Contents: 
Oct. 2004 CFI Security Update;...  Change of Address;  ...Flight Standards Service; ...The FAR Code; ...FAR Part 39 Airworthiness Directives; ...FAR Part 43 Maintenance; …Building the FARs; God and the FARs are Alike; …FAA Will Always Second Guess; ...Federal Air Regulations; ...Only FARs for G.A. Pilots; ...FAR 61 Changes in August 1997; …1999 Changes; ...Violation  Possibles; ...Condition Notices; ...FAA Enforcement; ...Aviation Safety Reporting System; …ASRS Report; …NTSB; …NTSB Get out of Jail Free Card; ...Minimum Altitudes; ...Poem by Unknown Author;  ...National Transportation Safety Board; ...The FAA What's What; ...FAR's Rationale Based on Accident Prevention; ...FAA Paperwork; ...NTSB Requires Notification If; ...FAA Enforcement Policy; ...I'm From the FAA and..; ...The 609 Ride has become the 44709 Ride; ...Knowing when Not to Talk; ...Ramp Check; ...Ramp Check Advice; ...Ramp Check 'rights'?; ...The FAA Timer; ...You vs. the FAA; ...You and the FAA; ...A Personal Experience; ...We Need to be Saved from our Saviors; ...FAR 61.15(d); ...FAA Courtesy Evaluation Program; …The FAA Tries Again; …FAA Administrative Action; …Runway Incursions and Immunity; ...The Hoover Bill;  …Your Certificate; …Are You Violated? … FAA's Streamlined Administration Action Process; …FAA's Expunction Program; …Airport Accident Response Team; …Aerial Interception Procedures; When Will the FAA Do the Right Thing? …Possible Pilot Deviation; …Aviation Transportation Security Act of 2001; …Re-examination flight with the FAA "709" Ride;  ...Your Pilot Records; Crime and Punishment; ...

 Oct. 2004 CFI Security Update
 The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has issued an Interim Final Rule regarding the Alien Flight Student Program (AFSP). The program becomes effective for flight training given in aircraft 12,500 lbs. or less on October 20, 2004. Please click the link below to familiarize yourself with the program's requirements. http://www.gleim.com/aviation/afs_program.php?afspo NAFI, the National Association of Flight Instructors has done an excellent job of summarizing the new requirements, which are cumbersome for all CFIs who provide flight training. Essentially, you must document that everyone you give flight instruction to is a U.S. citizen, and you must keep copies of the documentation for five years. Those who are not U.S. citizens must be photographed and fingerprinted. In addition, flight instructors are required to submit further background information to the TSA. 

What is the definition of 'existing students'? If you keep going back to  the same CFI for your Flight Review every two years, are you considered an > existing student? 

 I don't think there is a definition of "existing students" in the rule. I believe they use the term "course of instruction", although I don't recall a definition of that. (The rule and its preamble is interesting reading, if you enjoy reading the FARs and similar. Only 44 pages. You can find it under AOPA's web site.) As for answering questions, the web site is https://www.flightschoolcandidates.gov and it references a help address, which I believe is AFSP.help@dhs.gov. If you are a "Provider" (ie School, Instructor,...), the web site is: https://www.flightschoolcandidates.gov/fsindex.html

What is the definition of 'existing students'? If you keep going back to
the same CFI for your Flight Review every two years, are you considered an
existing student?

I don't think there is a definition of "existing students" in the rule. I believe they use the term "course of instruction", although I don't recall a definition of that. (The rule and its preamble is interesting reading, if you enjoy reading the FARs and similar. Only 44 pages. You can find it under AOPA's web site.)

As for answering questions, the web site is
https://www.flightschoolcandidates.gov and it references a help address, which I believe is AFSP.help@dhs.gov.

If you are a "Provider" (ie School, Instructor,...), the web site is:
https://www.flightschoolcandidates.gov/fsindex.html..

Aviation Security at Work
---There is no real-time communication between ATC and homeland security or anyone else.
---Every security cure is worse for the country than the disease they’re after

Change of Address
The FAA's Airmen Services Web site ( http://registry.faa.gov/amsvcs.asp ) provides this capability to pilots. To utilize this online service, you must establish an account with the Airmen Certification Branch. Or, you may download the FAA's Change of Address Notification form
( http://www.aopa.org/members/files/faa/8060-55.pdf ),
fill out the requested information, sign, fold, and mail it to the FAA. Aircraft owners are also required to notify the FAA when the address on the aircraft registration has changed. The FAA offers a Change of Address Notification for Aircraft Owners that can be downloaded ( http://registry.faa.gov/docs/ADDCHG.pdf ).
Remember that when a pilot moves and/or the permanent address changes, the FAA must be notified within 30 days; otherwise the pilot may not act as pilot in command. More information is available in AOPA's subject report, "Change of Address for Airmen and Aircraft"
( http://www.aopa.org/members/files/topics/chngaddr.html ).
Name, Date of Birth, Social Security Number/Certificate Number
Be sure to sign form
Form available at:
http://registry.faa.gov/airmen.htm

Flight Standards Service
Airmen Certification Branch
AFS 760
FAA P.O. Box 25082
Oklahoma City, OK 73125

The code consists of 50 'titles' that are composed of chapters of codes that apply to one or more of the sub agencies of the FAA. The FAA code is one of the smallest codes of any agency in government. Each chapter has subchapters always with definitions and procedures. Chapter 1 has 199 subparts. The parts are subject spread. Subparts deal with a specific element that has sections. There is no end to the possible proliferation even though only odd numbers are used. There is no end to odd numbers. Where an even number is used, it is a new element.

The FAR's are a new language in which the words and their meanings are specific to the FARs and not the dictionary. For example, the word clearance has a use and meaning unlike any other word. It is not approval, permission, authorization, or any other term you can think of. It is an FAA creation without legal meaning in the courts. The FAA effectively evades any accountability by such subterfuge while obtaining free use of enforcement authority.

FAR Part 39: Airworthiness Directives (ADs)
Every AD has its own number. The AD's are categorized between three 'books'. Book one
covers from the Wright Brothers' mechanic and engine inventor/maker Charles E. Taylor up until 1979. Book two is from 1960 to 89. Book three is from 1990 to the present. Each book has five sections, large aircraft, small aircraft, appliances, power plants, and propellers. The ADs of each section can be of three kinds; emergency letter, immediate adopted rule, and notice of proposed rule making.

The emergency letter requires action prior to flight and grounds the aircraft until repaired. The immediate adopted rule allows the owner to make the repair within the next (named) period of time. The AD that follows the normal rule making procedure gives months or hundreds of hours to perform the repair.

The AD numbering system is logical. The first two numbers are the year; the second are the bi-weekly spacing for that year and the last numbers give the AD position for that year.

FAR Part 43 Maintenance
Part 43 consists of eleven rules for mechanics and six appendices. Each of the eleven rules has five elements:
1. What Part 43 is used for
Applies only to U.S. certificated aircraft and commercial foreign air carriers
2. Who can do work on aircraft
Anyone who holds a mechanics' certificate or works under supervision
3. Who can sign off work
Only an AI mechanic can approve an aircraft for return to service
4. Record keeping Part 43.9
Mechanic must record work and sign
1. Description of acceptable data used
2. Date work completed
3. Name of person doing work
4. Signature and certificate held

Return to service Part 43.11
Repair station
Mechanic with Inspection rating
For 337 for major repairs and major alternations
Any signature is liable only for the work performed. The maximum length of time is until the next annual inspection. Inspections cannot be delegated. At time of inspection sign-off the signature certifies that at that moment all ADs and repairs or alterations are in compliance and that the aircraft is airworthy.

Form 337 repairs need not be retained but it is best to keep them. Form 337 alternations must be kept and the mechanic doing the alternation must give instructions for the next mechanic doing the annual as to how to maintain airworthiness.

Part 43.2 draws a distinction between 'overhauled' which means part meets manufacturing service limits and 're-built' which means part meets new part limits.

5. Performance standards.
The mechanic must use methods and such procedures as given in manufacturer's manuals and use tools accepted in standard industry practices. Aircraft must be at least equal to original or properly (Form 337) altered condition.

