Got a Call from FSDO Today..

Yep, I guess YMMV. I don't need certainty of a bad result. I can't think of any emergency I had which had that level of certainty. Even my loss of power in the clouds over the Rockies. I was never sure of a fire, passenger incapacity or blood and gore, and, in fact, none of that happened. Heck there probably would have been a disaster if I was sure of a disaster.

I've also seen situations in which not declaring an emergency resulted in formal enforcement action against a pilot (in one, it was resolved satisfactorily but wouldn't have gotten even that far if he had)

Military background. Hard habits to break, also I came up in a totally different "age". Real pilots don't call for help.
"You fly in it or die in it.", is how it was explained to me.

That's why the last words of so many of the guys I flew with were: " Expletive deleted, I love you Mommy (or Daddy)"
We weren't smart enough to get out while we could.
 
A good point raised. I think a call from the FAA would get my favorite response:

“You have called a number on the Federal do not call registry. Are you aware that this call is in violation of federal statute?” If that didn’t get rid of them on the spot it would slow them down. If not, doesn’t it suck when those phone calls get dropped?

They want to contact me by mail they’d better send it registered.
 
They want you to document a fix?
Write your own entry in the plane log: "mm/dd/yyyy Operation checked. No problem found. Joe Pilot, Operator"
 
I always liked the "could not duplicate" entry at the airline. :yesnod:
 
Forgot to "go" before you left.
Legit excuse.
'splains why you may be in a hurry to get down.
No question about airworthiness.
No log entry required.


Uh huh. I can see it all now. Suspended medical, required to see a urologist, mandatory prostate biopsy, grounded while waiting for SI, must wear catheter and bag while flying,...
 
I always liked the "could not duplicate" entry at the airline. :yesnod:
How many times have you tried to troubleshoot a problem written by someone else? I've spent hours trying to troubleshoot a discrepancy written up. When things check out per the manual, what can you say...:rolleyes:
 
How many times have you tried to troubleshoot a problem written by someone else? I've spent hours trying to troubleshoot a discrepancy written up. When things check out per the manual, what can you say...:rolleyes:

Oh I know. Just like bench tests though, drives you crazy when it still does it (whatever it is) reinstalled in the plane. I always strived to write a thorough, to the point, clear description of the problem, and as I was able to, be there when the mechanics showed up.
 
Amen. I find declaring to be very freeing; I no longer need to spend any mental bandwidth on deciding whether the situation has gotten bad enough to declare.



My decision matrix is much simpler:

If I have doubt about the safe outcome of the flight - declare

I don't want to tie up mental bandwidth going through a several step process to decide what to say on the radio when I have more important things to think about.
Whatever works for you is just fine. Just sharing my ideas.
 
Not to hijack this thread, but a friend lost GPS and coms a while back and he never got a call from anyone (not that the FSDO should call in this situation). What's even more weird to me is that he had flight following and had just been cleared through the bravo when he lost coms so he turned around and landed at a non-towered airport outside of the bravo. His transponder was still working so he squawked 7600 and I'm sure they saw that he was headed towards another airport, but I would have expected for approach to call the flight school and just check in. Is this not SOP? Otherwise, I don't see much of a point in flight following unfortunately...
 
Priority handling. Oil coming out is not normal, something is wrong, at that point I don't know whether it's minor or at what point it will be major and if all the oil will come out or not. If I don't and I am number 4 to land, I don't want to find out if it's minor or major while still number 2 to land behind a jet with no oil pressure.

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You bring up a valid concern of priority handling...when needed.

You're aviation experience level and mine are different. Additionally, you don't know the specifics of my incident.

What does declaring do for you was my question. To name a few, it gives you priority handling, it allows you to break the FAR's, it allows ATC to break 7110.65 rules, it will initiate emergency responding vehicles...

I could see the airport and just departed. I knew there was no other traffic departing or in the pattern. I was number one for the airport cleared for the visual. No priority needed. I had no need to break the FAR's. I had no need for ATC to violate the .65. I for sure didn't need to distract emergency responders from any possible real emergency to dispatch to the airport to watch me whip it into my hangar.

