Do I have to

N

Not that guy

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A friend was involved in an airplane accident. NTSB wants to talk to me. The pilots family has requested that I not do that. Is there a requirement that I talk to them?
 
You don't need to say anything, and in particular I would be very careful to not say anything that is not fact-based on first-hand knowledge. You might be subpoenaed for court appearance or deposition in the future, however, and may not have much choice about talking at that point.
 
I see no benefit to you in speaking with them, and they’re not asking in order to help your friend. Until you receive a subpoena you are under no obligation.

But you might ask the NTSB if they’re willing to answer your questions....
 
No good can come from the interview if you don’t have first hand knowledge. Spreading hearsay about the pilot can get you in trouble.
 
@RyanB - although not the OP, I note they said the pilot's family asked OP not to speak.

Not the pilot himself.

I assume it was serious if the pilot isn't able to, or around to, ask the OP themselves.
 
You could talk to them - maybe they want to confirm some positives about the pilot. You can always say some form or "I never saw him do that" or something similar if they try to ask about negatives.
 
Dad served as an expert witness in countless trials. The stories he told of jury and deposition testimony, and the ways in which otherwise reasonably competent people were made to look incompetent, were fascinating cautionary tales that I've tried hard to remember whenever interacting with government or law enforcement. If you do talk to them, remember these phrases and use whenever applicable:

"I don't know."
"I don't recall."
"I don't remember ever seeing (or hearing)."

Never, ever:
"I heard..."
"I think..."
"He/she may have..."
 
bflynn said:
You could talk to them - maybe they want to confirm some positives about the pilot. You can always say some form or "I never saw him do that" or something similar if they try to ask about negatives.
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No. Unless there's a legal compelling reason, No. When dealing with the Feds, do not elaborate, do not volunteer, do nothing unless compelled by law.
 
Not that guy said:
A friend was involved in an airplane accident. NTSB wants to talk to me. The pilots family has requested that I not do that. Is there a requirement that I talk to them?
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I am guessing the pilot is not around to speak for himself anymore. Hope that is not the case.

Be friendly, say you just lost a close friend in the worst way imaginable and not able to speak about it.
 
Pilot was injured badly, doesn’t remember the crash or that they are a pilot.

great replies. Thanks
 
I've never had to deal with these folks ... sounds like I wouldn't ever want to either ...
 
Not that guy said:
Pilot was injured badly, doesn’t remember the crash or that they are a pilot.

great replies. Thanks
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So your buddy crashed a plane and doesn't know what happened. The NTSB believes you may have some useful insight, which his family doesn't want you to share. This all sounds very up and up. I'd suggest you consult with an attorney. It sounds like you're likely to need one anyway if any litigation flows from this.
 
Daleandee said:
I've never had to deal with these folks ... sounds like I wouldn't ever want to either ...
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I have had to deal with these folks. They are like everyone else. They gotta job to do. Treat them as you would want to be treated.

If you don't like or understand a question, say so and ask if they can reword the question. They are looking for information.

murphey said:
When dealing with the Feds, do not elaborate, do not volunteer, do nothing unless compelled by law.
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And always keep this in mind.

The AOPA prints out a little card with advice on how to deal with feds, but since AOPA is a bad word to some folks, I guess it is not worth printing here...
 
Wait a minute! Some of these immediate responses were shortsighted.

You did not clarify the level of friendship here. Is there a benefit to spilling his propensity to imbibement, or not? You did say family does not want you to speak with.

Or, was there a recent insurance policy adjustment?

Or, some family disagreement your conversation could expose?

So many alternative scenarios to consider...
 
He doesn't remember the crash, thats pretty typical of trauma induced LOC. Doesn't remember he's a pilot?? Thats severe brain injury.
 
The expression "I'm from the government and I'm here to help you " comes to mind. They are only going to help themselves. Don't talk to them unless legally compelled to do so.
 
DaleB said:
Dad served as an expert witness in countless trials. The stories he told of jury and deposition testimony, and the ways in which otherwise reasonably competent people were made to look incompetent, were fascinating cautionary tales that I've tried hard to remember whenever interacting with government or law enforcement. If you do talk to them, remember these phrases and use whenever applicable:

"I don't know."
"I don't recall."
"I don't remember ever seeing (or hearing)."
Click to expand...
The problem is inexperienced witnesses who overuse those and end up looking like liars at best and harming the side they want to help at worst,
 
Here is my lawyers number please submit to him a list of questions and I will answer any questions he advises me to.
 
I would talk with them too. I don't understand why you'd need a lawyer. It's the NTSB, not a criminal proceeding. It's not like they're going to arrest you. You had nothing to do with the accident. Let them do their jobs, don't speculate, and stick to the facts.

Edit: if you have any "friend" obligations here, it's to your friend, not his family. What would he want you to do?
 
DaleB said:
Dad served as an expert witness in countless trials. The stories he told of jury and deposition testimony, and the ways in which otherwise reasonably competent people were made to look incompetent, were fascinating cautionary tales that I've tried hard to remember whenever interacting with government or law enforcement. If you do talk to them, remember these phrases and use whenever applicable:

"I don't know."
"I don't recall."
"I don't remember ever seeing (or hearing)."

Never, ever:
"I heard..."
"I think..."
"He/she may have..."
Click to expand...

Not implying anything about your dad, but I’ve also seen the same with expert witnesses.

There are plenty of ‘experts’ who will say anything for money.