FAR PART 91 Subparts C and E applies to mechanics.
Section 91.213 Requires that any inoperative equipment be placarded as inoperative and noted as not being required for the flight being performed. Each such instrument must be part of 100-hour inspections 91.403(a) Puts maintenance responsibility on the owner. If an AD does not apply the mechanic should say so in the logbook and sign same. Only one sign-off is required in the airframe logbook for the annual. For 100-hour inspections each logbook must be signed. (airframe, engine, and propeller)

Building the FARs
The Federal Air Regulations (FARs) were built rule by rule and accident by accident. FARs are reactions to events not in anticipation of events. The FARs are government reactions to things that pilots did in pushing the limits of knowledge and judgment. Every FAR has an accident specific to its entry. The FAR depicts how failure to obey a rule can put you at risk. The FARs outline the edges of the safe flight. These outlines are for everyone and are applied to keep the student as safe as the air transport pilot (ATP).

Pilots who think that their aircraft, training, and experience should allow them to operate beyond the FARs limits are showing poor judgment. Any flying that crowds the limits of the FARs is proportionately more dangerous and risky. When you understand that the FARs are there as safety barriers you are ready to manage risks with greater understanding.

If it were possible for you to have an accident that is not currently covered by an FAR, a new one would come into existence. The legal process to the FAR would begin…
First, there would be many administrative and legal reviews inside the FAA.
Second, there would be published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking
Finally, the FAR would be written that can only be understood by lawyers.
Common Violations:
--VFR weather violations
--Inadequate fuel reserves
--Lack of current medical
--Self-medication
--Airspace violation
--Noncompliance with ATC clearance
--Breaking minimums
--Minimum safe altitudes
--Aircraft repairs

God and the FAA Are A Lot Alike:
a) They have both handed down a list of rules.
b) Noone really understands them, but everyone debates them
c) If you violate a rule, even if you didn't understand it, you'll be punished by losing your wings.
d) Lots of people have issued interpretations of the rules, and they all claim to have the authority of the Higher Power, but they often conflict.
e) They both demand "an attitude of complience"
f) They both have "get out of jail free" programs, where you have to do penace by admitting your sins, but thereby escape punishment. Both have exemptions for deliberate acts.
g) They both have sacraments - marriage, baptism, checkrides, BFRs.
However, God doesn't seem to do ramp checks.
Tina Marie

FAA Will Always Second-Guess
Every flight has within its very existence the means of its destruction. Just as there is no end of safe flying options, so is there no end of accumulative wrong decisions leading to tragedy. Again, every flight is subject to a retroactive analysis by FAA accident investigators seeking to determine not just cause but blame as well.

The analysis begins with the aircraft itself. Maintenance record history of every part of the aircraft undergoes scrutiny. The life-limited parts are timed as being a factor as are tests made of any component capable of being out of tolerance. The avionics, controllability, capability and limitations from the POH are studied for any possible discrepancy. No facet is left unexamined in the analysis of possibilities.

The pilot and everyone in the chain of people having anything to do with the flight are subjected to intense
examination into every aspect of their personality, well being, and capability. The lives are tracked backwards in an effort to seek past behaviors and events that may have laid the behavior/thought pattern worthy of consideration for a piece of the sequential events leading to the unfortunate conclusion.

The final nail in the coffin comes from interpretation of the federal air regulations (FARs). It is unlikely that anything can occur to an aircraft that is not covered by a relative FAR. The greatest area of cause is with the human element. Weather plays a major supporting role when mixed with the defective judgment of pilots.
The accumulation of a series of events leading to an aircraft accident can be backtracked through every less than wise situation/decision to give a trail of what-ifs. One conservative decision can break the accumulative negative developments but only if it comes in time.

Federal Air Regulations
The basic intent of the FARs is to promote safety. Over time this intent has been revised and amended to where absolute safety is equated with absolute control. Today's FARs are very specific to every foreseeable event based only on what has happened previously. As one of my students recently told me, "The airframe is not on the minimum equipment list, why?"

While most pilots mainly deal with FAR Parts 61 and 91, there are actually 199 different FAR Parts. It takes three volumes of nearly 2000 pages to contain the complete FARs. Ignorance of any of the FARs can never be used as an excuse from FAA sanction.

Only FARs Generally Applicable to General Aviation pilots.
Volume I (Parts 1 to 59)
Part 1 Definitions and Abbreviations
Volume II (Parts 60 to 139)
Part 61 Certification of Pilots and Flight Instructors
Part 67 Medical Standards and Certification
Part 71 Designation of Federal Airways & Airspace
Part 73 Special Use Airspace
Part 91 General Operating and Flight Rules
Part 97 Standard Instrument Approach Procedures
Part 135 Air Taxi and Commercial Operators
Volume III (Parts 140 to 199)
Part 141 Pilot Schools

It all started with the 1926 Air Commerce Act, which formed a federal bureau. Aircraft numbers and performance soon brought about a complete overhaul in 1958 when the Federal Aviation Agency (Administration) was created to make all safety rules. Like Topsey, it grew. In 1967 the National Transportation Safety Board was created as part of the Department of Transportation. In 1974 the NTSB became an independent agency making 'finding fault' more likely to finger the FAA for its mistakes.

The most likely unpleasantness that is going to occur to the pilot of the 90's is a meeting with the FAA over some infraction of the FAR's. Low flights account for more NTSB appeals than any other type of violation. Following ATC instructions that include low flight have been found in violation. Congested area flight is wide open for FAA/NTSB second-guessing.
The FARs are deliberately vague. The use of imprecise terms helps when government agencies enforce regulations. The violation is determined by subjective judgment. However, if an accident occurs, that's proof of a violation.

It is somewhat contradictory that with a third class medical you can take and pass the requirements for the commercial and ATP ratings while being unable to use them until or unless a higher class medical is obtained.

FAR 61 changes in August 1997
--The term 'authorized instructor' is now used for all instructors.
· Cross country time requires a landing destination and use of a
navigational method. No distance is required except for more than
50 NM straight line when required for getting a rating such as
private pilot.
..Pilot and medical certificates must be in personal possession.
..Powered-lift aircraft is a new category.
..Ability the write English required.
..No medical required from flight instructor if not PIC or required crew.
..Complex and high performance airplanes require separate endorsements.
..Endorsements required for altitude, type rating, and tailwheel.
..30 day wait between tests no longer exists.
..Student pilot solo time is PIC time.
..Second in command time requires you be both required and qualified.
..24 month flight review required, new rating, or award program will count.
--Instrument currency requires 6 approaches, holding, tracking via nav.
--VFR type ratings no longer allowed.
--Instrument rating requires only 50 hours x-country time. 40 hours of time of which 15 is with CFII. 250 NM IFR flight with three approaches.
Private pilot requires 3 hours hood, 3 hours x-country training, and 100 nm night flight and only 150 nm x-country.
--CFR self endorsements not allowed.

1999 Changes
--AIM
--New Landing procedure
Do not exit the landing runway on to another runway without ATC authorization.

--New flight procedure
Do not pass aircraft called by ATC as a 'factor' until it is in landing phase,  is on the missed, has turned away, or flies a diverging course.

Violation Possibles:
Descending from pattern altitude before turning base (local law)
Failure to obtain information prior to flight.
Improper altitude for direction of flight.
Failure to communicate before entering Class D airspace.
Failure to obtain proper clearance into Class B airspace.
Failure to follow clearance as given.
Failure to have radio volume high enough to hear ATC.
Failure to have a current sectional or Area chart.
Making a low pass over an uncontrolled runway

The most likely pilot/aircraft violation according to FAA statistics is going to be an airspace violation. The pilot who does not know where he is not going to know what to say and when. Most often the pilot has a fear of contacting too soon. Far better, too soon than late or even not at all. Chart reading is quite often a major part of the problem. More often it is deficient pilotage skills in recognition and orientation. In recent memory from just flights of this year I have heard pilots give their positions which along with altitude would place them in my cockpit. Two minutes later it becomes apparent that what they were reporting was what they could see, not where they were.

