Should you lose your license

[CurlyD777]

They just announced today that the pilot/instructor of the C-150 that made all of the White House evacuate is losing his licenses. Does everyone think this is fair? I can remember a C-150 over my local airport I was working at get intercepted during a TFR that the free lance instructor never bothered to look into. After the intercept, he high speed taxied back to his hanger, and nothing ever developed. No sheriff, no police, no phone calls, no FBI, nothing. All this while the president was in the area.



I think if they are going to make rules regarding restricted airspace, everyone that busts a restricted airspace should get the SAME punishment. Maybe not the loss of their license, but something to make it more important to check NOTAMs. This comes just after a jet decided to land at an airport where it was NOTAM that no jet’s allowed. There’s a reason why we put so much energy into creating these notices, and when people are too careless to bother with them, they should get something, not just a slap on their hand. Unfortunately, for most of us instructors, it is more like a career ending slap on the hand.

 

[BoilerUP]

The PIC of that Cessna deserves to lose his ticket. For good. He's darn lucky he wasn't shot down. They lived how close to Washington and weren't aware of the whole ADIZ/TFR thing?!?!

And a TFR bust is a mandatory 30 day suspension. A buddy of mine lost his ticket for a month because he and a student slipped into the corner of one...

 

[satpak77]

right or wrong, the end-of-day reality is you don't bust restricted/prohibited areas near the White House these days. It wasn't his wingtip cutting into it and then correcting, he cut the thing in half.

They were doing 90-day mandatory suspensions for Crawford, I heard some rumors that they were going to do revocations on Crawford soon

we belong to a country club, a nice one, run by the FAA. The FAA hands out the passes to the club, and if we don't comply with the rules, they take the passes, sometimes temporarily, sometimes forever.

 

[satpak77]

this guy was lost and did not call ATC or anyone else. He flew thru R/P airspace, straight thru it.

let me ask you - SHOULD this guy keep his license?

i mean, come on now

All the "big bad government cracking down unfairly" stories aside, answer the above honestly

 

[apcooper]

They were doing 90-day mandatory suspensions for Crawford, I heard some rumors that they were going to do revocations on Crawford soon



We belong to a country club, a nice one, run by the FAA. The FAA hands out the passes to the club, and if we don't comply with the rules, they take the passes, sometimes temporarily, sometimes forever.

"We belong to a country club"...........

I know what you are saying, but that is not quite true. The same arguement could be made for the privlidge (SP) of driving a car. That is no less of a privlidge than flying is.

Keep in mind that before the NTSB the burden of proof is on the FAA to show you violated an FAR, not the other way around. Contrary to popular belief the FAA does not have absolute power to sanction a pilot. That is why the we have an independent body (NTSB) to uphold, reduce or eliminate a propose suspension of a pilot or any other FAA certificate holder.

I believe an emergency revocation in this ADIZ case is completely fair and understandable. Again as I stated earlier if the pilot is dis satisfied with this he can go before the NTSB.

I can tell you that if I'd been the one who did this (impossible for me to comprehend) then the FAA would not have been able to revoke my cert. Why? Cause I'd drive to the nearest FSDO, run full speed through the door and turn in all my cert and ratings FOR GOOD. I'd also tell "BOB" to beat me over the head with a baseball bat. No questions asked. This and fuel exhaustion are two unforgivable sins in aviation!! Amazing that I'm totally commending the FAA on this as well!!!

 

[Yellow Snow]

I think the circumstances of this particular case warrant a revokation. He can always reapply, prove his ability, and earn his ticket back but its pretty obvious by his performance that he doesn't deserve a private; much less a CFI. Its kind of hard to miss the landmarks they were flying over.

 

[LR25]

So does the guy deserve a second chance?

This CFI didnt do any of us any good by doing this. What if after this there were no more flying with out a flight plan, or better yet, no more recreational flying in a 50 mile area around DC.

If these types of senarios were to happen, there would be plenty of people that would like to get a hold of him.

