FAA just turns a blind eye, or so I guess!

[The_Russian]

Everything we are all saying is true. But just the same, some small things are a big deal while others are not. Here, in the case of MDW, departing with 1000 & 3 is evidently not worth going after a pilot even though it is clear that the pilot was either too low or too close to clouds. Small things can be career ending while others are not.

What about the VFR pilot flying in the clouds when the area is clearly IMC or even marginal? What if he causes a mid-air in IMC killing tens or hundreds of people because he was trying "get somewhere". Why shouldn't the Feds go after every one of those guys? How many times have you had ATC tell you that you have VFR traffic at 12 o'clock, less than a mile at the same altitude when you know the cloud deck is 2000' below your aircraft?

 

[Princedietrich]

I will freely and openly agree that there are some federales out there who are way too zealous in the performance of their duties. I can guarantee that if I had a 110A in my pocket I wouldn't be slinging it around like Mjollnir (sp?), and I'm sure there are many who have the credential and use their powers for good. There are a lot of new folks heading over to the "dark side" in the ATC and the inspector roles, so hopefully the mentality of compliance through enforcement will fade out.

As for why they don't go after all of these small incidents, the answer is a simple issue of numbers. There just aren't enough folks out there to handle it, just like there aren't enough police to stop every single purse-snatching and vandalism. There also isn't enough funding being (properly) allocated to upgrade the gear that ATC has to work with. Some of those guys are using stuff that predates the Mercury program. That makes it tough to track down the moron that was scudrunning or who pulled some other VFR boneheadery. It's akin to getting tagged by a traffic camera but the light bulb in the flash was burnt out or not bright enough.