I also don't call for an ambulance when I have a minor injury at the house. Some do. Just understand what declaring an emergency means and what that gets you and act accordingly.

I have declared twice in my flying experience and those were warranted situations where I needed one or more of the things I listed.

When you are acting as PIC declare an emergency anytime you think it is warranted. If unsure, it's better to be on the cautious side. Just don't assume a slightly abnormal experience you hear about from another pilot should automatically be handled how you would.
 
Personally, "what is it going to get me" is a question I would not want to be wasting brainpower on in case of a malfunction. Keying the mic and saying you have a problem is so easy and takes no time away from the important stuff.
Fair enough. And I'm all for a PIC to exercise their right to declare anytime they think it's warranted. I just don't have to waste brain power because I know the answer (to this...not most things in life).
 
How many times have you tried to troubleshoot a problem written by someone else? I've spent hours trying to troubleshoot a discrepancy written up. When things check out per the manual, what can you say...:rolleyes:
Yup...and as a pilot I've been told, "that ammeter is only an inch in diameter...there's no way you can see a 70-amp difference. Could not duplicate."

Fixed by telling the GM that the airplane was grounded for the winter. ;)
 
Want to get on ATC's good side after an emergency declaration? Write them a thank you letter. They can use it for kudos to themselves from above. Win/win for everyone.
 
“You have called a number on the Federal do not call registry. Are you aware that this call is in violation of federal statute?” I

You can try that lie, and perhaps some FAA people would be stupid enough to believe you, but the DNC restrictions do not apply here.
 
Couple things come to mind - a lot of the FAA people are not/not a **holes; but enough are that you are best served by being very, very circumspect in communications with them. My experience is, the farther a Fed is from a radio, the more likely he is to evidence bureaucratic arrogance; don't start "explaining" or amplifying on what happened or why you did something - yeah, you might/might be talking to a reasonable and concerned FAA guy just gathering generic info. Or, you might find out that pleasant conversation was a way to play you, and elicit info that will/will be used against you later. Or the guy's boss overrides him, to the same effect.

What a lawyer told me about mail - if you didn't sign for it, you didn't get it. Email, voice mail - doesn't exist. I think if I aborted a take off, or turned back, for any reason, the most they'd get out of me is "the engine sounded odd". The conversation would be very short. Or very repetitious.

Earlier comment about "FAA budget cuts" is misleading - they can/can spend about whatever they want to hound you; if money is "tight" in one area, it's because they chose to allocate it that way. Don't give them ammo to shoot at you with.
 
Amen. I find declaring to be very freeing; I no longer need to spend any mental bandwidth on deciding whether the situation has gotten bad enough to declare.



My decision matrix is much simpler:

If I have doubt about the safe outcome of the flight - declare

I don't want to tie up mental bandwidth going through a several step process to decide what to say on the radio when I have more important things to think about.
That's what I was taught and every book I read says the same thing. If u detect a malfunction declare. Then worry about phone calls at zero knots if u are alive. The last thing I need to worry about is a phone call from FSDO, FAA or the presidents office when there is something wrong in a tin can with my arse in it in the air.

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I had another instance around the same time in the 340. It was an after annual test flight where I lost one alternator. I believe ATC declared an emergency for us, started asking souls and fuel on board. Fire trucks chased us down, I said this is not an emergency I have not even turned off the air conditioner! The other alternator had no problem covering the load. I never heard any thing from the FAA.
Ok then this explains my experience, my engine swallowed a valve coming into Charleston at 10 pm, I deadstcked it in and I remember them asking how many souls onboard and all pretty blue crash truck lights but do not remember declaring an emergency, I guess ATC did. Never got a call from anybody on that one.
 
You bring up a valid concern of priority handling...when needed.

You're aviation experience level and mine are different. Additionally, you don't know the specifics of my incident.

What does declaring do for you was my question. To name a few, it gives you priority handling, it allows you to break the FAR's, it allows ATC to break 7110.65 rules, it will initiate emergency responding vehicles...

I could see the airport and just departed. I knew there was no other traffic departing or in the pattern. I was number one for the airport cleared for the visual. No priority needed. I had no need to break the FAR's. I had no need for ATC to violate the .65. I for sure didn't need to distract emergency responders from any possible real emergency to dispatch to the airport to watch me whip it into my hangar.

