do i report this to the faa hotline?

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weekend pilot

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weekendpilot
without being specific my question will not be able to get answered properly
 
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Unless you know for a fact that whatever he did or did not do to the airplane was causal to incident, I'd stay out of it. If the FAA wants to find something, he's on their radar now.

It's also perfectly legal for the pilot/owner to take the seats out. Maybe he was fixing the carpeting, or any of a dozen or more perfectly good reasons to take the seats out to check/fix something.
 
weekend pilot said:
hello i know of a plane that experienced a non injury incident . This owner operator is notoriously known to work on his own plane... the day of the incident he was seen with the seats out messing with the plane. His story of what happened is totally the opposite of what the faa assumes so far. Luckily there was no injuries to himself or the passenger. Not sure weather to be silent or report to prevent further safety issues in the future for himself and others.
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You do know that there are a whole list of things that a pilot owner is allowed to do under preventative maintenance, specifically including seats, right?

https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-14/chapter-I/subchapter-C/part-43#p-Appendix-A-to-Part-43(c)
(15) Replacing seats or seat parts with replacement parts approved for the aircraft, not involving disassembly of any primary structure or operating system.
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Let the FAA do their job. Nothing you've said so far is indicative of a need to get involved.
 
I doubt the FAA/NTSB assume things based on the pilots recollection of events. They've been down this road before.

Wait, so now I can't take the seats out of my own plane without getting an a/p or the hangar police involved?

How do you know his state of logs? You can't unless you're the a&p that signs the logs. There's quite a bit of things an owner can legally do without fear of getting reported.

Unless this pilot is causing hazard to you in the air let it go until asked. Even then, I might shrug.
 
weekend pilot said:
flew for a few months without a proper log book endorsement
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IT WAS MISSING A LOG BOOK ENDORSEMENT FOR MONTHS!? HOW DID THE PLANE STAY IN THE SKY ALL THAT TIME!?
HOLY SWEET MOTHER OF CHRIST, CALL THE ****** SKY POLICE, RIGHT THE **** NOW!!

You may be well intentioned but you've got nothing to add to the investigation. Stay out of it.

EDIT: Also, maybe he can work on it, maybe its experimental :)
 
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weekend pilot said:
hello i know of a plane that experienced a non injury incident . This owner operator is notoriously known to work on his own plane, he is not a certified mechanic and flew the plane for a few months without a proper log book endorsement. the faa is investigating this incident . the day of the incident he was seen with the seats out messing with the plane. His story of what happened is totally the opposite of what the faa assumes so far. Luckily there was no injuries to himself or the passenger. Not sure weather to be silent or report to prevent further safety issues in the future for himself and others.
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What would you think about this guy if he reported you to the FAA for something he thinks you did?
 
Jeff Oslick said:
Unless you know for a fact that whatever he did or did not do to the airplane was causal to incident, I'd stay out of it. If the FAA wants to find something, he's on their radar now.

It's also perfectly legal for the pilot/owner to take the seats out. Maybe he was fixing the carpeting, or any of a dozen or more perfectly good reasons to take the seats out to check/fix something
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OneCharlieTango said:
“Notoriously known” isn’t evidence, Karen.
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Yes, but this will go on your permanent record, YOUR PERMANENT RECORD...

With the information presented, unless the FAA is looking for someone to come forward with knowledge that the seats were out before the incident, this is a time to stay out of it.
 
If they want to talk with you they will send you a subpoena ...
 
Once upon a time I had reason to call the FBI. The recoding I got said "press 1 for kidnapping, 2 to report a bank robbery...". And no, I'm not making it up.
 
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Tarheelpilot said:
I think you should call the local field office, make an appointment and tell the inspector everything you know, in person.

That’s the best way for this to all work out as it should.
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Disregard my previous post. Definitely take Tarheel's advice. It would be the best thing for everyone.
 
Somebody moved the seat in their plane too far up, drank a brand of coffee that the op is boycotting and didn’t wave at him last time he drove by.
 
The FAA is already involved in the incident. Feel free to call them up and add your two cents worth. From what you've posted (and then deleted) it seems to fall into the hearesay category which means "That's nice, can you prove it?"

