warning (FAA)

[jsoceanlord]

a few months ago i posted about a raspy mid air with a caravan and an islander in vieques puerto rico (no one hurt)

long story short is that a caravan pilot who wasn't involved recently flew through a cloud. unbeknownst to him there was an inspector in back and my friend got a 90 vacation (suspension), which he's spending in st thomas.

nobody was violated for the mid air but the feds were watching this company - and my friend wound up the fall guy.

 

[Brother Francis]

Was your buddy operating under VFR when he flew through the cloud?

 

[FL000]

So what's the lesson here? Don't break the regs? Thanks for the heads up. I'll get right on that.

 

[flx757]

Seems like I also remember you posting something about "pax on the floor of cargo planes". If you and your "friends" would just follow the rules, you wouldn't have anything to worry about.

But since that isn't likely to happen, I wouldn't worry too much about the "feds". You're your own "fall guy".

 

[flydog]

Whats your point? That we should file IFR when flying in IMC conditions. You should have learned that from studying for your Private Written.

From your posts here it sounds like maybe you need a checkride with the Feds too. Here is my favorite:

I crashed a 7 person hot air balloon into some power lines - which is the biggest cause of balloon fatalities. i also lost a fuel pump on climb in a ce 210 in the dark, and made a hail mary belly loanding on a taxi way - i thought i was toast.

and i've had about another ten close calls in flight where it was 50/50 whether i'd live. after a couple of those, my legs were so shaky i couldn't stand up for awhile.

Whats the next lesson Professor? Dont fly baloons into power lines?

 

[Brother Francis]

I asked if your bud went IMC under VFR. Everone else seems to have assumed that, and going back and checking some of your previous posts, that seems to be a valid assumption.

So the point of your thread starter was be careful when you break the reg's because sometimes people get caught and punished, right? And I further glean that the reason he got caught was his company was under surveillance because it was involved in a recent midair?

My gift for perceiving the obvious leads me to the following question:

Did it occur to him at the time (or for that matter to you OR him at some later time) that penetrating a cloud while operating VFR is a--- COLLISION HAZARD?

I guess the silver lining to this dark (and I might add, illegally penetrated) cloud is that for the next 90 days we have one less thing to worry about: meeting the scofflaw coming the other way when we are legally operating in IMC.

If you punks want to run around like a pack of naughty children, then have at it. You have the right to endanger your own lives. You do not have the right to endanger mine or anyone else's.

What is really astonishing, at least to me, is that in your previous posts as well as this one you are actually bragging about these stunts. Read the replies. Does it appear you have gained the respect of your fellow pilots through your antics?

Your friend is not a victim, please don't try to make him out to be. Victims, by definition, are innocent. He is a culprit. You and he and whatever other punk friends run with your pack of hoodlums have the potential to make lots of victims when natural selection catches up with you, though. And probably CNN also.

 

[Dep676]

Is the company to cheap to put on the required backup vaccum pump on it? That way they would be able to fly in IFR. When we had ours I remember the boss didn't want to buy one either. Doesn't hardly make sense. Flying a 1.5 mil plane and is to cheap to buy a $5000.00 pump so you can fly passengers in the soup.

 

[Brother Francis]

With all due respect, I rather doubt that any amount of equipment added to the planes these guys fly would effectively address the fundamental problem.

 

[Dep676]

True but if they had proper equipment they could legally fly in IMC. Correct.

I don't disagree these guys are probably a bunch of hotdogs out there. But if they had the right equipment they wouldn't need to break the reg's. I am not defending anyone I am just making on observation.

 

[jsoceanlord]

how'd I get labeled a cowboy punk?

what's up with that?

I'm as 'by the book' as anyone

maybe the cloud buster should've had his license totally revoked

in the balloon, i saved seven people from being fried