I also don't call for an ambulance when I have a minor injury at the house. Some do. Just understand what declaring an emergency means and what that gets you and act accordingly.

I have declared twice in my flying experience and those were warranted situations where I needed one or more of the things I listed.

When you are acting as PIC declare an emergency anytime you think it is warranted. If unsure, it's better to be on the cautious side. Just don't assume a slightly abnormal experience you hear about from another pilot should automatically be handled how you would.
I think I came off wrong, I wasn't trying to question ur judgement. But yeah, with my very limited experience and a wet PPL, if i see oil on the cowling and I m not on on the ground, I am declaring. May be that will change with time, may be it wont... cuz I am not 17 and bulletproof anymore (read wimpy)

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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.

Airworthiness is this decade’s “stabilized approach”. LOL. Always something being harped on, and it’s airworthiness right now.

It's not difficult. Let it go to voicemail. It's actually one of the first two pieces of advice I give when representing an airman, but letting all unknown numbers go to voicemail is not a bad general policy.

Better yet, have a separate phone number for such things. Google Voice is free.

Justifying a budget.

This.

They outa ditch "asking how many souls". Too death oriented. Just ask how many people on board ok?

Someone should act offended that FAA thinks they have a soul and that’d stop. Ha. “How many live humans on board?” would make the lawyers happier. Ha.

Nope. Definitely not that. Not in this period of heavy budget cuts. ASIs are overworked and have far more important things to do with their time. Yes, there will always be "cowboys" out there who feel the need to puff out their chests and show off their power. But for the most part, these kinds of investigatory jobs are extra work. And ASIs like extra work without extra pay about as much as we do.

All workers government and not can find ways to be “too busy” and government folks may or may not be too busy doing *useful* things. It’s somewhat self-correcting in the private sector, enough people doing useless stuff, the company doesn’t make numbers and the people are tossed or the company goes under. In government, there’s no real motivation to do the most important stuff first, unless you’re in an operational type job, like ATC or firefighting. Anything that mostly requires paper pushing is always suspect as a useful endeavor.

A good point raised. I think a call from the FAA would get my favorite response:

“You have called a number on the Federal do not call registry. Are you aware that this call is in violation of federal statute?” If that didn’t get rid of them on the spot it would slow them down. If not, doesn’t it suck when those phone calls get dropped?

They want to contact me by mail they’d better send it registered.

Sorry to let you know, but government exempts itself from that particular law. You might hit an inspector who doesn’t know that, but once they figure it out, all you’ll have managed to do is make them angry.

And now for the joke...

ADS-B version II will have a bit for “questionable pilot decision” and your avionics will just send it every time something in the flight doesn’t follow the proper computer profile. LOL. :)

Think snitch box for the controllers tied to your GPS. Hahaha.

You laugh. But that’s the mentality of data stream technology. Even shove all that crap in a database to see if you’re a pilot who flies the profiles or is a cowboy. Hahaha.

Automatic get out of jail free card for the Cirrus drivers, the bit is never sent when the autopilot is engaged. LOL LOL LOL.
 
What a lawyer told me about mail - if you didn't sign for it, you didn't get it.
Misunderstood or not the smartest lawyer. Im betting on misunderstood.

Although I guess you could choose to ignore all those certified letters including the ones revoking your pilot certificates.
 
I think I came off wrong, I wasn't trying to question ur judgement. But yeah, with my very limited experience and a wet PPL, if i see oil on the cowling and I m not on on the ground, I am declaring. May be that will change with time, may be it wont... cuz I am not 17 and bulletproof anymore (read wimpy)

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Don’t change. Unless you prefer to lay on the side of the road bleeding to death instead of riding in the ambulance that was called for you. You will have to give up your “I’m a real pilot” teeshirt though.
 
