I flew for customs for ten years 1988 - 1998. I quit as soon as the opportunity presented itself - the same as about a third of the rest of the pilots did in the late 90's.
From what I hear from the guys that are still there, is that they still spend a lot of time away from home TDY. That's what made most of us quit years ago. We were being sent to Mexico, Panama and South America for up to four months a year - for thirty days at a time. Now, I hear, the foreign stuff has slowed, but domestic TDY is heavy. Plan for a lot of time at the DC air branch at DCA. You can hear them on ATC using call sign "Omaha". I guess they chase Cessna's, etc. out of P-56...
The pay was okay, but the overtime rules are inane and stupid - that is to say they are governmental.
As I recall, I flew about 200 hours, or so, per year... the rest of the time is spent doing busywork - collateral duties, standing by as part of the Blackhawk crew in nomex, putting up with the fitness program, etc..
There were a number of accidents - mostly caused by ineptness. A branch chief ran a Cessna 210 out of gas over the gulf - they fished him out after a swim. A Blackhawk hit the ocean off of Puerto Rico and a friend of mine never got out (George Saenz) - that was in the early 90's. Another in Tucson (where I was) a guy was racing the Citation for the runway at Davis-Monthan in a customs Cessna 404 with the throttles idled and the mixtures full rich - he fouled the plugs so badly that he ran out of airspeed, altitude and ideas on a quarter-mile final and wiped the airplane out.
If anybody would like answers to anything about customs, I'd be happy to answer.
--Phil Sasak (
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