Hotline FAA EX

Cx770 said:
I don’t really want to go into the details, but I genuinely don’t believe I did anything wrong. It would be humiliating for me to apologize for something I don’t feel I did wrong, and honestly, even if I apologized, I’m worried she might still report it if she really wanted to.
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How old are you now?

Here's the relationship advice: None of us, not one has ever been in a relationship where we didn't do anything wrong. It's not possible. That condition doesn't exist. Without a doubt we all have much to apologize for. Even if your ex is bat**** crazy, it's a certainly you have some responsibility. You're not going to be successful in relationships or life until you understand this.

Here's the flying advice: Talk to a lawyer, NOW. While there's a good chance you could straighten this out with the FAA if you have no other real issues, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. And a good lawyer is not a one-trick-pony, so you may get good advice that completely avoids legal entanglements.
 
Be honest - coming from someone who has struggled with mental health if you’re going to get a hard no that’s better with knowing that You were honest.
 
At this point, chances are you won’t be able to charm her. You’ll say something inadvertently that she’ll add to the list. “Anything you say can and will be used against you”. Even if she says she’ll drop it she can always bring this up again if she regains her fury.

Talk to your lawyer. And STOP TEXTING and POSTING.
 
cowman said:
We've seen a few posts like this before, I'm curious if the FAA actually does anything in these instances. There are numerous websites where you can generate fake text message screenshots and given that it's coming from an ex... you really have to question the competency of anyone who would take that seriously. Maybe bureaucratic rules require them to but even then discretion is surely a thing.



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From what I've seen of trials on YouTube, this is why photographs, videos, screen captures, etc, have to be validated by a witness in order to be admissible in court. However, I have no idea whether such rules apply in FAA medical investigations.
 
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M20K said:
Since you really don't have schizophrenia, if she gives them false information about a pilot, that would be a federal offence.
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I’m going to assume you’re not a lawyer. She’s simply telling the FAA what he told her.
 
mryan75 said:
I’m going to assume you’re not a lawyer. She’s simply telling the FAA what he told her.
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My question is, what will the FAA likely do? Will they revoke my medical certificate with no chance of getting it back, or will they ask for a medical assessment and my medical records? It’s been a week, and I’ve been overthinking the worst-case scenario. I had an appointment with my AME, and he told me that if I don’t have any medical history or diagnosis, then I have nothing to report.
 
mryan75 said:
I’m going to assume you’re not a lawyer. She’s simply telling the FAA what he told her.
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Read the last line to keep things in context. If his ex is just being mean spirited, I was more saying he could use it as a scare tactic so she wouldn't or would retract it if the FAA reached out to her.
 
I don’t have an official solution, you could provide hope with the relationship, buy time.

Much seems a little like ‘barstool banter’ in reference to a hunting violation. A guy may take about shenanigans after a few drinks, but where’s any evidence of such?

She does know how to get that dig into your flying, potentially. Coming from an EX, one would hope that was taken into account, but someone could take the info & try to run with it.

Is there a way to fight fire with fire? Don’t big a larger hole, but there may be a way to mitigate.

This all ‘assumes’ there isn’t a physco element, if there is I don’t offer much.
 
Cx770 said:
My question is, what will the FAA likely do? Will they revoke my medical certificate with no chance of getting it back, or will they ask for a medical assessment and my medical records? It’s been a week, and I’ve been overthinking the worst-case scenario. I had an appointment with my AME, and he told me that if I don’t have any medical history or diagnosis, then I have nothing to report.
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They'll ask for a medical assessment and possibly medical records. Their enforcement decision will be based on the outcome of submitted evidence.

I personally know a Delta pilot whose soon-to-be ex-wife called him into the FAA claiming he was suicidal. They required him to undergo a psych evaluation, to which they found the claims to be unfounded and he was cleared. But not after having a spend a bunch of $$$ for the evaluation. Even got her to admit to making the bogus call in family court. Had that been me, I'd have sued her for every penny I had to spend to get cleared plus had her criminally prosecuted.

Keep in mind that they are not evaluating you as they would for treatment purposes. They are using best medical judgement to "legally" evaluate you, to see if they can check any boxes that would regulatorily disqualify you. While they are, in fact, medical doctors, you are not speaking to a doctor as you would a treating doctor, but a medically qualified FAA agent. Treat them as you would any other law enforcement agent.
 
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Cx770 said:
I can send u a text now i have cancer also thats dosent mean i have a cancer lol
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I don't think you're in alignment with what the real situation is. It's not that you have or don't have a mental condition. It's that you sent a statement, an attestation if you will via text that you have a mental condition. It's that which you are dealing with.
 