Condition Notices
A Condition Notice is a form used by the FAA Flight Standards Services when an FAA inspector does a ramp inspection on aircraft. This inspection can occur at any time but no authority exists to allow opening or entry into the aircraft. The form allows exterior inspection for discrepancies only.

The aircraft cannot be grounded by this inspection or form. Once the discrepancies have been confirmed by mechanic or owner/operator then any flight would require a one flight ferry permit to a repair site. The form has an auxiliary form titles "Certification of Corrective Action" with provision for the signature of the mechanic doing the repair work. There is no penalty for not completing this part.

FAA Enforcement
FAA inspector may give warning. To initiate action inspector must prepare an Enforcement Investigative Report and gather evidence to support such action. Pilots are expected to have a compliance attitude.

Aviation Safety Reporting System
AC No: 00-46D
Aviation Safety Reporting Program (ASRP)
/ASRP lets those involved with flying provide raw data to NASA for processing and analysis with assured anonymity. The reports cannot be used for FAA/NTSB enforcement action unless a crime is involved.

I would urge every pilot to have several blank Aviation Safety Reporting Forms on every flight. In circumstances where you think you may have exposed yourself to an FAA/FAR violation, completing the form will protect you from FAA sanctions if the act was not intentional. NASA uses the form to make safety recommendations to the FAA to prevent ATC/pilot safety problems. If you don't have the form just send a letter
to:
Aviation Safety Reporting System
P.O. Box 189
Moffett Field, CA
94035-0189

While you're at it, ask to be put on their "Callback" mailing list. It is the best free flying publication in the world.

The purpose of ASRS is to promote flying safety in all aspects of flying by allow the little guy pilot to safely submit material to whose who can make improvement without fear of retribution. Only accidents and crime are not exempt from this protection. (NASA Form 277B at http://asrs.arc.nasa.gov) The pilot who submits an ASRS report gets a receipt that must be saved since all other identification is removed. Should the FAA initiate action
the receipt is your ticket out of trouble.
--2/3 of 277Bs are submitted by airline pilots.
--G/A sent in 23 percent.
--About 1/4 of forms get special study.
--100 of 34000 got to manufacturers.
--67 go to FAA as alerts
--FAA averages 3000 enforcement actions against pilots.
--30-percent had certificates revoked or suspended.
--2/3 of actions were against pilots who fly for a living
--15-percent of private pilots won against the FAA.
--25 percent of private pilots received revoked or suspended licenses.
--Only one in 100 of private pilots violated were exempted because of filed 277Bs.
--Three of ten commercial pilots violated avoided the problem via 277Bs.
--One in ten of ATP violated escaped because of filed 277Bs.
The get Immunity:
--What you did must be inadvertent
--Must not be accident, crime or lack of qualification
--Must have receipt showing Form 277B filed within ten days.
--Can be used only once in five years.

ASRS Report
Aircraft 510AR C-182/A
PIC Eugene L. Whitt 1876572
September 24, 2001
I had completed a morning IFR lesson from Concord, CA to Marysville, CA during which we did an ILS, VOR and NDB approach. We made a full stop landing after the last approach and hitched a ride to have lunch. During our lunch we reviewed the VFR flight back to Concord which was to consist of becoming familiar with the use of the autopilot.

Neither my student, nor I had used the autopilot to any extent on any previous flight because of my emphasis on hand-flying performance. We were going to become familiar with the capture limits of the NAV feature as well as the use of the ALT with its climb/descent capability. The heading bug and NAV had an interface that we wanted to understand in actual use, as well. No Loran or GPS on aircraft. Dual VOR and ADF aboard.

We departed MYV about 1:30 p.m. VFR and very shortly noted that there were several rice-field fires along our route. We climbed above them and I contacted Flight Watch and gave a PIREP regarding the fires. During this communication Flight Watch advised us that there were Level 2 thunderstorms northeast along with lightning. We deviated to the south to give a wide berth to those conditions.

Little by little we made heading and altitude changes to avoid the rising smoke from the rice-field fires while working through variations of autopilot settings and disconnects. Much of the time we made small heading changes because the smoke fires were becoming more numerous. This inattention on my part caused us to wander unknowingly southeastward. We descended to the east in marginal VFR away from the smoke and we both recognized McClellan approximately four miles distant at the same time. I instructed student to make a right 180 and to descend to 800 feet. Almost immediately we recognized SAC Metro and turned further to the right on a course that was back toward MYV. Conditions were MVFR due to ever increasing smoke.

While I am not sure that we intruded into Class C airspace, it is most likely that we did at some point. I contacted SAC Approach and when I advised them that VFR to CCR did not seem possible, was give an IFR clearance to fly a heading of 260, climb to 4000 and intercept V-6. Our clearance took us into and through heavy smoke. Flight home was uneventful

I am familiar with region and find it difficult to accept that I had become so disoriented. At one point I differed, incorrectly, with my student when he pointed out Mt. Diablo to me and I said it was Mt. St. Helena and had him turn further left. It was this last turn away from the smoke that may have caused the incursion. The entire process of my becoming disoriented was so insidious that the combination of unexpected visibility conditions and in-cockpit focus on unfamiliar equipment was a lesson learned.
Eugene L. Whitt

Opinion
I might add that there is an excellent ASRS WWW page at
http://olias.arc.nasa.gov/ASRS/ASRS.html.
Has back issues of _Callback, explains the immunity policy, etc. It even has the ASRS reporting form in .pdf format!

http://asrs.arc.nasa.gov/
Online overview, database, forms, policy, publications, bulletins.
The purpose is to identify hazards and gather preventive information. ASRS is able to obtain voluntary data by offering the sender of data, limited immunity from FAA compliance procedures. The program is independent of the FAA and pilots are protected from identification. An identification strip is mailed to the pilot which can be offered to the FAA as proof of eligibility to limited immunity. If the FAA should independently acquire specifics of the violation submitted to the ASRS program provided certain conditions are met.
--Only inadvertent violations are protected
--Incompetence or criminal are not forgiven
--Prior record must have been clean for five years
--Written submission was within 10 days of incident

NTSB
Of nearly 300 staff members 130 are aircraft accident investigators. The agency is seriously overloaded with the possibility that the independence and technical excellence will endure. The agency will often invite other entities to assist in an investigation such as a manufacturer or maintenance facility. The financial stakes can interfere with the integrity of the information found.

Since there is no NTSB training facility, the number of self-taught experts is falling behind in time and skills. Specialists need better access to available technology and information sources. There is some waste of agency resources while specialists are overworked in comparison to similar professions. Evidence is that recent accident declines were due to a decline in the amount of flying.

NTSB Get Out of Jail Free Card
1. What happened must be inadvertent
2. Incident must not reflect lack of proficiency
3. No criminal activity can be involved
4. May not be used for an accident
5. Nor FAR violation in past five years

Minimum Altitudes
While airspace intrusion is the violation of choice by ATC, the most frequent charge against general aviation is low flying. FAR 91.119 gives altitude minimums. The universal minimum says that a pilot must be able to make a landing without hazard to anybody or anything.

Congested areas are cities or towns with multiple houses or crowded sports arenas. 1000' above the highest obstacle is the require minimum with a 2000' lateral separation. The exact definition of congested is not given. If a chart has a yellow area, consider it congested. There is an exception to this where the congested area intrudes on a landing or takeoff area.

A populated area has fewer people than a congested area but more than a sparse area. In a populated area a plane must remain above 500'. This is a vertical minimum.

Airplanes may descend as low as they choose in sparsely populated areas with the requirement that they remain 500' clear of people or things likely to contain people. This minimum applies laterally as well as vertically above a person. The universal minimum about being able to make a safe landing still applies.

There are rules at all government levels that may or may not be depicted on charts. Most of these rules are related to noise abatement related to people or wild creatures. Pattern altitudes are set by local authorities and may appear on signs near the airport taxiways. Federal and state wildlife minimums are usually 2000' above.

Poem by Unknown Author:
It is impossible to accurately measure
the results of aviation safety.

