The flight school has been kept by the agency to give pilots with minimal qualifications the opportunity to “pad their logbooks” — but its first student was the trainee who crashed the helicopter, according to a source familiar with the investigation.

“This leads to minimally skilled aviators being selected for very difficult pilot assignments,” the source said, pointing out that half a dozen other mishaps have also occurred due to poor safety precautions.

The Air and Marine Operations division’s congressionally-approved funding is tied to the number of flight hours it regularly records, but those hours are supposed to be focused primarily on operational duties rather than flight training with instructors, according to the source.

An internal aircraft mishap report following the May 2021 crash found that the pilot in training was the “primary causal factor” and had presented an invalid waiver concerning accumulated flight hours before operating the helicopter.