My best friend recently destroyed and downright humiliated several very high paid experts in a transportation case.
 
Remember there's 18 USC 1001, "False Statements." Let's say you give a statement and make a misstatement. That could get you prosecuted. Although the statement has to be materially false, it's always material (unless you're a party official before a DC jury).

Okay, you say, they'll never prosecute me. You're probably right. But they can threaten to prosecute you unless you agree to
"cooperate" by testifying against someone. You don't get prosecuted, but you have to pay tens of thousands of dollars to get out of it. The process is the punishment.

Remember that right after 9/11 happened, the feds wanted to search the main guy's apartment. They needed a warrant (ah, the good old days...). They didn't have enough. They knew he was on the plane, but he might have been just a passenger. They knew he had a student pilot's license and a medical. They knew he had had knee surgery. They pulled the medical. No mention of the knee surgery. Ah ha, false statement. THAT got them the warrant.
 
Fearless Tower said:
Not implying anything about your dad, but I’ve also seen the same with expert witnesses.

There are plenty of ‘experts’ who will say anything for money.

My best friend recently destroyed and downright humiliated several very high paid experts in a transportation case.
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I deposed a forensic expert in a fire loss case which occurred after a large shipment of charcoal was delivered. The expert said that the charcoal was exposed to atmospheric moisture, and that caused the charcoal to spontaneously combust. I said next time I start the grill, I'll be sure to douse it with water. I've been dooing wrong all the time.
 
kath said:
I would talk with them too. I don't understand why you'd need a lawyer. It's the NTSB, not a criminal proceeding. It's not like they're going to arrest you. You had nothing to do with the accident. Let them do their jobs, don't speculate, and stick to the facts.

Edit: if you have any "friend" obligations here, it's to your friend, not his family. What would he want you to do?
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I don’t think it’s the NTSB he’d need a lawyer for.

I believe the concern would be the family suing him if he were to talk to the NTSB.

Personally, depending on my relationship with the family, I’d probably just ignore the NTSB in this case. NTSB is like talking to the media. As an investigative organization, they are a clown show these days.

FAA different story, but unless you get something along the lines of a summons, I simply wouldn’t answer the phone/return calls
 
Had to think about this for a minute.

I've probably read a thousand NTSB reports over the past 30 years and I cannot remember a single one that gave the pilot any credit or accolades for anything they may have done right.

The NTSB even tried to roast Capt. Sully and his copilot.

I've come to the conclusion that the only thing the NTSB is interested in is getting dirt on the pilot - whether it's his thoughts, actions leading up to the flight, mental attitude, ADM, or a hundred other potentially damaging issues.

They will not, in any way, be looking for issues that support your friend. It's simply not what they do.

So, no. No good can possibly come to your friend by you talking to the NTSB. Especially if this ends up in court where your most innocuous statement can be twisted against him/her.
 
Every immediate family member of mine has heard me say this: After any accident, you are not to assist the FAA or NTSB in ANY WAY! PERIOD! No logs, no statements, no access to hangars, nothing.
 
Fearless Tower said:
Not implying anything about your dad, but I’ve also seen the same with expert witnesses.

There are plenty of ‘experts’ who will say anything for money.

My best friend recently destroyed and downright humiliated several very high paid experts in a transportation case.
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Dad was involved in an awful lot of transportation related cases involving semitrailers. He was the design engineer responsible for a good percentage of the liquid and bulk tanks on the road for several decades. Everything from gasoline to milk, cement, etc. He held numerous patents on their design -- most of them for safety features. He saw a lot of "expert" witnesses fall on their faces; mostly by testifying about things out of their area of direct experience or speculating about things they had not seen personally. From the beginning to the end, he was never on the losing side of a case. I asked him about that once; he said that if he thought the company was at fault, he told them so and suggested they settle. The object was not to win; the object was to get to the truth of what actually happened and how.

I remember more than a couple of times he built models of parts of a truck or trailer to more clearly demonstrate how things worked so the jury could understand it.
 
Fearless Tower said:
I believe the concern would be the family suing him if he were to talk to the NTSB.
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Not that it couldn’t happen, but the family cannot stop him from speaking. A lawsuit in a situation like that wouldn’t hold water, unless they were defamatory statements or something like that, which I don’t believe would be the case.
 
RyanB said:
Not that it couldn’t happen, but the family cannot stop him from speaking. A lawsuit in a situation like that wouldn’t hold water, unless they were defamatory statements or something like that, which I don’t believe would be the case.
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I’d go further. I believe there are laws against obstructing a federal investigation.
 
Salty said:
I’d go further. I believe there are laws against obstructing a federal investigation.
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Thought maybe I should clarify. I mean that coercing another party to not cooperate with an investigation could be illegal. I’m not saying that the OP must cooperate. Only that the “family” would likely be committing a crime in pressuring someone to not cooperate. Asking the op not to cooperate is not necessarily pressure, but threatening to sue him likely would be considered pressure.
 
iu
 
Salty said:
I’d go further. I believe there are laws against obstructing a federal investigation.
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Not talking to them is not obstructing. It is not cooperating, but not obstructing. Talking, and giving misinformation could be considered obstruction, but seldom is prosecuted as such.
 
bluerooster said:
Not talking to them is not obstructing. It is not cooperating, but not obstructing. Talking, and giving misinformation could be considered obstruction, but seldom is prosecuted as such.
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See my next post after the one quoted.
 
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