WASHINGTON – The Federal Aviation Administration is proposing civil penalties totaling $422,500 against two Indian companies for violation of U.S. Department of Transportation hazardous materials regulations.

The FAA alleged that IIS & Allied Services, and its freight forwarder, Gallant Freight & Travels Private, Limited of Mumbai, India, offered a shipment containing depleted uranium, a radioactive material, to British Airways for air transport from Mumbai to Boston, June 7, 2008, without declaring the hazardous nature of its contents. The shipment flew as cargo on a passenger-carrying flight. British Airways employees at its cargo center in Boston discovered the radioactive material June 16 when the bottom of the outer packaging failed and separated from the rest of the crate.

The companies allegedly offered the hazardous material for transportation when it was not packaged, marked, classed, described, labeled or in condition for shipment as required by regulations. Radioactive materials, with some exceptions, may not be shipped as cargo aboard passenger aircraft.

The proposed civil penalty for IIS & Allied Services is $227,500; and for Gallant Freight, $195,000.

IIS and Gallant have 30 days from receipt of the FAA letters to respond to the agency.