Careful out there

U

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I just called up a CFII/A&P/IA/ATP rated airman. I needed "something" from him. The conversation went really strange. Midway through he said "Look, I live and breathe airplanes, all you're asking for is paperwork. I have a pen. It has plenty of ink that flows well. What do you need?" By the end of the conversation He had offered to give me endorsements/sign offs pretty much over the phone. He works for a 135 operation and needed a ride to a city to get to work and told me "Anything you need can be accomplished on a flight over there, I have the pen. I can make it happen". Yes he point blank offered endorsements, to forge time in my logbook and/or maintenance sign offs if I, a PPL holder took him to work in a city about a 4 hour flight away. Read the log books closely folks, he was very comfortable expressing all this to me and to be honest, it was tempting to take him up on it. I got the impression this was business as usual for him. I wasn't asking for a checkout in a 172 or a tire replaced. I was asking for at least $4,000 worth of "work". We've never even met or know of each other, I found him looking around on the internet for a guy in the area. I checked the airman database, his credentials check out. I know around the hangar of some "buddy does my annuals" type deals but this was a new one for me.
 
Unregistered said:
I just called up a CFII/A&P/IA/ATP rated airman. I needed "something" from him. The conversation went really strange. Midway through he said "Look, I live and breathe airplanes, all you're asking for is paperwork. I have a pen. It has plenty of ink that flows well. What do you need?" By the end of the conversation He had offered to give me endorsements/sign offs pretty much over the phone. He works for a 135 operation and needed a ride to a city to get to work and told me "Anything you need can be accomplished on a flight over there, I have the pen. I can make it happen". Yes he point blank offered endorsements, to forge time in my logbook and/or maintenance sign offs if I, a PPL holder took him to work in a city about a 4 hour flight away. Read the log books closely folks, he was very comfortable expressing all this to me and to be honest, it was tempting to take him up on it. I got the impression this was business as usual for him. I wasn't asking for a checkout in a 172 or a tire replaced. I was asking for at least $4,000 worth of "work". We've never even met or know of each other, I found him looking around on the internet for a guy in the area. I checked the airman database, his credentials check out. I know around the hangar of some "buddy does my annuals" type deals but this was a new one for me.
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Unfortunately these people exist. :nonod:

Same goes for the guy with an IA rating that will walk around the airplane, grab his pen and sign off an annual inspection. As long as there are customers for these types they will continue, at least until there is an accident or incident which brings them to light.

You're right, be very careful out there.
 
Turn him into the local FSDO. Faking log book entries, and turning pilots lose with ratings they did not earn is dangerous to us all. Short cuts in training kill people.
 
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Geico266 said:
Turn him into the local FSDO. Turning pilots lose with ratings they did not earn is dangerous to us all. Short cuts in training kill people.
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One problem with that. Nothing transpired, and it becomes a "he said, he said" type of deal.

But I do agree with your assessment.
 
While the FAA has participated in "sting" operations with the FBI, I believe those have generally involved criminal cases with larger issues such as major bogus parts suppliers. I don't see them spending their time setting up a sting on the situation described above, and you really wouldn't like the first question they ask you if you do the sting yourself -- "So, you admit to having fraudulent entries in your logbook?" Kinda like when people report that a mechanic's work was not legally sufficient, and the first question the Inspector asks is, "So, you say you flew the plane back to your home airport in what you say was an unairworthy condition?"

Really, about all you can do is simply avoid dealing with folks like that, or letting anyone with that person's signature in their logbook fly your airplane.
 
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Oh, I don't mean to imply that I would ever go through with it. I don't have the right size cajones for that. ;) But the thought would certainly go through my mind.
 
Don't know about you, but my flying is not to have a log book I can bragg about. My backside means much more to me than that! There are always ways to cheat the system, but you are really only cheating yourself.
 
Depends on what you mean about a log book to brag about. I think I have one to brag about, and I only have 3.0 hours actually logged. Lines 3 and 4, on page 1, are "Ford AT4" (Ford Tri-Motor)...... SIC 1.1 and SIC 0.3"
:thumbsup:

(I don't count that as part of my 3.0 hours logged, because legally, it means nothing, since I am not certified. It is there because it is part of my story.)
 
wsuffa said:
Not just on CFI/A&P/IAs, but also in the AME community. :(
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Civil Aeromedical is already actively weeding out the "lackadasical" (a polite way of saying it). We are down below 4,000 total AMEs currently (from over 6,000).
 
Ron Levy said:
and you really wouldn't like the first question they ask you if you do the sting yourself -- "So, you admit to having fraudulent entries in your logbook?"
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No sir, he never signed my log, but I am here to help you catch this SOB. Would you like my help or not?
 
He called back today, offered to sign off an annual on a plane that he knows isn't airworthy because insurance wouldn't cover the flight if it was on a ferry permit. I don't even know if that's true.
 
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