Anyone interested in flying someone to WY?

pilotod

Pre-takeoff checklist
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I have an employee who needs to be a witness in a court case Oct. 18. She and her boyfriend have been driving there for this issue and asked me to take them but I would miss work and just don't have a plane I can take for that long. It's in Pinedale (KPNA). They'd pay their share of flying fees.
 
Not many pilots on this forum are going to do that flight as they wouldn't be able to accept compensation legally.

You need to speak with a local aircraft charter company or any form of mass transit.
 
The operative phrase is "common purpose," which means the pilot and expense-sharing passengers all have a reason to be at the destination on the same day. Without common purpose, the pilot cannot accept even a penny from the passengers. So, unless you can find a pilot at your location in Colorado who already has a reason to be going to Pinedale WY on October 18, nobody without a Part 135 operating certificate can legally help you.
 
The operative phrase is "common purpose," which means the pilot and expense-sharing passengers all have a reason to be at the destination on the same day. Without common purpose, the pilot cannot accept even a penny from the passengers. So, unless you can find a pilot at your location in Colorado who already has a reason to be going to Pinedale WY on October 18, nobody without a Part 135 operating certificate can legally help you.
Ron, or someone else, please correct me if I am wrong, but not only can they not accept a penny, but they cannot not even accept monetary reimbursement.

Though I am not certain, I also believe the common purpose means it can be different reasons (ie one going to court, and the other going shopping) but it has to be the same location(ie Airport but not necessarily shopping in the courthouse).

My guess is no, but could common purpose apply if the pilot needed to do something for a rating, such as cross country hours, or maybe remaining current(if their currency had not yet expired in terms of flying passengers).

Doug
 
got ya. I thought, and maybe I shouldn't have thought this, that if you wanted to just get hours that would be a common cause.
 
It's my understanding that even logging PIC hours is considered reimbursement (which I personally think is a bit much).
 
It's my understanding that even logging PIC hours is considered reimbursement (which I personally think is a bit much).

Huh? How could a flight be conducted with no PIC on board?
 
I'm on my phone, so I can't link a reference, but it's my understanding that even logging hours is considered reimbursement unless there is a common purpose.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2
 
I guess better said would be: you can't bring someone somewhere in exchange for building time (someone will surely correct me if I'm wrong about that)

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2
 
So then if I come upon someone stranded at some remote strip who needs a ride home, I can't even log the time for rescuing them since there's no "common purpose" for that flight? Somehow that seems to stretch the intent of that rule wayyy beyond common sense.
 
Look at it from the FAA's perspective- they're trying to bust folks running unlicensed charter ops. Picking up a stranded pilot, even if you flew him or her to an airport in the opposite direction you were traveling, is not going to be suspicious to anyone.

Making a trip only because a stranger online prearranged to pay half the cost of getting somewhere is a bit different. If it feels to you like the purpose of your flight is to take a passenger somewhere, then you better not accept compensation from them. I think this one meets that test.
 
So then if I come upon someone stranded at some remote strip who needs a ride home, I can't even log the time for rescuing them since there's no "common purpose" for that flight? Somehow that seems to stretch the intent of that rule wayyy beyond common sense.
Assuming you have a PPL and are not a student you can fly them wherever you or they want(assuming it is legal and possible), but you cannot get compensation from them for the flight.

Doug
 
Tell your employee that she needs to buy an airplane, then she can hire a commercial pilot (such as myself) to fly them anywhere they want.
 
Though I am not certain, I also believe the common purpose means it can be different reasons (ie one going to court, and the other going shopping) but it has to be the same location(ie Airport but not necessarily shopping in the courthouse).
Good luck going shopping in Pinedale. :D

Ok, that's a bit of an inside joke. I have been there too often. They do have a nice library and rec center and you could visit the Museum of the Mountain Man...
 
Good luck going shopping in Pinedale. :D

Ok, that's a bit of an inside joke. I have been there too often. They do have a nice library and rec center and you could visit the Museum of the Mountain Man...

Ahhh, Pinedale, gateway to ... err, ummm, well nowhere really unless ya wanna see some really expensive natural gas production facilities...
 
Ron, or someone else, please correct me if I am wrong, but not only can they not accept a penny, but they cannot not even accept monetary reimbursement.
First, a penny is monetary reimbursement, albeit rather small. Second, I think you have too many not's in your sentence.

Though I am not certain, I also believe the common purpose means it can be different reasons (ie one going to court, and the other going shopping) but it has to be the same location(ie Airport but not necessarily shopping in the courthouse).
Add in the same day, and you've got the idea nailed.

