Gear up landing, when does the FAA get involved?

[Rene]

Depends. A number of states and municipalities have local laws permitting aircraft accident investigations and the federal rules note this. For example, Ohio has such laws. However, no other agency other than the NTSB are permitted to participate in any probable cause determinations.

I was merely responding to the quote.

Why in the world would the police be involved in a gear up? Some stole the landing gear? Or maybe the landing gear switch?

And pointing out that theft from / vandalism of a FAA registered aircraft is a federal crime.

 

[ateamer]

I was merely responding to the quote.

And pointing out that theft from / vandalism of a FAA registered aircraft is a federal crime.

But that doesn’t mean that state and local laws against theft don’t apply. Federal law enforcement agencies like the FBI are not first responders.

 

[Larry Korona]

The issue is general ignorance in the LEO community, but in fairness, it isn't their area of specialization.

Ignorance of the rules is no excuse, that's what the cops would tell you if the shoe was on the other foot. LEO - one of the few cases where you can talk out of both sides of your mouth and still look like the hero

 

[RyanShort1]

Ignorance of the rules is no excuse, that's what the cops would tell you if the shoe was on the other foot. LEO - one of the few cases where you can talk out of both sides of your mouth and still look like the hero

Yeah, but you are presuming that the FAA's rules are the only ones they care about. They aren't trying to keep you out of trouble.

 

[flyingron]

In mine, tower informed the usual suspects. I imagine they called LEO, FAA and NTSB because I gave a report to all three. Mine was considered an accident because the NTSB determined substantial damage because of the monocoque fuse.

View attachment 135307

Isn't that the way you normally park those things?

 

[Velocity173]

Isn't that the way you normally park those things?

Unfortunately not for a Velocity. But it is a good thing the prop is in the rear.

 

[PastZTL]

911 dispatch centers are trained to call an FAA Regional Operations Center for aviation accidents/incidents. The specialist on duty will coordinate with the appropriate FSDO, the NTSB, Air Traffic (if applicable) and the public affairs office.

 

[Roller]

depends on where it happened and how mouthy someone wants to be

If it’s a rural uncontrolled field good chance no one will ever hear about it.

If it’s a class B or C and you shutdown the runway, you’ll probably talk to a whole gaggle of people

 

[flyingron]

911 dispatch centers are trained to call an FAA Regional Operations Center for aviation accidents/incidents. The specialist on duty will coordinate with the appropriate FSDO, the NTSB, Air Traffic (if applicable) and the public affairs office.

If ours are trained, they seem to have forgotten that. The only time the FAA seemed to find out about it was the time the guy was on an open IFR plane when he geared it up here. We've had other ones when we've called 911 and we've had everybody from the State Police to the county EMS guys here and nobody at the FAA seems to have noticed. I'm the first to know as the airport number of record goes direct to my cell.

 

[Rene]

911 dispatch centers are supposed to be trained to call an FAA Regional Operations Center for aviation accidents/incidents. The specialist on duty should have been told to coordinate with the appropriate FSDO, perhaps the NTSB, maybe Air Traffic (if applicable) and possibly the public affairs office.

FTFY

 

[X3 Skier]

Why in the world would the police be involved in a gear up? Some stole the landing gear? Or maybe the landing gear switch?

I believe there are a few comments on this board about a somewhat “famous” individual who has admitted (and later deadmitted) removing items from crash scenes. Photos might have been useful in those instances or if the landing gear or switch mysteriously disappeared and the appeared in a YouTube video.

 

[Rene]

I believe there are a few comments on this board about a somewhat “famous” individual who has admitted (and later deadmitted) removing items from crash scenes. Photos might have been useful in those instances or if the landing gear or switch mysteriously disappeared and then appeared in a YouTube video.

With D. B. Cooper?

 

[Dana]

Why in the world would the police be involved in a gear up?

Nowadays, if anybody sees an airplane do anything unusual, the first thing they're gonna do is call 911, (and then record a video to post on Tiktok). Once called, the police have to respond.

depends on where it happened and how mouthy someone wants to be

If it’s a rural uncontrolled field good chance no one will ever hear about it.

Yes. At a small field, the first response is usually "get that thing inside a hangar before anybody sees it!"