No one can count the fires that never
start, the aborted takeoffs that do not
occur, the engine failures and the forced
landings that never take place.

An one can neither evaluate the lives
that are not lost, nor plumb the depths of
human misery we have been spared.

But the individuals with the flight
controls, fueling hose, wrench, radar, or
dispatch order can find lasting
satisfaction in the knowledge they have
worked wisely and well, and that safety
has been the prime consideration.

National Transportation Safety Board
An accident is where a person has serious injury or death while the aircraft suffers 'substantial' damage. Such damage affects the structure strength, performance or flight characteristics. The classification of 'substantial' takes expert determination. Accidents are not required to be because of inadequate training. Most accidents are causes by a disregard of instruction received. Aircraft accidents are seldom original in the sequence of causal factors. Pilots are even less creative in their excuses.

The FAA What's What
www.faa.gov or 900/322-7873
http://registry.faa.gov/amfeed.htm or 405/954-4821 for certificates
www.faa.gov/avr/aam/acans.htm or 405/954-4821 for medicals
FSDO offices in AIM
FSSs in AIM
Advisory Circulars from U.S. Printing Office, Washington, D. C. 20402
Charting land A/FD from
Office of Aviation Medicine is now named Office of Aerospace Medicine
Civil Aeromedical Institute (CAMI) is now named Civil Aerospace Medical Institute (CAMI)
--Bureaucratic headquarters is in Washington, D. C.
--Operations center is in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
--OKC has all certificates, medicals, evaluations, airworthiness, registrations, maintenance ADs, ACs and records
--Presently Flight Service Stations are down to 75 from several hundred all over the country.
--FSS is interpreter and distributor of aviation weather, NOTAMS, PIREPS and flight plans for pilots
--FSS gets airport information and frequencies while communicating to aircraft on 122.2 etc.
--EFAS or flight watch is weather information service on 122.0 from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. local nation wide
--Flight Standards District Office or FSDO first FAA pilot source of information and trouble
--FSDO has inspectors and counselors check aircraft maintenance, pilot operations give checkrides and answer questions
--FARs and AIM are now published as one book.
--FAA Web Site is www.faa.gov which has section of FAA organizations including airport towers etc.

FAR's Rationale Based on Accident Prevention
--To a certain extent the FARs are an accident prevention program.
--The pilot who understands the 'why' of a regulation is less likely to have a regulation related accident
--Pilots who do not understand the 'why' of a regulation are more likely to have a regulation related accident.
--Instructors are obligated to make sure students understand the 'why' of regulations
--Students will do as you do, and not as you say.
--The student will mirror the regulatory judgment demonstrated by the instructor.
--The bad instructional influence of an instructor will be mimicked more readily than the good influence.
--I know of instances where poor flying techniques have gone through three generations of instructors.

FAA Paperwork
1. When can a pilot deviate from any Part 91 FAR?
2. When will you be in trouble with a deviation?
3. What constitutes an emergency?
4. What are the three ways of making an emergency?
5. Why are there two distinct regulations requiring a written report by the pilot having an emergency?
6. What must you do if there is an accident, emergency or not?
7. What is required in the report?

Answer
1. A pilot can deviate from the FARs any time to the extent to meet requirements of an emergency
2. You will not escape accountability for a deviation if the situation is of your own making.
3. You will KNOW when it is an emergency because the outcome of the situation is in doubt.
4. You can make an emergency in three different ways:
1. By declaring an emergency;
2. by breaking an FAR Part 91 flight rule; or,
3. By being given priority by ATC.
5. 91.3(c) Requires a report on FAA request for a rule deviation to the FAA Administrator; FAR 91.123(d) does the same for being given ATC priority but the report must be submitted within 48 hours to the ATC facility
6. If there is an accident you must report to the NTSB within the specified time limit.
7. Report should be simple and factually written.

NTSB Requires Notification If:
1. There is a failure or malfunction of flight control system
2. Non-performance of duty by flight crew member
3. Failure of turbine component.
4. In flight fire
5. Mid-air collision
6. Damage in excess of $25,000

The NTSB has absolute priority to take possession of any aircraft involved in accident. NTSB investigates to find probable cause; the FAA investigates to determine compliance with FARs and standards. The primary goal of the NTSB is to use past accident information to prevent similar accidents in the future. The NTSB gets the most valid information when they come up with an accident's probable cause. General aviation accidents in a single aircraft type are most likely to get exhaustive investigation. 10% of the investigations are given to FAA.

The accident folder documents wreckage details, pilot currency and papers, aircraft logbook compliance, weather actual vs. forecast, weather briefing records, ATC communications, radar tapes and witness reports. When all available information has been compiled a brief of the accident is listed on an NTSB standard form. The NTSB is not interested in blame. The FAA is. Higher investigative priority is directed toward accidents that are from previously unknown causes.

Most accidents are the result of a sequence of related problems, oversights and malfunctions. From all the NTSB information and data most accidents are still due to pilot error. Present NTSB efforts are directed toward runway incursions, ground proximity warning systems and conflict alert logic to ATC radar and aircraft transponders.

Tell between an error of perception and one causes by lack of attention or unprofessional behavior. There is no regulatory action, remedial or otherwise that can eliminate all mistakes. NTSB views each circumstance individually and determines if actions and testimony warrant dismissal or a finding of violation. We should realize that pilots have an appeals system to protect against conclusions and decisions that are arbitrary or capricious. God save us from our saviors.

FAA Enforcement Policy
1. Nature of violation
2. Was it inadvertent or deliberate
3. Level of experience and responsibility
4. Attitude of perpetrator
5. Extent of predictability of hazard to safety
6. Action taken by other authorities
7. Time delay since violation
8. Certificate involved
9. Need for deterrence
10. National interest factors

I'm from the FAA and...
I'm here to help you.
The FAA is misguided by the manufacturers it is supposed to regulate. The FAA is lacking in reliability and greatly increases the costs of ownership and flying. The FAA has only minimal interest in the cost and risk versus the benefits of owning and operating airplanes. There is no way to satisfy the FAA blanket desire for 100% safety.

NOTAMs can be added, changed, or deleted without notice. The notam briefing of a short flight to another airport will not protect you under FAR 91.103 for your return flight. The FAA uses the potential endangerment factor to determine grounds for a violation. If they want you, they can and will get you.

Where your emergency, incident, or accident is due to inadequate preflight planning you may be required to take a 609 ride. The 609 is a check ride conforming to the Practical Test Guide. The FAA decides where the test will be taken and a time limit for taking the test. Section 609 allows the FAA to test any airman who it believes may not meet FAA standards of competency. If a 609 shows that a pilot has poor judgment or ignores safe operating practices the FAA can pull his license under FAR 91.13.

Equipment failure can be accepted by the FAA if you have displayed a good working knowledge of POH procedures. Emergencies do happen and not just to others. Improper knowledge of operation or procedures will use up your options faster than anything else.

The 609 Ride has become the 44709 Ride
Have an accident, violate an FAR and get caught? Expect a phone call from your local FAA FSDO office. The flight standards district office examiner will give you a checkride in which you will be required to prove your competence in the area of your problem. Initially, you must prove that all the aircraft and personal paperwork is in perfect compliance. Study all the FARs, the AIM, and the POH until you know it as never before. The examiner wants to know what you know before beginning the checkride. You can never be too well prepared for the oral part of the checkride.


Knowing When Not to Talk
--Just as you don't talk to your wife about your girl friends, neither should to talk to the FAA about your flying
--Anything you say, write, or tape (all ATC communications are recorded, can be used as evidence against you.
--You are required to make available to the FAA your certificate, medical, logbook and maintenance records.
--Your aircraft must have airworthiness and registration papers available and visible.
--If you are invited to call ATC and given a phone number to use. It is better to respond if they have the facts.
--Do not engage in an extended conversation with them without having a legal presence on your behalf there.
--Make any response that you do give appropriate, truthful, and candid.
--You must respond if ATC requests subsequent to your calling for an emergency. FAR 91.3(c) 91.123(d)

Ramp Check (See People for more)
FAA Order No. 8700.1 allows an FAA inspector who becomes informed of an unsafe operation to conduct a ramp inspection. In an investigating of FAR violations you do not have many rights. The FAA can be the accuser, prosecutor and judge. The investigator need not tell you he is from the FAA, advise you of any rights, or advise you of what you must do or not do in response to any questions and demands. The rules are so complex that the FAA could bust practically every pilot for something on any given flight.