My guess is no, but could common purpose apply if the pilot needed to do something for a rating, such as cross country hours, or maybe remaining current(if their currency had not yet expired in terms of flying passengers).
No. That is not, in the FAA's eyes, "common purpose." It has to be a reason to go to that destination that day.
 
got ya. I thought, and maybe I shouldn't have thought this, that if you wanted to just get hours that would be a common cause.
It's "common purpose," and the Chief Counsel specifically said in one of the interpretations that logging time doesn't fill the pilot's side of "common purpose." It must be a reason to go to that destination on that day.
 
It's my understanding that even logging PIC hours is considered reimbursement (which I personally think is a bit much).
It is, if someone else is paying for those hours (even in the slightest part) and getting a ride out of it, i.e., quid pro quo -- the passenger is getting a ride, and the pilot is getting free or reduced cost flying in return for providing that ride. That's only acceptable to the FAA if the pilot and passenger have a common purpose for the flight, i.e., same day, same destination.
 
So then if I come upon someone stranded at some remote strip who needs a ride home, I can't even log the time for rescuing them since there's no "common purpose" for that flight? Somehow that seems to stretch the intent of that rule wayyy beyond common sense.
You can log the time, but you can't accept anything from the passenger in return for the ride. It's the quid pro quo (transportation in return for compensation) which screws the pooch. If there's no compensation from the passenger, then there's no foul.
 
First, a penny is monetary reimbursement, albeit rather small. Second, I think you have too many not's in your sentence..
I think my nots are okay but anyhow what the statement meant to say it does not matter what the compensation is compensation whether it is monetary, on nonmonetary is not allowed.

Add in the same day, and you've got the idea nailed..
What if it is a two day event or what if when you get to the airport you are traveling east by train to a different town with another airport and they are walking west to a the courthouse next to the airport. Just wondering for theorectical sake.

No. That is not, in the FAA's eyes, "common purpose." It has to be a reason to go to that destination that day.
What I believed.
 
Huh? How could a flight be conducted with no PIC on board?
Huh? Why wouldn't there be a PIC on board the flight just because the pilot doesn't write it down afterwards?

(No comment on the idea that the flight is legal or not based on what someone writes or doesn't write in a logbook)
 
I think my nots are okay but anyhow what the statement meant to say it does not matter what the compensation is compensation whether it is monetary, on nonmonetary is not allowed.
Right -- there are many forms of nonmonetary compensation, and they are all prohibited other than pro rata expense sharing with common purpose.

What if it is a two day event or what if when you get to the airport you are traveling east by train to a different town with another airport and they are walking west to a the courthouse next to the airport. Just wondering for theorectical sake.
The Chief Counsel has said each case will be reviewed on its own merits. But I think the general question is whether you made or changed your travel plans to accommodate the passenger. So, if you had the two day event and the passenger stayed over an extra day to ride home with you, I think that would be OK. OTOH, if you traveled a day earlier or a day later to accommodate your passenger's two day event, I think it would not. But that's purely guesswork, not any case I've read.
 
It's my understanding that even logging PIC hours is considered reimbursement (which I personally think is a bit much).

Huh? Why wouldn't there be a PIC on board the flight just because the pilot doesn't write it down afterwards?

(No comment on the idea that the flight is legal or not based on what someone writes or doesn't write in a logbook)

Comment was in reference to the previous post. Of course there is a PIC aboard. The question is why couldn't you log the time as such if you so acted. I'm pretty sure FAR 61.51 requires you do do so anyway.
 
So what if I know I want to fly somewhere this weekend, don't really care, just want to go. A friend says hey I need to go to X can you take me, I'll split costs with you.

I decide, that sounds like fun, I can go do some shopping with the wife, whatever.

Is that legal?

-Dan
 
So what if I know I want to fly somewhere this weekend, don't really care, just want to go. A friend says hey I need to go to X can you take me, I'll split costs with you.

I decide, that sounds like fun, I can go do some shopping with the wife, whatever.

Is that legal?
Only way to know for sure is to ask the FAA Chief Counsel. However, that scenario sounds like you're willing to go anywhere they want, and based on the letters on point, that might not be legal in the FAA's eyes if it came to their attention.
 
I'd like the following to be legal, but I don't think it is.

I need some mountain practice. A buddy wants to go to Mammoth for a dip in the hot spring (it's not far from the airport) and offers to split costs. I like the idea of sightseeing over Yosemite and Mono Lake and take him up on it.
 
One should always write to the Chief Counsel before taking anyone flying anywhere. :stirpot: ;)
 
What if there is absolutely NO compensation. Say, the pilot just wants to do the person a favor, and flies him for free?
 
