299 line check

[brokeflyer]

Does anyone have the definite answer for this? If you are typed, 293 and 297 current, is a 299 required to log PIC time in an aircraft? Basically, can you log PIC if you are not the signing captain? I have read some posts on this, but there are several opinions. I read the regs as that it is legal to log PIC for logging purposes.

If the flight is operated part 91, and you are flying the plane and rated as stated above, then yes you can log PIC time.

the .299 is a 135 thing.

 

[avbug]

I agree with your first statement. But, if the FSDO can't interpret any regulation or provide any auth. interp. of the reg........ Then the whole system is flawed!!! Well probabably true considering our Government. Maybe just a way for the FAA to cover their ass???

Daveman,

The Flight Standards District Office (FSDO) serves to administer the regulation. It's the "local office." There's a reason that the FSDO isn't empowered or authorized to interpret the regulation.

A police officer can't interpret regulation. That's why we have courts. A police officer can write a ticket, but can't prosecute it, nor do more than appear as a witness for the prosecution; the police officer enforces the law at the first, and lowest level...the point of first contact for most people when it comes to adhering to or violating the law.

The FSDO operates in a similiar manner. The FSDO doesn't interpret regulation. The FSDO serves as the first rung in enforcing the regulation, and can do no more than get the ball rolling...just as a police officer does so. The FSDO can revoke your certificates and file enforcement action...but that's just step one...and in doing so, they FSDO has no authority, and never has, to interpret the regulation.

Furthermore, anything received from the FSDO on a regulatory matter, means nothing in your defense. If you ask a regulatory question and insist in an answer in writing at that level, the answer in writing won't save your bacon if you rely upon it and subsequently violate the regulation. Why? Because the FAA Administrator never provided the FSDO with that authority...what you'd have is an opinion in writing with no weight behind it.

Contrast that to the offices whom have been granted such authority by the Administrator...the spokesmen for the Administrator: the FAA Chief and Regional Legal Counsel. You can write to the Chief Legal Counsel's office with a question, and the reply you get back is authoritative and defensible. It's not the be-all and end-all, but it's a clarification on the stand of the one single person given congressional authority to make and interpret the regulation (as well as enforce it and manage everthing associated with it)...the FAA Administrator's position.

This is nothing to do with "covering their ass." This has everything to do with administering the program for which the FAA is chartered. In any organization, only a select few can provide official legal statements defining the policy of the operation, and that's very true with the FAA. Simply because someone draws a paycheck at the lowest field levels of the Administration does NOT empower them to speak authoritatively on behalf of, and make statements of policy on behalf of the FAA Administrator. If you want such statements, then you must go to the right source.

You stated that if the FSDO can't issue interpretations of regulation, then the entire system is flawed. There's no basis for this thought. One wouldn't go to a maintenance inspector and expect to be issued a pilot certificate. One wouldn't go to an operations inspector and expect clarification on the proper execution of a Form 337. One wouldn't go to the aeromedical division and expect help filling out a Form 8410 for a 135 checkride. If you want assistance within the Administration, then you must go to the proper department.

If you want interpretation of the regualtion, then you must go to the sources provided; the Chief and Regional Legal Counsel...who speak on behalf of the Administrator in interpreting the policy.

If you must make a statement of position to the law, you're wise to have your attorney make that statement. The Administrator is no different. On legal matters, the Administrator has his or her legal counsel provide the answers...which is really what you want. You want an answer from someone who has the job to provide it, and the qualification to do so...and that would be the expert legal counsel serving the FAA Administrator.

The FAA legal interpretations are available online. These aren't a state secret. You can search them as well as anyone. We've provided some here. We've touched on other resources which are also publically available and which have legal significance in these regulatory matters, such as the Federal Register preambles...given when regulation is issued. These are also fully available to you and everyone else; no secrets here.

The problem we find is that there are many opinions, many of them incorrect. We've seen that the case in this thread by individuals who claim to be FAA inspectors or former inspectors, but who do not understand the regualtion or it's application, as well as numerous other private individuals. The sad fact is that if you ask a hundred different FAA inspectors a question, you may just get a hundred different answers...and that's a big part of the reason that they're not enpowered to give you a legally binding or legally defensible answer...what they can give you is their opinion, but they don't have the authority to represent the FAA Administrator when they provide that opinion to you. It's not their job, not their department, and not a privilege or responsibility they hold.

You can't walk into your local police department to get a definitive and defensible position on the county law. You might be able to get it from the county sheriff's office, but the truth is that you'd still be hunting around in the wrong office. You'd need to be looking to the county attorney. All are involved in law enforcement, all officers of the court...but not all have the same authority or responsibility. Same at the FSDO level...the FSDO has very serious responsibilities to uphold and can become your best friend or worst nightmare...but interpretation of the regulation, and the provision of a binding statement on the regualtion, is not among those responsibilities.

Simply put, the FSDO is your local police force, and if you're looking for answers on matters of law, consult an attorney. The Adminstrator certainly does...and these counsel make up the Chief and Regional Legal Counsel offices. I hope that helps.

 

[brokeflyer]

anyway.......there's 5 minutes ill never get back.

 

[avbug]

No great loss, I'm sure.

 

[brokeflyer]

nice, glad you give FI it's great reputation....lol