The FAA Aviation Safety Inspectors (ASI) usually inspect in pairs. One checks aircraft while the other checks pilots. The aircraft must have proper airworthiness and registration certificates. Papers must include appropriate markings, placards, and current approved flight manual and weight and balance papers. IFR operations require VOR log, altimeter, test records, as well as transponder and ELT records of compliance. Current charts must be available.

The pilot must have a certificate with the appropriate ratings and limitations for the operation being flown. The medical must be current and of the proper class. You are required to present, but not to hand over, your certificates, medical and aircraft documents. Aircraft documents include current aeronautical charts. Having non-current charts available can be construed as a violation. Only students must show their logbook. You should not have your logbook with you. If you show it, the inspector will check it for recent experience, Flight Review, and instrument currency. Be careful how you log flight time. FAR 61.59 indicates that any intentional falsification of a logbook to meet some regulatory requirement is grounds for suspension or revocation of a certificate.

Since the inspector does not have the right to detain you it is wise to leave at once to make that important interview. Don't talk to strangers about your flying. The FAR deck is stacked against the pilot in favor of the government but the informed pilot has a line of defense that begins with AOPA legal plan insurance. The FAA can have its way with you and your certificates by taking civil action.

The FAA in Washington D.C. annually selects priorities for ramp checks. Ramp checks cover operations, maintenance, and avionics. AOPA has a booklet "Overview of FAA Enforcement Actions" which explains how to handle a ramp check problem.

If the FAA chooses to prosecute an FAR violation they will address the pilot with a letter requesting a response to the charge. This is notice to you to obtain an AOPA attorney and follow his advice. Your side is entitled to a copy of your FAA file. If you filed a NASA report the prosecution stops dead. If not, you could request remedial training. The action becomes an administrative procedure with no penalty or suspension and expunging after two years. 50% of the violations take this route.

The FARs/FAA have built in traps for the unwary pilot. FAR 61.15 requires the reporting of certain vehicle convictions. What it doesn't say is that two different reports are required. The pilot is supposed to know this. Airmen are expected and obliged to know the regulations and ignorance is no defense. The second report must be made to the FAA's Civil Aviation Security Division. The FAA will prosecute!! The initial contact with you may be a phone call or a request for you to make a phone call. A common pilot error is to talk too much. Don't say anything that will add to the information they already have. The best response may be that you cannot talk without getting legal advice. One of the best services offered by AOPA is its legal service insurance.

FAR violations rely on the principle of preponderance of substantial, reliable and probative evidence. It is important to note that the administrative law judges tend to consider the AIM as regulatory, even though it is advisory. This is much less burden than for a crime. If found guilty, you can appeal to an administrative law judge for the NTSB and then to the full NTSB. Civil fines of $50,000 and revocation of license are possible.

The FAA like the IRS has been granted police powers that defy description. The word 'operate' means the same as operational control. With the FAA these meanings are co-mingled. The non-flying pilot may be found in violation because of what the flying pilot did. The owner on the ground may be found also in violation. Is there a defense against just who the FAA may go after. No. FAR 91.3(b) allows a pilot to deviate from any other FAR in the event of an emergency. The caveat to this is that you must have no responsibility in causing the emergency. Further, you must have deviated only to the extent needed to resolve the emergency. The FAA gets to second guess you on this every time. The FAA may well expect a pilot to have exercised both judgment and skills that far exceed both is knowledge and experience.

Ramp Check Advice
--Be polite and cooperative but if you have something to hide call your attorney.
--Verify the FAA identification
--Get witnesses
--Ask why you, why now, why this
--Do not volunteer information.
--They can inspect your certificate but not take it.
--Don't fly if FAA finds something wrong with you or the aircraft.
--Correct, immediately, any discrepancies.

Ramp Check 'Rights'?
In 25 years I have see but one ramp check by the FAA. And there I was without my wallet. A call to my wife and her quick delivery saved my day. I recently talked to a pilot at a remote Oregon airport who was on a 90 day suspension for making a low pass over the runway, so it happens. A pilot has fewer rights than the most vicious criminal under the FARs. 14 cfr 61.3(H) Inspection of Certificate says "Each person who hold a pilot certificate...required by this part shall present it for inspection upon request..." 14 CFR 61.51(d) requires that logbooks must be furnished on request.

Be polite and cooperative they do not need a warrant or to advise you of your rights. Ask to see identification and the reason for the check. You do not need to answer any questions. Copy down information and make a tape if you can. Get some witnesses. You are more likely to get yourself into trouble by talking. Don't volunteer information. Show but do not hand over any documents. The investigator does not have the right to touch or board your aircraft.

After the ramp check, you and any witnesses, should document what happened and then seek legal advice. Use a tape recorder. Do not allow inspector to ground you or your aircraft. He can give advice. Certificate must be presented for viewing (not given to) by any enforcement officer. Show it to them, don't give it to them.
--Any drug or alcohol conviction must be reported to the FAA within 60 days.

FAR 91.17 is effective even if you appear to be intoxicated. You cannot use the 'emergency' word to escape FAA enforcement of a situation of your own making. You are prohibited from carrying passengers under the influence as well as the drugs. FAR 91.19(a) Your knowledge that a drug situation exists is all it takes to be in violation.

FAR 61.15(e) requires reporting to the FAA ANY motor vehicle action related to alcohol or drugs. The report must be made to the FAA security forces. Failure to report is the most common cause for loss of a pilot's license.

--A third class medical is valid for three years for those under 40 and for two years for those over 40.
--A pilot is required to receive ground, flight training, and a one time endorsement for complex aircraft, high-performance
aircraft, and high altitude operations above 25,000'.
--The two year flight review can be replaced by completion of a phase of the 'wings' program, and a new rating or certificate.
--Recognition of critical weather situations, wind shear avoidance, and aeronautical decision making and judgment are now required areas of instrument rating knowledge

The PIC is totally responsible by FAR for aircraft airworthiness, logbooks, certificates, papers, or aircraft condition. The pilot who attracts attention is likely to also attract a ramp check When happens then will follow very specific FAA guidelines. The Inspector must identify himself and show his/her credentials. Then in sequence the pilot papers, aircraft papers, aircraft inspection and a review of the findings follows. You must hand over your papers and they must be handed back. The aircraft is expected to have current ARROW papers as well as charts and plates. Weight and balance papers will be more acceptable if they include worse case figures to prove that you know the outer limits. The last phase is a like a close preflight inspection both interior and exterior but does not remove inspection plates or an engine start. Anything found wrong or requiring repair will be noted of FAA Form 8620-1 Aircraft Condition Notice. This notice and inspection usually requires the presence of an airworthiness inspector. This Aircraft Condition Notice can be issued without the presence of owner or a pilot.

The inspection should be discussed with the PIC. If you pass the check, you should be complimented. If a discrepancy is found you will be informed that a compliance investigation will follow to determine if corrections are made or if an FAR violation occurred. Don't fly if the aircraft is found to be unairworthy.

Try to invite someone over to watch the proceeding. The FAA gristmill grinds slowly but very fine.

The FAA Timer
The pilot, who is surprised, ambushed and defeated by an accident or investigation cannot avoid dealing with the FAA. Violation of the "When doubt, don't; when in doubt, get out" rule is subject to the always correct FAA retrospective analysis. This deductive process never fails because the conclusion is known. Perfect 20/20 hindsight. When an investigation occurs it is relatively easy for the FAA to back up through the preceding events to determine the precipitating causes. You can't crash without breaking a FAR; you can't even get into an airplane today without breaking the FARs. Pilot caused accidents have a very high correlation with deliberate violation of the FARs.