If a person asks a private pilot to fly them somewhere. The pilot flies them without accepting any forms of compensation. That is legal?
Do the circumstances change if you stop for lunch and the passenger wants to purchase the pilot's lunch? If the passenger buying the pilot lunch does become an issue, than if it were a friend they would never be able to buy you lunch again because it would be compensation?
 
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If a person asks a private pilot to fly them somewhere. The pilot flies them without accepting any forma of compensation. That is legal?
Do the circumstances change if you stop for lunch and the passenger wants to purchase the pilot's lunch? If it the passenger buying the pilot lunch does become an issue, than if it were a friend they would never be able to buy you lunch again because it would be compensation?

I think the consensus, as discussed in previous threads, is even if it isn't legal, it's almost never enforced.

I think operating a de-facto charter service without appropriate certification violates the letter and intent of the rule. I also think a private pilot getting reimbursed for the expense of a flight, regardless of the purpose and intent, is reasonable even if it violates the letter of the rule. Nobody is going to bust anybody's balls over a passenger filling a tank of 100LL, buying a pilot lunch at the destination, or taking the pilot out for dinner and drinks a few days later.
 
I think the consensus, as discussed in previous threads, is even if it isn't legal, it's almost never enforced.

Nobody is going to bust anybody's balls over a passenger filling a tank of 100LL, buying a pilot lunch at the destination, or taking the pilot out for dinner and drinks a few days later.

If you somehow upset an FSDO inspector, he technically could?
 
I think the consensus, as discussed in previous threads, is even if it isn't legal, it's almost never enforced.

I think operating a de-facto charter service without appropriate certification violates the letter and intent of the rule. I also think a private pilot getting reimbursed for the expense of a flight, regardless of the purpose and intent, is reasonable even if it violates the letter of the rule. Nobody is going to bust anybody's balls over a passenger filling a tank of 100LL, buying a pilot lunch at the destination, or taking the pilot out for dinner and drinks a few days later.
:yeahthat:
I am of the belief...Go out and have fun, If you decide that you want to sight see in WY and someone else just happens to be going there, well have fun ya'll!

Cheers
 
So what if I know I want to fly somewhere this weekend, don't really care, just want to go. A friend says hey I need to go to X can you take me, I'll split costs with you.

I decide, that sounds like fun, I can go do some shopping with the wife, whatever.

Is that legal?

-Dan


Or just don't tell anyone.
 
I'd like the following to be legal, but I don't think it is.

I need some mountain practice. A buddy wants to go to Mammoth for a dip in the hot spring (it's not far from the airport) and offers to split costs. I like the idea of sightseeing over Yosemite and Mono Lake and take him up on it.
If a tree falls in an empty forest with no webcam around, can the FAA hear it?

I've been answering questions here about what appears to me to be FAA-legal, but there's a big difference between what is/isn't technically legal and what the FAA will/will not do something about. The first and most important issue is that the FAA does not act on what it does not know. What you and your buddy do quietly and not in the public view isn't going to disturb the FAA. Post stuff on the internet (like the post which started this thread), or crash, or violate a flight rule, or scare your buddy enough that he calls the FAA, or charge your buddy so much that he complains to someone about it, or involve a stranger, or have your buddy tell all his friends that you'll fly anyone anywhere for expenses (even if it isn't true), and the noise of the tree falling can reach the FSDO.

Got the picture?
 
Well my employee just told me she was never subpoenaed. I think she's freaking out about the issue but I think the thread ended with the real answer. We keep our lips zipped.

Just wondering....if someone wants a car ride and offers to pay for the gas...but I wasn't really planning on going there....is this against some DOT regulation because taxis and buses have the commercial right to be doing that and not me? :)

Stupid rules.
 
Well my employee just told me she was never subpoenaed. I think she's freaking out about the issue but I think the thread ended with the real answer. We keep our lips zipped.

Just wondering....if someone wants a car ride and offers to pay for the gas...but I wasn't really planning on going there....is this against some DOT regulation because taxis and buses have the commercial right to be doing that and not me? :)

Stupid rules.

In California, technically, yes. But again, who gets arrested for jaywalking?
 
So here's a question then.

A buddy of mine calls me up and asks me if I am flying on Sunday. I didn't really have plans to do it, but he wants to take his girlfriend on a plane ride. And I thought to myself "You know, Sunday's weather is good, flying in fall is great, I would definitely like to go on a flight myself". So, if buddy offers to pay his share, it should be legal, no? After all, I wanted to go as well, not like I thought "Fine, fine, I will take you on a stupid plane ride. But I better get something out of it".
 
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