WDD said:
I don't think you're in alignment with what the real situation is. It's not that you have or don't have a mental condition. It's that you sent a statement, an attestation if you will via text that you have a mental condition. It's that which you are dealing with.
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This. If word of that gets to the FAA, the burden of proof is on you to prove that you DON'T have that condition.
 
Man, tough crowd...

Anyway, good of you to check with your AME. It doesn't fix everything, but it is helpful. Why? If the FAA does look into a hotline complaint, at the very least it doesn't look like you're hiding something, since you could report back that your AME did not think you had anything of note to report. Under the presumption that, if he thought you had psychosis or schizophrenia he/she would have assuredly mentioned it to you...

Having said that, the problem isn't really gone. I still agree with the other posters-if you can humble yourself and work it out with your ex GF, that is your best bet."Proving you're right" to your ex GF isn't a hill you want to die on.
If you can't be confident that she will not sent the FAA your screenshots no matter what you do, then you still have an issue.

Not so much that you will loose your medical forever, assuming you've been truthful in your history and no other medical, legal or other surprises.

The problem is analogous to you joking that you have a bomb in a TSA line. You can say "I was just kidding," but you're still going to get led down a different hallway than everyone else...

If the FAA gets a notification, they will likely ask for more information, and, probably, a more in depth evaluation. Why? Because they don't know or trust you. And, assuming there isn't anything you're not telling us, you probably will pass that evaluation. So I wouldn't catastrophize and assume your career would end.

But the question would be to see a HIMS AME now and get their input/eval or wait? The problem with waiting is that the timing could be very unfortunate. Say you do nothing, but she sends a screenshot to the FAA 3 months from now. Which just happens to be the time that you're applying to your dream pilot gig. It will take you months to clear that up, and you'll be under the FAA''s deadlines and/or have your medical suspended while your waiting and waiting for your evaluation and FAA review. You may get your medical back, but you lost your dream slot to your annoying rival CFI while this glacial process unfolds.

That's why it's reasonable to get a 30 minute consult with a HIMS AME and maybe an aviation lawyer. In the grand scheme of knowledge gained, it's worth spending that money for at least a one time consult opinion.
 
I’m not sure I’d ask about this so publicly

Clearly, the only right way to handle this is to do what the quiet inner voice tells you to do.
 
My $0.02 -

You've never had an official diagnosis, therefore, nothing to report on your MedXpress. Get your medical records ready, be ready to send them in but NOT UNTIL YOU ACTUALLY RECEIVE A LETTER ASKING FOR THEM!!

Keep flying until you receive some sort of mail correspondence from the feds. If you do get a letter, give them what they ask for AND ONLY WHAT THEY ASK FOR!!! No more, no less. Only what they ask for shall be what you send in, and what you send in shall be only what they ask for.

If you never receive the letter, don't worry about it.
 
bbchien said:
If she anon complains to FAA, What happens was in post
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In post 31 you mention seeing hims to sort it out, but you also say you don't see how this is going to work out. I don't have a diagnosis, so I'm a bit confused. Your reply wasn't very clear and felt like it was saying there are no options left, if I understood correctly.
 
Cx770 said:
In post 31 you mention seeing hims to sort it out, but you also say you don't see how this is going to work out. I don't have a diagnosis, so I'm a bit confused. Your reply wasn't very clear and felt like it was saying there are no options left, if I understood correctly.
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Let me give you a bit of an example as to just how unfair the FAA Hotline is.

A Delta pilot and a mechanic were dating the same flight attendant. Eventually, she chose the pilot over the mechanic, leaving the mechanic disgruntled.

One morning, the Delta pilot shows up to work for an early AM flight. The mechanic sees him, calls the airline and says "Hey, I just saw him show up to the plane. He's drunk."

Airline personnel show up. No option to breathalize, pee in a cup, nothing. Just "Hey, we got a call, you gotta go see the shrink." which of course was in a city he does not live in. "Oh...and pack for a 30 day stay in case they send you to rehab." Which of course, they did.

Now I realize this particular account dealt with a 121. But the FAA is no different, as evidenced by my Delta pilot friend's issue where his ex-wife called in on him with a bogus "suicidal pilot" claim. They take action solely on an anonymous person's word without investigating the validity of the claim. Their "investigation" is placing a burden on the airman to disprove the claim. They don't need a diagnosis to take action. They just need an unverified claim, and the burden is on you to disprove the claim.
 
Cx770 said:
In post 31 you mention seeing hims to sort it out, but you also say you don't see how this is going to work out. I don't have a diagnosis, so I'm a bit confused. Your reply wasn't very clear and felt like it was saying there are no options left, if I understood correctly.
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If it goes that way, you're going to need a shrink to convince the FAA that you're not schizophrenic. They will likely want all of your medical records, too. Have you spoken to an attorney yet? Have you considered what it would take to make things right with the ex? An ounce of prevention, and all that....
 
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