The FAA has a timer used to track the sequence leading to an accident or investigation.
--Every tick of the timer occurs with the arrival of a negative factor.
--Training will consist of both positive and negative factors. When negative factors exist the timer moves on...
--Every lesson remembered can stop the timer, a lesson unlearned, misapplied or forgotten and the timer is on...
--Experience also is both positive and negative learning. When failure to learn predominates the timer moves on...
--Events are both positive and negative and as they occur the countdown either stops or continues on...
--Every hazard contains both an opportunity to stop the timer or to move it ahead...
--The weather gives warnings of things to come...
--The aircraft gives warnings of things to come...

After the accident the FAA gets to take a brand-new timer and retraces all the time leading up to the accident. For every moment the FAA will be able to propose what you could have done and should have done but didn't do to stop the timer. The hours you have flown in the past don't count on this. A new FAA timer starts the moment you start thinking about your next flight.

You vs. the FAA
The FAA has considerable discretionary power. It can decide either way at the whim of the investigator either to seek enforcement action or not. The FAA can test the fitness of a pilot at any time as was done to Bob Hoover. The element of fairness is based entirely on the FAA determination of fairness. A pilot may be given the benefit of doubt but not necessarily so. The best way to make a flight decision where safety is involved is to use the decision-making process that best answers the question, "What would you tell an FAA board of inquiry?" This decision making process will help you make the right choice.

FAA actions are civil so you have no right against self incrimination. You must take the stand at a hearing and you must answer any questions that are not incriminating. You can answer any questions that you want. You can refuse to answer incriminating questions. The burden of proof remains with the FAA and it must prove any violations and can use what you say any time, anywhere, to anyone, against you. Hearsay evidence is admissible.

What the FAA does in both regulation and enforcement seldom reveals an understanding of the situation to determine competency. Weather, fuel emergencies, ignorance, lack of proficiency and equipment misuse usually results in a 609 (Now re-numbered)  or an equivalent training program. The FAA under Section 609 of the Federal Aviation Act of 1958 can make you take a re-examination whenever it wants.

A re-examination letter from the FAA will tell you:
(1) Why you are being tested,
(2) Your certificate/rating being tested,
(3) Type of test flight, oral, or written,, and
(4) Aircraft required

The FARs are a system of regulation that goes far beyond what is reasonable and does little to make flying better. The pilot's ability to exercise common sense without declaring an emergency is basically forbidden by the FARs. Under the current FARs it is nearly impossible to always fly an airworthy aircraft.

The pilot responsibility for doing what is reasonable is so regulated that any activity becomes subject to enforcement by 'second guessing' by the FAA. The regulators are so bound in their regulations that the system prevents the exercise of common sense. The system is suffocating itself and aviation by making perfect regulation the goal. This search for perfect regulation has made the system so technical that it can no longer serve as a guide. No one can either fully understand or interpret the FARs to the flying public. The regulators are forbidden to offer interpretations. Ask the FAA for assistance on the FARs will get you only direct quotations. Interpretations or common sense applications are not permitted.

The FARs have given the FAA unlimited and arbitrary authority over the flying public. The FARs are worded so that uncertainty is commonplace and any application of regulatory fairness puts the regulator in jeopardy. The flying public has come to accept and recognize that everyone and everything is the enemy. FAR compliance approaches the impossible and FAA enforcement will be unpredictable and disproportionate to the situation. Flying today has less to do with actual flying and more to do with regulations against flying. The running of the regulatory system dominates FAA energy and limits any decision-making capacity. Most FARs do not achieve original purposes. Re-written, amended or supplemented one regulation leads to ever expanding rules that evade interpretations. All of this abetted by a bureaucracy that is itself so regulated that it never deals with the world as it is.

If an FAA agent should feel that the matter is an emergency, he is empowered to revoke your right to fly immediately. There is no way, other than a federal court injunction, that the pilot can stop this revocation. The pilot, in reality, can expect no recourse except before the NTSB. Until then, no flying.

The bureaucracy has its priorities so skewed to following a process that responsibility for making a decision fades away. We become angry for the way the system works or doesn't work rather than for what it does or doesn't do. Failure to act, to delay, or to outlast any opposition is the name of the bureaucratic game. Airmen win fewer than 15% of cases brought before the National Transportation Board judges and less than 10% of the cases brought before the board itself.

You and the FAA
Any time a pre-existing condition results in an accident the FAA assumes that the problem would have been detected by an adequate preflight. An enforcement action is almost certain to follow. Your first notice will be a letter of investigation. You have ten days to respond.

Your response may be not to say anything and to contact an attorney. When the FAA decides to proceed it will send a Notice of Proposed Certificate Action which involves a 30-day suspension. Additionally you will get a Notice of Proposed Civil Penalty.
Now you have four options:
1. Surrender your certificate
2. Ask for an informal meeting with an FAA attorney
3. Submit a written answer
4. Request the order be issued so you can appeal to NTSB

If the informal meeting cannot resolve the situation the FAA will issue an Order of Suspension. You have 20 days to appeal, which allows you to a hearing before an administrative law judge of the NTSB with a complete transcript of the proceeding made. At the conclusion of the hearing the judge will make a decision. Any appeal of this decision must be made within ten days to the NTSB. If again you wish to appeal the decision of the NTSB you may be do so to the United States Court of Appeals. Should you proceed through the entire process bring money, unless you have taken advantage of the AOPA certificate insurance program.

A Personal Experience
Several years ago, I flew a C-172 for maintenance to a nearby airport. The maintenance people called in the FAA to report that the firewall was bent as was the nose-wheel fork. Cited for an inadequate preflight for not detecting these defects and thus flying an unairworthy aircraft, I was subjected to a 14-month enforcement action. An investigation was made with interviews and depositions taken. Every few months I would hear from the FAA. I attended a hearing with my attorney. Numerous letters and phone calls to attorneys took place. A second investigation took place with interviews of all concerned.

Your life can be miserable for many months. The FAA procedure knows that it can outlast your lifetime. The best you can hope for is to break even. I did once; it took fourteen months and repeated interviews. Then all at once it ended when I was asked over the phone, "Did you have any problems on the flight?"

I answered, "No".

"Well the plane must have been airworthy then." and he hung up.

The un-necessity of it all still haunts me.

The end result of the second investigation was that a preflight had no way of detecting the defects without removal of the cowling and faring. Since the flight had taken place without incident, the aircraft must have been airworthy. Common sense prevailed at a disproportionate expenditure of time, money and emotion.

November 2003:
Just remembered another situation that gives you an idea of how things can go wrong with the FAA.  I had a student who, while with multiple ratings from a Texas flight school was less than competent in flight basics.  I took him over to the Skaggs Island VOR to work on his tracking skills.  Nearby was a Navy facility.

At 900' our aircraft bothered a NCO who was giving drill instructions to a company of men.  Every five minutes we would fly near his training area.

The next day I received a phone call from the FAA.  I was queried as to what
minimum altitude I had maintained in the vicinity of the troops.  I had worked my
student intensively on not only tracking but also on maintaining altitude.   I stated that we had not flown below 900' AGL at any time.  With that he hung up.  A few days later my student informed me that he had also had a call and had given collaborative information to what I had said.  The two calls had actually occurred within a few minutes of each other.  Nothing further was done nor warranted. You just never know!!.

We Need to Be Saved from Our Saviors.
No matter how much care you take there are many FAA 'gotchas' just lying in wait. What the FAA, wants the FAA usually gets. All the non-flyers down there can expect to have their word taken by the FAA/NTSB before those of pilots. Additionally, in many states, an FAA violation for careless or reckless flying is a state felony. It is not just an FAA fine, you could go to jail and never legally fly again. Even as a non-participant you could be deemed a con-conspirator just by owning the aircraft or property involved. Be careful never to loan or lease your aircraft or property. The lesson is that if the government in a civil action decides it wants everything you own, they can get it. In government civil actions the burden of proof rests on you. Getting back what rightfully belongs to you may well cost more than it's worth. The government knows this and takes full advantage.