 

[JeffSKDTW]

...the pilot/instructor ...

This is one of the biggest errors in many of the media reports--the pilot was a private pilot. The media presumed the pilot was an instructor because the passenger was a student pilot.

 

[groundpointsix]

This is one of the biggest errors in many of the media reports--the pilot was a private pilot. The media presumed the pilot was an instructor because the passenger was a student pilot.

However, it's irrelvent whether he was a CFI or not. He was the PIC of the flight and therefore was responsible for all information relevant to the planned flight, including the massive DC ADIZ which has been in existence for over 3 years now. Any pilot with a pulse should have at least had an idea that restrictions existed in the vicinity of DC. Hell, my student knows about it and we're 400 miles away from DC.

There's no more burden in this situation on a CFI than on a private pilot or even a student pilot. Sure, he should have been aware he was lost and had the brains to do something about it. And he should have done it quickly, knowing that he was near the ADIZ. If I were flying around that area and realized I wasn't quite sure where I was, my first instinct would have been to do a 180 and head north-- AWAY FROM THE ADIZ AND CAMP DAVID. Also, I would have been talking to ATC in the first place.

This pilot-- CFI or not-- fooked up BIG TIME and did a lot of damage to the rest of us pilots in the process. Revoke his certificates, arrest him, draw and quarter him, whatever you want. Make an example of him. The FAA and AOPA have done a lot in the past 4 years since 9-11 to educate pilots about what is expected of them in the DC area and he didn't pay attention to it. This wasn't a pop-up TFR following the president's motorcade; this was Washington DC and it's been there for 200 years. We can teach people to fly, but we can't teach common sense.

 

[MVSW]

That guys should never fly again. Not only did he fly 3 miles from the most important building in the world, but he is a idiot. He better be lucky that he is not 6 feet under. If the pilot did not know where he was at, then he DOES NOT need to be flying.

 

[Wanna Fly!!]

Yup, lucky not 6 ft under!!!!! Idiots either way. No radio contact, could have been Abu Musaab himself up there wanting to send another stupid message of - Maybe I can kill 5 or 50, they simply don't care. Full load of fuel, crash head in- who knows what could have happened. I'm tired of the liberal "2nd chances" mentality in the USA! Got to send a message as bad as that may seem.

 

[MVSW]

Yup, lucky not 6 ft under!!!!! Idiots either way. No radio contact, could have been Abu Musaab himself up there wanting to send another stupid message of - Maybe I can kill 5 or 50, they simply don't care. Full load of fuel, crash head in- who knows what could have happened. I'm tired of the liberal "2nd chances" mentality in the USA! Got to send a message as bad as that may seem.

Thats what Iam talking about!!!

 

[Tater Salad]

I completely agree with everyone else. If you can't maintain awareness as to where you are, then you don't need to be flying at all. There are several different things the pilot could have done to get himself out of that situation. They need to make an example out of his stupidity rather then make the rest of us pilots pay for his mistake.

 

[Traderd]

I am getting soft in my old age.


I agree with the revocation but not from the punitive standpoint. I really feel badly for this gentleman and it is evident he should consider giving up flying.


He certainly made a mistake that is hard for most of us to comprehend and there is no excuse for a mistake so easily avoided. At his age, I would guess there will be no attempt on his part to reclaim his certificate.


He has been publicly humiliated and while I don't know this man, I will venture a guess there is much more to his life than this one incident. Hopefully, he will get past this event and reclaim the life he had before all of this notoriety. I for one have sat on more than a few accident investigation boards and all I can say is but for the grace of God....

 

[HerrJeremy]

I read that this guy wasn't even VFR current! He shouldn't have had the passenger on board, not to mention busting the airspace with him. Granted, the student was on the controls at the time; but students can't carry passengers either! So bassically we have two passengers flying around...good greif! This is why the pilot lost his certs, they said he was a "danger to aviation", or something to that effect. Anyone else see this, think I read it on the AP wire?