Cussing on the radio

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Ace66

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Ace66
We had a pilot cuss out another over CTAF which included threats. Looking through the CFR's the only thing he would be violating is "non standard radio phraseology." Does the FCC regulate our airbands and do they prohibit this type of behavior? I looked through Title 47 Part 87 and couldn't find anything.

Interestingly, about 20 years ago, I was leaving the airport one evening and a cop stopped me. He said someone (on the ground) was transmitting profanity/threats to pilots in the pattern and he wanted to know if I had a handheld with me. He asked to search my truck, which I let him, just to move on. I didn't think that local police would have jurisdiction over a case like this. Perhaps if you are standing on the ground making threats it's a different jurisdiction than both people being in the air?
 
The threats may be governed by state law. Each state is different, but the criminal code may have an offense called harassment, menacing, terrorizing, or the like.
 
Ace66 said:
I didn't think that local police would have jurisdiction over a case like this. Perhaps if you are standing on the ground making threats it's a different jurisdiction than both people being in the air?
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Common misconception. Almost all states have statutes allowing them to prosecute crimes committed in the airspace over their states.

Note the term "crimes" refers to violation of state and local laws, not federal regulations.

You would be surprised what is on the books though. I was jury foreman once for a trial where a person was charged with abuse of the 911 system for repeatedly calling and cursing at the operators.
 
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My understanding is the FCC disbanded the agency charged with enforcing such behaviour. My experience is from the amateur radio field. There is case history of the FCC enforcing regulations, but the action we read about is suspension or revocation of license, can be accompanied by a hefty financial fine. My subjective opinion is it would be hard to get anyone to prosecute it and might be hard to get a conviction because of the somewhat hazy definition of some words.
 
nonstandard phrasing? That's a stretch.

even a threat of a fight would be a stretch (technically that alone is assault) but what jury would convict?
 
My read of utube constitutional law is that it is legal to curse at cops so probably not illegal to do so to an aviator.
 
Ace66 said:
Interestingly, about 20 years ago, I was leaving the airport one evening and a cop stopped me. He said someone (on the ground) was transmitting profanity/threats to pilots in the pattern and he wanted to know if I had a handheld with me. He asked to search my truck, which I let him, just to move on. I didn't think that local police would have jurisdiction over a case like this. Perhaps if you are standing on the ground making threats it's a different jurisdiction than both people being in the air?
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No, you can't search my truck and yes, I do have a handheld radio on me. That doesn't mean I committed a crime. You going to look for shell casings, detective?
 
Unfortunately manners are lacking lately. Not much you can do but try to ignore it.
 
True story
So a place I used to work - essentially a refinery - call comes over the radio from the plant safety guy: "Geoffrey Thorpe 10-25 F D"
me: "What?"
"10-25 F D"
"Say again"
"10-25 F D"
"What the **** does that mean?"
"Report to the fire department" (we had our own station with trucks and all kinds of fun stuff)
"On my way"


Later in the afternoon...
Foreman tells me that I am to report to the plant manager (who has a radio on his desk)
Crap.

I walk into his office - plant manager: "I heard what you said on the radio"
me: "ummmm OK"
Plant manager: "Good for you, it's about time someone said something about all those stupid 10 codes he likes to use"
 
Late one night at Phoenix I was taxying to depart when the radio went click, click, clikity click, clickity....''Hmmm....what the f...'' Click, click, click... ''What the f''..., click, click, click.''F.. man, this f...ing thing is all f..up''. Unclick.

Tower: ''Airport maintenance on frequency, your radio is working just fine.''

Unknown female voice: ''And we heard EVERYTHING you said.''

Maintenance guy: very sheepish voice.....''sorry''
 
I do not think the cussing was the cause of police presence. A threat was included. Low Flying Jack, I have known several officers who would respond to your response by locking you in the back seat while they searched for a better suspect. in one case that did not turn out well for the officer or the first suspect, as the second suspect killed the officer, leaving the first one locked in the car.

Never make an officer's job harder, it rarely pays off for you.
 
geezer said:
Never make an officer's job harder, it rarely pays off for you.
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Neither does helping them investigate you. Don't talk to the police, ever. Do not consent to searches. Do not answer questions. Do not assist them in their investigations.

Want to "make the officer's job easier?" Ok, that's your right. But don't complain when you end up in cuffs, the back of a police car or in jail because something you said is being used against you.
 
bradg33, That attitude is why crime in some 'hoods is rarely solved. No one will tell the police what they saw.

Jury duty on two of those cases. Guy was stabbed repeatedly in the chest, airlifted to a hospital, 17 pints of blood, and he survived.

Wife of the victim "Thought the accused might have done it".
Occupant of the apartment who was present when the accused entered, but claimed he fled to his bedroom, did not see anything.
Wife of the accused had no idea where her husband went.
The victim refused to testify.
The only solid evidence was the knife matched the set in the accused's apartment, which was missing the knife from the scene.

A diminutive black retired school teacher and I were the only ones who voted guilty. She stood up and stated "In our communities, we complain that we have poor law enforcement, but we will not testify, and we vote not guilty. How are things going to get better?"

At 1 AM, we gave up, voted not guilty, and went home. She did not have a car, so I drove her home. Bus service had shut for the night at 9 PM.
 
geezer said:
I do not think the cussing was the cause of police presence. A threat was included. Low Flying Jack, I have known several officers who would respond to your response by locking you in the back seat while they searched for a better suspect. in one case that did not turn out well for the officer or the first suspect, as the second suspect killed the officer, leaving the first one locked in the car.

Never make an officer's job harder, it rarely pays off for you.
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Yeah, then I guess I'd have a nice lawsuit. Police can't lock you in the back of a car because you hurt their feelings.

Never let an officer take away your rights. You have the right to refuse a search. In this case, what was the point? You find a radio in my truck, still not a crime or proof of a crime. No, you can not search. If I consent to a search, how do you think that helps your investigation?

To be clear, I don't go out of my way to make an officer's job difficult, in fact, I'll go out of my way to help them. I won't just allow them to do whatever they want though.
 
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Lowflynjack said:
Yeah, then I guess I'd have a nice lawsuit. Police can't lock you in the back of a car because you hurt their feelings.

Never let an officer take away your rights. You have the right to refuse a search. In this case, what was the point? You find a radio in my truck, still not a crime or proof of a crime. No, you can not search. If I consent to a search, how do you think that helps your investigation?

To be clear, I don't go out of my way to make an officer's job difficult, in fact, I'll go out of my way to help them. I won't just allow them to do whatever they want though.
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when you say "I won't allow them to do...", I hope you won't physically tried to prevent something. Fighting with a LEO isn't going to end well.
 
Capt. Geoffrey Thorpe said:
I walk into his office - plant manager: "I heard what you said on the radio"
me: "ummmm OK"
Plant manager: "Good for you, it's about time someone said something about all those stupid 10 codes he likes to use"
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We had an unofficial 10 code for when we caught people having sex on the aircraft carrier. Probably shouldn't post it here, but your guess is probably right.
 
Bob Noel said:
when you say "I won't allow them to do...", I hope you won't physically tried to prevent something. Fighting with a LEO isn't going to end well.
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I would not voluntarily allow them to search, but no, I'm not going to physically fight them. I would be on their bodycams asking what they expect to accomplish by searching. Yes, I have a handheld radio. You don't even have proof the threatening call came from the ground. How will searching my truck benefit you?
 
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