If you happen to be a flight instructor you will be held to a much higher FAA standard of conduct and competence. The FARs presume that the flight instructor is skilled in detection of potentially dangerous flight situations. The FAA presumes that when a dangerous situation does occur the instructor will be skilled enough to perform a salvage operation before an accident occurs. As of January 1997 the civil fine is $1,100 per violation per day with future increases based on the consumer price index rounded off to the nearer $100, the nearer $1,000

FAR 61.15(d)
Reporting a vehicle violation on your medical application does not comply with FAR 61.15. A DUI citation is called an "action" do not wait for either trial date or judgment. The report must be within 60 days.
To:
FAA, Aviation Security Division (AMC-700)
Post Office Box 25810, Oklahoma City, OK 73125

Each phase DUI case constitutes an action. The citation is one action, any hearing is an action, and any judgment is an action. You must report each action even if it is part of the same incident even though it all counts as only one offense under the vehicle code. You are far more likely to lose your license for failure to report an action than you are for the actual offense. You are responsible for knowing what to do.

Section 61.15(e)
What to do if as a pilot you should have a DUI, DWI or DWAI MVA (Motor Vehicle Action) that results in any of the following: suspension, cancellation, revocation, denial or conviction. Reporting on your medical application is NOT enough. You must send the following report to the Civil Aviation Security Division, in Oklahoma City, within 60 days of an MVA. A sample follows:

Federal Aviation Administration
Civil Aviation Security Division AMC-700
P.O. Box 25810
Oklahoma City, OK 731235
Date: (within 60 days of MVA)
Sir or Madam:
I submit the following information per FAR 61.15(e)
1. (Name, Address, Date of Birty, Airman Certificate Rating and Number)
2, (Type of violation causing MVA)
3. (Date of MVA)
4. (State holding record of MVA)
5. (Was the MVA from incident or circumstance previously reported?)

Signed:

FAA Courtesy Evaluation Program
This is a no-penalty program in which the pilot brings his aircraft to the FAA for purposes of evaluation. This evaluation will include piloting skills, maintenance requirements, placard system checks, and AD requirements. Any failure in compliance may require a ferry permit, counseling, to allow movement for compliance. Seems like a much better way to go than the usual six-month suspension to improve your flying skills.

The FAA Tries Again
The FAA's 'Streamlined Administrative Action Program' or SAAP. Once a FSDO inspector is aware of a possible violation he does not need to investigate. They are supposed to use SAAP procedure by telling the 'victim' immediately why a violation has occurred and enforcement action will be taken. anything the 'victim' says can and will be used against him including his compliance attitude. It may be best just to say that you wish to take some time to study the matter in private.

When the inspector enters the violation into the computer a letter relating to the matter is sent to the 'victim. This may just be a 'don't do it again' notice or may request a response within 30 days. This all may be expunged from the FAA database after two years. An inspector may or may not follow up on a SAAP he has initiated.

The two-year hold by the FAA on the alleged violation leaves you in limbo without trial or appeal rights.  There is no oversight over the inspector or what he does.

FAA Administrative Action
Should you receive a letter from the FAA advising you of an administrative action, you should contact an aviation attorney through your AOPA insurance plan. You do have the plan, don't you? Cheap protection. No hearing is required by this letter since it is a warning not to do what you did, again.

The administrative action is taken instead of a legal action if certain conditions are met.
1. Pilot must be qualified
2. Violation must be inadvertent
3. Violation was not done with disregard for safety
4. Pilot has constructive (read submissive) attitude
5. Violation does not show trend…
6. Constructive attitude factors
a. Involved with FAA Accident Prevention Program
b. Involved with Pilot Proficiency Award Program
c. Involved with Pilot and aircraft courtesy Evaluation
d. Attends Accident Prevention Program safety seminars on violation
e. Attends Industry-conducted safety seminars on violation

Runway Incursions and Immunity
The FAA has instituted a program called the Runway Incursion Information and Evaluation Program (RIIEP). Should a pilot commit an incursion the FAA has given 'assurances' that the usual enforcement action will not be taken. If…
1. The pilot is cooperative

2. The FAA does not plan to use any information obtained during interviews under the RIIEP in any FAA punitive legal enforcement action.

This program does not provide the protections available under the Aviation Safety Reporting System of NASA. The ASRS system seems to offer a better guarantee. 

The Hoover Bill
If the FAA grounds a pilot/mechanic on an emergency basis; you can immediately appeal the emergency aspect to the NTSB. The NTSB must review the 'emergency' aspect and can reverse the grounding. The pilot/mechanic has 48 hours to appeal; The grounding could last five days while the NTSB reviews the case and 60 days to make a final decision.

Your Certificate
The piece of paper the FAA has given you has not given you authorization to do anything. You get this piece of paper because on one occasion you have been tested and have demonstrated your qualifications. Your piece of paper is a testimonial by the Designated Examiner that you have met the minimum standards required by the FARs as written in the PTS. FAA provides no guarantee with this piece of paper. You can lose your certificates by losing your medical or by administrative action initiated by FARs in some way.

You may not possess two copies of a valid airman certificate. If you send your $2 to the Airman Certification Branch, they will want either your old certificate or a signed, dated statement. They can be reached at 405-954-3261. If you lose your medical, see your AME first. If it's urgent - say, you work as a pilot - call the Aeromedical Certification Branch, 405-954-4821.

Are You Violated?
Forgot to close your flight plan? The question to ask is whether someone has filed a FAA Form 8020-17 (Preliminary Pilot Deviation Report) with the local FSDO, or plan to do so. That form will contain the information about your flight plan, N#, pilot's name on the FP, your failure to close it, etc. If the FSDO is notified then you may get a call from an Aviation Safety Inspector asking you about circumstances of the incident and a friendly reminder that you need to comply with the foregoing regulation in the future. If the FSS did not file any report then that's the end of it.

FAA's Streamlined Administration Action Process
--Pilot should get an aviation attorney
--Observed FAR violations will elicit a Warning Notice, Letter of Correction or Letter of Investigation.
--As the subject of an administrative action you have no right to due process, hearings or appeals to these letters.
--A Warning Letter is notice by FAA that an FAR violation has occurred.
--The notice is in the pilot's FAA file for two years.
--A Letter of Correction means the pilot is expected to get remedial training.
--A Letter of Investigation is first notice to pilot that the FAA is making an investigation.
--The pilot may be offered remedial opportunities. Respond.
--Offer may be withdrawn and anything you have written may be used against you.
--Anything you write can affect your future licensing/certificate prospects.
--Way you fill out an insurance policy could affect what you do or don't do with an administrative action.

FAA's Expunction Program
Copy of your file at FAA: Attn: AFS-624 (405/f954-4655)
--Program began in 1992 to purge records of old pilot violations.
--Means FAA no longer consider event as part of pilot's record.
--Removes records over five years old. Mistakes are made, so check your files.
--Time varies depending on severity of violation and penalty.
--Five years for suspension of certificate or civil penalty.
--Two years for administrative action letter.
--Revocation of certificate…indeterminate.
--90 days for closed case with no action.
--No expunge for pending cases.
--Failure to answer employment, insurance or other forms honestly may invalidate paper.

Airport Accident Response Team
Managers and personnel act in a time-critical situation that begins with:

(1)--Notification. The process at http://www.stsb.gov/all/legal.htm & http://www.faa.gov/arp/150/5200-31
--Nearest Flight Standards Distric Office (FSDO)
--Any flight Service Station
--any air Traffic Control Tower
--FAA Hotline 1-800-255-1111
In case of:
--Accident
--Control problem
--Crew incapacitation
--Turbine structural failure
--In-flight fire
--In flight collision
--$25,000 property damage
--Plane overdue and in accident

(2)--Controlling the scene
--Remove surviving victims
--Protect wreckage
--Protect public
--Protect rescue personnel
--Hazardous chemicals on aircraft
--Body fluids

(3)--Working with FAA/NTSB investigators
--FAA investigators
--NTSB investigators
--State aviation personnel
--Law enforcement personnel
-Rescue personnel
--Overview of process.

