Got a Call from FSDO Today..

AKBill

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AKBill
Got a call from the local FSDO today. I aborted a take off last Sunday because I had no airspeed indication when the plane was ready to rotate. Ice in the pito tube. The tube had a cover on it and it was removed prior to flight.

I heated the tube and cleared the blockage and took off no problems. I did check the tube prior to the flight and it looked good.

Nice chat with Matthew from FSDO, just never had FSDO call me for an aborted take off before.
 
Sounds a little like big brother getting carried away.
 
Lol
...oh FAA

i-helped.jpg
 
@AKBill I had a similar situation a few months ago. I departed my towered home field and noticed oil coming out on my left engine on the cowl. I was IFR and told departure I was returning to land and verified I was NOT an emergency. Got cleared for the visual approach. Landed, shut down the left and taxied back to my hangar. It was just the oil filler cap didn't seat properly. I cleaned everything up and departed for my weekend to Mackinac Island. A couple weeks later I get a crappy letter from the FSDO essentially asking for information about my "declared non-emergency event" and what I did to make my aircraft airworthy again. After I cooled down from the crappy/trying to be scary/power-trip letter I replied. I explained to him that indeed every flight I make is automatically a non-emergency, regardless of declaration, and that the oil cap was simply not seated properly. I replied using my work email and really wanted to follow up with his boss to explain why the general flying public has such a bad feeling (boarder line disdain) about the FSDO in general but just let it go. They could have asked for information about the "event" in a very different/more professional way.

Not everyone in the FAA is the same but some leave you shaking your head.
 
I got one once because the gear would not come up in our Cessna 340. It was on an IFR flight and the overcast was maybe 2500. After takeoff I canceled IFR and landed VFR. All the FAA wanted to see was the maintenance entry to fix the problem, non event. Squat switch had failed.
 
So you had the pitot cover on or it was iced up? Whats the rest of the story?
 
I had a forced landing at a towered airport a couple of years ago, and I never heard boo about it from anybody.
 
Glad you were ok and were still on the ground when you saw something like that come up. Good catch!
 
I recently heard the FAA is making informal inquiries of such things, at least at towered airports, on the possibility they involve airworthiness issues, but this is the first one I've heard actually taking place.
 
It's weird, how this stuff works.
I was returning to my home field in the summer of 2016 and developed a very rough engine at anything more than 60% power. Below that it was OK.
At 4 miles to final, it started getting worse, so I contacted the tower to let them know I had a rough engine, and one passenger aboard.
I told them "No emergency". I was either going to make the runway, or it would be the Department of Transportation's problem as there is absolutely nowhere else to go but the highway.
The engine quit when the wheels touched down, I coasted off the runway, and surprise, it restarted. I taxied back, filled out a squawk sheet and went home.
Six flights later, I had performed five engine out landings. They couldn't figure out what was going wrong. The manufacturer finally sent a rep/mechanic who discovered that some hose was flexing and choking off one of the carbs.
I never got a call from the FSDO. Not one.
Fast forward a year and a little bit.
A couple months ago the engine in the Cub quit while I was in the pattern at a non-towered airport. Old 65hp engines with wooden props don't like to go slow in cold weather, it's just a fact of life. I didn't even have to shorten my usual approach by more than 100 feet to hit my "spot".
I got out, pulled on the prop and flew for another hour.
I was home within 2 hours of the "incident", and the FSDO had already called my home phone.
They didn't offer up how they knew about the "incident", or how they knew I was flying the plane, and I didn't ask. The conversation was very cordial, and lasted less than 10 minutes.
I think it twisted them a little bit by not asking.
 
Must your technique @Shepherd with all those engine outs. ;)

In the interests of full disclosure: It was a newish Light Sport plane, and I was doing wingovers and chandelles. It seems the high bank maneuvers were causing the problem, and were never actually tested by the manufacturer.
Live and learn. Hopefully.
 
Something needs to be done about this. Every takeoff is an aborted takeoff unless everything works out right. No one has the right to question an airman’s ADM in these situations. This ever happens to me I will tell them to pound sand in the most unkind language and attitude I can. This is everyone at the FAA’s fault.

No one should be faced with a harrowing situation like this and have the worry about what someone at the FAA thinks.
 
Something needs to be done about this. Every takeoff is an aborted takeoff unless everything works out right. No one has the right to question an airman’s ADM in these situations. This ever happens to me I will tell them to pound sand in the most unkind language and attitude I can. This is everyone at the FAA’s fault.

No one should be faced with a harrowing situation like this and have the worry about what someone at the FAA thinks.

I have watched a few people take that approach. Regardless of how wrong the inspector was it always turned out bad for the person that took a hairy **** on the FAA employee. Perhaps not that day but eventually they regretted being a dick to the feds.

Good luck
 
new pilot, so pardon the dumb question.. but oil coming out from running engine, rough engine .. why on earth will you not declare?
My decision matrix for declaring:
If I need priority handling to land - declare
If I want the fire trucks standing by-declare
If I have to deviate from a clearance - declare

Any other abnormal I’ll advise atc only if the situation causes performance limitations that affect my ability to comply with normal instructions or standard performance expectations. In these cases I don’t declare

Edit
If I’m not operating in an atc environment I don’t make any effort to contact atc unless I’m going in off airport
 
I want to say I've departed IFR, realized I forgot something, cancelled and landed to go get it. Am I going to get a phone call, too?

I think the proper response will be, "I am happy to answer any and all questions my attorney deems reasonable." *click*


new pilot, so pardon the dumb question.. but oil coming out from running engine, rough engine .. why on earth will you not declare?

Because not everything is an emergency.
 
