a result. It will only have to pay half if it avoids more pronoun violations for a year.