(4)FAA and NTSB run parallel investigations but driven by different motives.
--The FAA is looking for something or someone to blame and prosecute. Prevention usually comes through the creation of an new FAR. (My opinion)
--The NTSB is looking for something or someone who can keep it from happening again. Prevention usually comes through trying to get the FAA to change a mode of operation. (My opinion)
--NTSB makes any financial decisions required.
--NTSB and the FAA share control of the investigation.
--The NTSB writes no regulations and files no violations. It is the public’s representative.

--NTSB will accept outside opinions about accidents.

--NTSB accident investigations are never ‘closed’.
–FARs do not allow any NTSB data to be used in a law suit.
--NTSB has two reports on an accident 1) the investigators report and 2) highlights and probable cause.
--NTSB never uses guesswork in determining probable cause of an accident.
--The FAA has people who specialize in the asking of questions during an investigation.

--The FAA/NTSB system presumes that everything will follow regulations which are only minimums.

--FAA records are destroyed after 30-days unless a situation warrants retention.

--NTSB will respond to your questions when asked by your senator or representative.

--The FAA assumes that a pilot will become knowledgeable about an aircraft before flying it.

Aerial Interception Procedures
--Intercepting aircraft should fly slight ahead, above and to the left side
--It will rock its wings and irregularly flash its navigation lights indicating that you are to follow.
--Try to establish contact on 121.5
--Squawk 7700
--Landing requirement is shown by interceptor lowering gear
--Unwilling to land indicated by raising gear and flashing landing lights
--Alternate airport shown by interceptor raising gear and flashing nav lights.
--Use radio to get clarification of conflicting signals.
--A 'break away' is permission to proceed 

When will the FAA Do the Right Thing?
--It takes one or more accidents to produce a NTSB recommendation.
--It takes one or more accidents to produce an FAA regulation.
--What we have is an aviation system built upon the bodies of dead pilots and passengers.
--Even deaths have not prevented governmental lethargy from prolonging the agony of more to come.
--Speaking of deaths, governmental lethargy delayed the ILS and contributed to thousands of deaths.
--Governmental lethargy has delayed the installation of truly safe seat harness in aircraft.
--Lethargy has delayed the installation of rearward facing seats raising survivable impact from 42 to 85Gs.
--Some things just need to be done for pilots and passengers just as we do things for the safety of children.
--Since 1903, 4/5 aircraft occupants ever killed would have been alive in 1975 had they had shoulder harness.
--How long will our government continue to knowingly kill pilots and smokers by not doing the right thing? 

Possible Pilot Deviation
--This followed by request to call a specific phone number means BIG trouble.
--It is too late to talk your way out. The computer does not leave it up to the controller.
--Anything you say or do will be used against you.
--What you say on the radio is recorded and can be saved and used against you.
--You must reply if you have declared an emergency and the FAA wants to know why.
--You must submit your logbooks for FAA inspection when requested to do so.
--You must respond to information requests of the NTSB
--A reply to an FAA letter of investigation can and will be used against you.
--During a phone call a pilot often unnecessarily say things that will hurt their case.
--You must avoid giving incriminating information to the FAA.
--You have no affirmative duty to say ANYTHING to the FAA.
--There is no legal or moral reason for you to say anything to the FAA.(Exceptions below)
--Do not admit being in the airplane
--If you are asked to call the tower on landing…better not ….
--Complain about reception and ask for another frequency.
--ATC asks for your position or altitude you will probably incriminate yourself
--I once reported a pilot to the FAA for flying within 500 feet of my aircraft. The FAA's question was, "How do you know?" My response was that I was doing ground reference with a student at l500' and the other pilot simulated an emergency landing below me while with two young boys. Nothing ever came of it.
--Send in your ASRS (Get out of Jail Free) letter as soon as you get home from the flight.
--What follows is one of the 'additional services' provided by the FAA.
--The trouble lies with an intrusion, incursion or loss of separation.
--The ATC computer tells the controller to notify the pilot and give a phone number.
--You may not be notified if the controller is too busy.
--The appropriate data is compiled on Form 8020-17 and signed by the facility manager for distribution
--The data goes to the Regional Flight Standards, the Flight Standards District, the Washington Headquarters for significant deviations involving air carriers or important people.
--The controller is also subject to the investigation to follow.
--ATC quality control takes any deviation out of the hands of the controller and pilot.
--FAA Aviation Inspectors will prepare FAA Form 2150-5, the Enforcement Investigation Report.
--The report includes a radar plot, controller's observations, re-recording of ATC tapes and pilot statements.
--FAA Aviation Inspectors will seek a pilot interview.
--THE PILOT SHOULD ALWAYS DECLINE THE INTERVIEW BY SAYING,
"Thank you for bringing the matter to my attention. I will look into it and respond as appropriate."
--Second choice is not to say anything. Silence cannot betray you.
--Decline all opportunities to explain what happened. Especially trained people try to lure you on.
--A meeting of FAA personnel with the pilot and his attorney takes place with several possible outcomes.
--No action, reconsideration of data, a warning, a letter of correction, remedial training, reexamination, issuance of violation and sanction, certificate action (suspension or revocation), a civil monetary penalty or criminal action.
--The FAA has secretly decided not to compromise any violation of national security notams. Violations will always result in a l50 to 240-day suspension.
--The timely filing of the ASRS form has resulted in waiver of the penalty.
--15 years ago my own case took over 14 months of 'sweat and litigation' to avoid a $500 fine. Reconsideration resulted in 'no action'. AOPA insurance paid for itself many times over.
--You and your attorney are not given the conclusions and analyses of the investigator.
--There is no way to stop the proceedings.
--At hearing explain only the following:
1. Deviation was result of following ATC instructions.
2. Emergency, not of your making, occurred.
3. Response to a TCAS radar advisory.

Aviation Transportation Security Act of 2001
--FAA and Transportation Security Administration's new regulations
--Precedents and rules are contrary to established legal proceeding
--Constitutional individual rights and due process are missing
--Definitions of 'security threat, access by accused, hearings and appeals process are deficient.
--TSA holds sole authority to appeal.
--Room for political and governmental abuse

Re-examination flight with the FAA "709" ride (Now the 44709)
In United States Code Title 49, Subtitle VII (Aviation Programs), Part A (Air Commerce & Safety), Subpart iii (Safety), Chapter 447 (Safety Regulation), Section 44709 (Amendments, modifications, suspensions, and revocations of certificates).
Part (a) Reinspection and Reexamination states: "The Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration may reinspect at any time a civil aircraft, aircraft engine, propeller, appliance, air navigation facility, or air agency, or reexamine an airman holding a certificate issued under section 44703 of this title."

Your Pilot Records
The date of issue on a pilot certificate must correspond to the date the current FAA administrator signs it. It must also be consistent with the FAA's current certificate format to be valid. However, if you need a record of your original certificate. You can obtain a copy of your airman certification records. Submit a signed, written request stating your name, date of birth, and social security and/or certificate number to: FAA, Airmen Certification Branch, AFS-760, Post Office Box 25082,

Crime and Punishment
Here are some common FAA actions and the resulting fines and/or suspensions*:
ACTION SUSPENSION/FINE*
Failure to produce pilot's log/certificate upon request 30 days

Runway incursion 60 days
Exceeding speed limit 60 days
Landing or taking off from a closed runway 60 days

Failure to make owner maintenance entry $550 fine

Initiating a below-minimums approach 90 days
Class B incursion 90 days
Exceeding flight and duty time limitations 90 days
CFIs exceeding flight time limitations 90 days
Altitude deviation 90 days
Taxi without clearance 90 days
Hand propping without qualified person at controls 90 days

Carrying passengers without 90 day/night currency 120 days

Failure to comply with airworthiness directives 180 days
Flying beyond inspection interval 180 days
Expired medical 180 days
Flying beyond a 100 hr. inspection 180 days
Landing at towered airport when visibility is below 3 miles 180 days
Flying an aircraft with outstanding ADs 180 days

Conducting 135 ops under Part 91 Revocation
Failure to comply with conditions of medical Revocation
Falsification of reports Revocation

Flight below minimum safe altitudes 120-180 days

Fuel mismanagement/exhaustion 150 days
* Suspensions and fines are typical penalties for each infraction. Actual penalties could differ.
  Even minor infractions can result in serious penalties.

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