I think I came off wrong, I wasn't trying to question ur judgement. But yeah, with my very limited experience and a wet PPL, if i see oil on the cowling and I m not on on the ground, I am declaring. May be that will change with time, may be it wont... cuz I am not 17 and bulletproof anymore (read wimpy)

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I tend not to declare an emergency if the airplane is flyable and nobody outside the airplane could provide assistance if I asked and/or they wanted to...shutting down an engine in a rural area with the intent to land at an uncontrolled airport 15 minutes away doesn't give anybody much opportunity to provide assistance. Shutting down that same engine going into a major metropolitan airport with crash/fire/rescue, I'd declare.
 
Sounds like they are on a fishing trip to me!

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I think they have found a new way to dig up dirt from the comfort of their desks! No need to be prowling airport ramps and shops. Just wait for reports from ATC, then use the phone. Enough pilots will convict themselves with their big mouths to make it a high-yield activity.
 
My standard answer when asked why divert is booty call. Ex-girlfriend liked to then moan into the mic...

Tim

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Lots of funny responses, but non are really true.

Look, it’s the Feds field, and the Feds ball.
They can inquire what’s happening. Don’t like it??’ Go fly in a different country.
I’m guessing you’ll be coming back.
 
I was IFR in heavy smoke headed into a mountain airport and visibility at the airport was not improving. I changed my destination to an airport in the valley. 3 different controllers at each frequency change asked me why the change. Well, if you think I’m going IFR into a mountain airport in this smoke you’re crazier than I am for being up here. After the third controller asked and I gave the same answer 3 times I told him, you are the 3rd person to ask. Spread the word, one more question and I’m filing harassment complaint. The frequency got real quiet.
 
At a pilots meeting a few years ago, we were told by the tower personnel that they were required to report any deviations or “aborts” to the FSDO for follow up. After that everyone started asking “for the option” instead of a landing clearance. Just Incase the approach did not work out and we had to go around.

FSDO, why did you go around the other day?
Pilot, 1) I felt like it, 2) I was too high 3) there was a squirrel on the runway the tower did not see and did not send me around, so I made the decision myself.
 
At a pilots meeting a few years ago, we were told by the tower personnel that they were required to report any deviations or “aborts” to the FSDO for follow up. After that everyone started asking “for the option” instead of a landing clearance. Just Incase the approach did not work out and we had to go around.
It seems sporadic. I did a takeoff at a Class C this past year, decided there was something I didn't like and, requested a return for landing. Tower asked whether I needed assistance. I said no, I just wanted to check something. Never heard anything, although I kind of expected to.

And if they did? I can't get my shorts in a knot over it.
 
Tower asked whether I needed assistance.
Tower asked me if I needed assistance as I taxied to my tie down. I said no and laughed to myself, I would have loved to say "sure bring me a heat gun or hair drier to thaw out my frozen pito tube"....:rolleyes:
 
My standard answer when asked why divert is booty call. Ex-girlfriend liked to then moan into the mic...

Tim

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Ha, beat me to it!
 
Tower asked me if I needed assistance as I taxied to my tie down. I said no and laughed to myself, I would have loved to say "sure bring me a heat gun or hair drier to thaw out my frozen pito tube"....:rolleyes:
"Any and all financial assistance would be appreciated!"
 
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So in the spirit of aborting take off and getr8ng call from FSDO, happened to me about 20 mins back.
Taking of 18, at 100 AGL, MFD went dark, not sure what else was going on so i landed. At the hangar figured out the it's only the MFD, everything else appears to be working.

Now waiting to write a 1 AMU check to Garmin and waiting for a call from FSDO

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My take on this is that they're collecting some data on how pilots are fixing the airplane. "I had an oil leak" and then "I took off and flew hundreds of miles" generates my curiosity too. Did you fly with a known discrepancy or did you taxi back to your hanger, drop the cowling off and tighten a loose connection? Or, as explained earlier, did you just put the oil cap back on straight. I'm sure no pilot ever does anything illegal or at least they would never admit to it on the phone to someone from the FSDO. So what do they hope to gain?

Not a good program IMO. Nobody wants Big Brother looking over their shoulder and it seems to exceed the authority that the rules give them. There's a specific rule and specific conditions by which they can ask you what happened, which means the decision was already made as to when they can do this. To expand past that rule might be going beyond their authority and it gains them nothing but additional animosity.
 
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