Be very careful flying into Germany from outside the EU

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peter-h

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peter-h
There is a really atrocious legal case running against a Swiss pilot who landed at a German airport, where the AIP said it has Customs but the primary legislation didn't say that.

The AIP is the primary pilot briefing source in Europe, and is government published (a bit like the US AFD) but they still busted him.

In short you have to consult an official list of Customs airports when flying into Germany from outside the EU. As everybody knew :) that list is here
https://www.zoll.de/DE/Fachthemen/Z....html?faqCalledDoc=297082&faqCalledDoc=297080

More details here
https://www.euroga.org/forums/hanga...rom-bankruptcy-due-to-german-customs-decision

It is really quite unbelievable. They assessed VAT and import duty on the aircraft and are going after him for 25,000 euros.

There is another case mentioned in the above thread (20,000 euros) showing a video from an American pilots who got the rules wrong. His aircraft has been impounded.
 
We have enough government agencies trying to rob us blind here, no need to tempt others.
 
A reasonable sanction for failure to follow well-advertised rules is expected.
This, however, is not reasonable.
 
Don’t worry, this is Pilots of America... Most of us are on this side of the pond.

:)
 
This caught my eye:

On the relevant documents for Würzburg at that time (and still at least one year later) the column “Customs” expressly stated: "Customs non-Schengen AC 24 h PPR". Switzerland belongs to the Schengen area and the pilot interpreted this in a way that Würzburg was still a customs airfield as it had been in the past for arrivals without goods.
Click to expand...

It specifically says "Customs non-Schengen". The flip side is, he filled the flight plan, made a phone call to Würzburg to confirm, and even had Würzburg tower call the police at the time of landing to confirm he was in the green. (hough who knows how the police were supposed to know about customs).

I would venture to guess there is more to this story.
 
Reading through the linked thread, I am under the impression that this was a combination of unfortunate timing (the status of the airport changed but the AIP wasn't updated yet and that he failed to comply with the the requirements in the AIP (call customs or police 24 h in advance). If he would have done the latter, he would have learned that the airport's status has changed.
The ruling still seems to be very harsh, considering that this apparently was a honest mistake. I am therefore wondering if there is more to the story!?

Bringing the discussion back to this side of the pond, I am wondering what would happen if somebody enters the US via a port of entry that is PPR but fails to call ahead? Particularly if somebody crosses the border coming from Mexico?
When we returned from the Bahamas, I complied with everything, called customs, but was pretty nervous that I did not get any confirmation for my call. All I had was the name of the officer.
 
steingar said:
Add another to the numerous reasons not to fly in Germany.
Click to expand...

You (and the guy who deleted his anti-German comment) might want to elaborate on what would happen to a foreign pilot, who enters the US and who lands at a US airport that is not a port of entry? :rolleyes:

Hint: Prison(!!!) of up to 1 year might be the result of one of the several violations he would commit with doing so... :eek:;)

Also, while it is not rocket science, have you ever departed the US and returned in a private plane and dealt will all the stuff you have to think of (customs sticker, ICAO flight plan, eAPIS, call customs prior to your arrival, get dedicated transponder code before entering ADIZ, etc.)?

As you know, I love the US and I love flying here, I'd however be careful with pointing fingers at other countries, particularly when it appears that there is more to the story.

Oliver
 
772E5D89-462B-41D0-A32A-E081B303F883.jpeg Loved flying in Germany. Didn’t have to worry about fees or Customs either. ;)
 
German guy said:
You (and the guy who deleted his anti-German comment) might want to elaborate on what would happen to a foreign pilot, who enters the US and who lands at a US airport that is not a port of entry? :rolleyes:

Hint: Prison(!!!) of up to 1 year might be the result of one of the several violations he would commit with doing so... :eek:;)

Also, while it is not rocket science, have you ever departed the US and returned in a private plane and dealt will all the stuff you have to think of (customs sticker, ICAO flight plan, eAPIS, call customs prior to your arrival, get dedicated transponder code before entering ADIZ, etc.)?

As you know, I love the US and I love flying here, I'd however be careful with pointing fingers at other countries, particularly when it appears that there is more to the story.

Oliver
Click to expand...

No. Just declare that you're seeking asylum. The laws are well laid out, if you ask for asylum, they have to go through the motions of getting you a hearing. Meanwhile, you haven't violated the law and can walk the streets a free man after your initial hearing.
 
The difference is this: how hard is it to find out which US airports have Customs?

In Europe, the AIP is the primary source for pilots. The actual primary source is variously buried in national laws and is often out of date. In this case

- the AIP was out of date, and
- the airport manager told the pilot he can land there (from Switzerland)

If that is not sufficient due diligence... reminds me of a scene from Al Pacino where some woman says to him "if you are a printer then I have a dick".

In Europe, historically, the AIPs have been

- some not available online (they are now)
- some were full of trash (% of trash proportional to distance from the N Pole, so e.g. Greece was a joke)
- some you have to buy (German AIP for VFR-only airports, like this one, has to be bought, best part of $100/year)

The situation is a lot better now and pilots (well, those few % who actually go places) consult the AIP and maybe phone the airport. Indeed, phoning Customs would have been a damn good idea here, but they

- often never pick the phone up
- the fax machine was unplugged a few years ago so email2fax doesn't help
- often cannot speak English (mostly true for Spain, France, Italy)

so contacting them can be a challenge. So you can see it is very tempting for the pilot to look at the AIP and take the airport's word that it's fine to fly there.

I actually don't know what the proper solution is IF the Customs are not contactable. You cannot safely fly to that airport.

This will become a challenge for UK pilots too, if/when the UK leaves the EU. They will have to be extra careful.
 
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