The way I read the OP was the call was more of an inquiry, not a reprimand.

I don’t think it was a big enough deal to get into a p’ing match with the Feds.
 
Funny, the never contacted me when I aborted my takeoff due to an open door...
 
I want to say I've departed IFR, realized I forgot something, cancelled and landed to go get it. Am I going to get a phone call, too?

I think the proper response will be, "I am happy to answer any and all questions my attorney deems reasonable." *click*




Because not everything is an emergency.
May be, but rough running engine or oil spitting out of run ing engine in the air sounds like an emergency to me

Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk
 
Funny, the never contacted me when I aborted my takeoff due to an open door...
Same here. I closed down teterboro for about 10 mins while the airport authority guys ran around picking up all the paper that blew out my door when it opened. Tower asked me if I wanted my crap back before I took off. I said no and hustled butt out of there. Never heard a word from anyone.
 
new pilot, so pardon the dumb question.. but oil coming out from running engine, rough engine .. why on earth will you not declare?

I would probably declare and emergency depending on the severity of the problem.

I have declared an emergency for low oil pressure on takeoff and there was very little to manage afterward.

The FAA calls we short and to the point asking for log book entries.

I got a lot of calls from individuals at the police and fire departments to see if I was OK.

It was comforting to here "all runways and taxiways clear to land" and see the fire trucks roll.

It is a lot of paperwork for the tower and may inconvenience some using the airport but it gives the tower and emergency responders more tools and time to help if the problem escalates.
.
 
It's weird, how this stuff works.
I was returning to my home field in the summer of 2016 and developed a very rough engine at anything more than 60% power. Below that it was OK.
At 4 miles to final, it started getting worse, so I contacted the tower to let them know I had a rough engine, and one passenger aboard.
I told them "No emergency". I was either going to make the runway, or it would be the Department of Transportation's problem as there is absolutely nowhere else to go but the highway.
The engine quit when the wheels touched down, I coasted off the runway, and surprise, it restarted. I taxied back, filled out a squawk sheet and went home.
Six flights later, I had performed five engine out landings. They couldn't figure out what was going wrong. The manufacturer finally sent a rep/mechanic who discovered that some hose was flexing and choking off one of the carbs.
I never got a call from the FSDO. Not one.
Fast forward a year and a little bit.
A couple months ago the engine in the Cub quit while I was in the pattern at a non-towered airport. Old 65hp engines with wooden props don't like to go slow in cold weather, it's just a fact of life. I didn't even have to shorten my usual approach by more than 100 feet to hit my "spot".
I got out, pulled on the prop and flew for another hour.
I was home within 2 hours of the "incident", and the FSDO had already called my home phone.
They didn't offer up how they knew about the "incident", or how they knew I was flying the plane, and I didn't ask. The conversation was very cordial, and lasted less than 10 minutes.
I think it twisted them a little bit by not asking.
I'm not sure why you said, "no emergency" when making a runway is in doubt, but, be that as it may, it seems declaring it or not has nothing to do with this type of follow up. I'm not sure what does since, both now and in the past, I've seen examples in which one might expect at least a polite inquiry but it didn't happen, and vice versa.
 
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I want to say I've departed IFR, realized I forgot something, cancelled and landed to go get it. Am I going to get a phone call, too?

I think the proper response will be, "I am happy to answer any and all questions my attorney deems reasonable." *click*




Because not everything is an emergency.
My version of the proper response is in bold above.



Because not every government inquiry requires a pi$$y answer.
 
My version of the proper response is in bold above.



Because not every government inquiry requires a pi$$y answer.
When egregious government overreach results in a potential detriment to safety it must be resisted at all costs.
 
just remember.....everything you say....can and will be used....and possibly against you. o_O
 
When egregious government overreach results in a potential detriment to safety it must be resisted at all costs.
If a "gee, what happened" telephone call once on the ground call is "egregious government overreach" and a "detriment to safety," I'm guessing we have very different definitions of those phrases.
 
If a "gee, what happened" telephone call once on the ground call is "egregious government overreach" and a "detriment to safety," I'm guessing we have very different definitions of those phrases.
Plus the administrator has the right to examine...
 
This is everyone at the FAA’s fault.
How is this the controller that is meanwhile getting every pilot on his frequency direct that he can, up to their cruise altitude as quickly as possible, vectored around weather/traffic, on the approach as quickly as possible, etc fault? There are very different branches of the FAA.
 
Got a call from the local FSDO today. I aborted a take off last Sunday because I had no airspeed indication when the plane was ready to rotate. Ice in the pito tube. The tube had a cover on it and it was removed prior to flight.

I heated the tube and cleared the blockage and took off no problems. I did check the tube prior to the flight and it looked good.

Nice chat with Matthew from FSDO, just never had FSDO call me for an aborted take off before.

Hard to ignore a phone call but any non-mandatory response request by mail would be circular filed by me. I only see gotchas with these kind of inquiries.
 
new pilot, so pardon the dumb question.. but oil coming out from running engine, rough engine .. why on earth will you not declare?
If this was in response to me not declaring, a few questions for you...

Just departed, clear and million, minor oil top of cowl, oil temps and pressure perfect, engine making normal power and operating smoothly, would you still declare? What if you were in a twin lightly loaded?

More importantly, what is the declaration in this example going to get you?
 
If a "gee, what happened" telephone call once on the ground call is "egregious government overreach" and a "detriment to safety," I'm guessing we have very different definitions of those phrases.

But it sounds like it has gone beyond just a simple phone call....they are actually asking for logbook entries. A phone call from the FAA wouldn’t be too alarming and might even be welcome, asking to review the airplane logs sure sounds like they are “after” something.
 
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