A US jet charter company had an expensive and dangerous crash in 2005. This led investigators to discover Platinum Jet Management LLC was operating a high risk and illegal airline. NJ.com says one of the pilots has now pleaded guilty to several serious charges

Vieira told assistant U.S. Attorney Scott B. McBride that he falsified flight logs, altered weight and center of gravity graphs, and routinely flew illegal charter flights that violated federal safety regulations.

One of the practices of Platinum was to overfill fuel tanks at cheaper airports and then alter flight manifests to hide the extra weight. Another practice was to hire unqualified pilots and other staff. The performance of the flight attendant during the 2005 crash probably gave investigators several big clues about airline management practices.

…a Miami model and dancer — did not know how to open the door of the plane to evacuate those inside

NJ.com points out that passengers, obviously who were high-value assets, paid nearly $100,000 per charter even though the company was not even certified to fly.