At the end of the day, the BEST case scenario for you is that they say thank you and nobody ever talks to you again about the incident.

On the other hand, If it goes as you're hoping (you're their star witness, the guy who pointed them to the smoking gun, etc), you can look forward to:
- Interviews with the FAA (note plural)
- Interviews with the guy's attorney and / or Insurance company (note plural)
- Subpoenas to court (civil or criminal from his insurance company, Criminal from whatever local laws he violated [you do want this guy punished as hard as possible, right?])
-- Usually several appearances
-- Usually inconvenient time for you and / or your job and / or your family
-- If you get to testify, you will be made to be the bad guy and / or incompetent by the guy's lawyer
- Lifetime of this guy knowing that you're the one who tried to get him into deeper trouble with the FAA

So, my suggestion is trust the FAA to ferret out the relevant information. But if you simply must fulfill your appointed duty and be sure they have your pieces of the puzzle, by all means call them up.

If you decide to call them up, let us know how the dice land.
 
guest user said:
The FAA is already involved in the incident. Feel free to call them up and add your two cents worth. From what you've posted (and then deleted) it seems to fall into the hearesay category which means "That's nice, can you prove it?"

At the end of the day, the BEST case scenario for you is that they say thank you and nobody ever talks to you again about the incident.

On the other hand, If it goes as you're hoping (you're their star witness, the guy who pointed them to the smoking gun, etc), you can look forward to:
- Interviews with the FAA (note plural)
- Interviews with the guy's attorney and / or Insurance company (note plural)
- Subpoenas to court (civil or criminal from his insurance company, Criminal from whatever local laws he violated [you do want this guy punished as hard as possible, right?])
-- Usually several appearances
-- Usually inconvenient time for you and / or your job and / or your family
-- If you get to testify, you will be made to be the bad guy and / or incompetent by the guy's lawyer
- Lifetime of this guy knowing that you're the one who tried to get him into deeper trouble with the FAA

So, my suggestion is trust the FAA to ferret out the relevant information. But if you simply must fulfill your appointed duty and be sure they have your pieces of the puzzle, by all means call them up.

If you decide to call them up, let us know how the dice land.
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I never saw the post, but what you're describing sounds like A Very Big Deal. Because if it's not A Very Big Deal, then most of that stuff isn't going to happen. If it was indeed A Very Big Deal and someone has material information, as your post suggests, that person should probably share it.
 
Lindberg said:
I never saw the post, but what you're describing sounds like A Very Big Deal. Because if it's not A Very Big Deal, then most of that stuff isn't going to happen. If it was indeed A Very Big Deal and someone has material information, as your post suggests, that person should probably share it.
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You can get an idea of what he's saying from some of the stuff quoted by others.

And you are correct. Most of that stuff is not going to happen at all, as this truly is not A Very Big Deal.

However, in the OP's mind it is a VERY BIG DEAL INDEED, so I was trying to explain what he could look forward if his perception were to be borne out in reality.
 
Lindberg said:
I never saw the post, but what you're describing sounds like A Very Big Deal. Because if it's not A Very Big Deal, then most of that stuff isn't going to happen. If it was indeed A Very Big Deal and someone has material information, as your post suggests, that person should probably share it.
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Post #5 has a copy of the OP ...
 
You can report to the FAA anonymously on there website there is a box to check to remain anonymous
 
To the MYOB crowd: let's assume that the OP actually saw something besides the seats being removed; something serious. At what point do you say that the plane should be grounded, and perhaps also the pilot? I never car if an idiot injures themselves, but I do worry a bit about others, who may inadvertently fly on a plane with, say, extensive corrosion in the tail cone.
 
Kenny Phillips said:
To the MYOB crowd: let's assume that the OP actually saw something besides the seats being removed; something serious. At what point do you say that the plane should be grounded, and perhaps also the pilot? I never car if an idiot injures themselves, but I do worry a bit about others, who may inadvertently fly on a plane with, say, extensive corrosion in the tail cone.
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How many people have been injured by extensive corrosion to the tail cone? For comparison, how many people have been harmed by false accusations?

I’m licensed to pilot an airplane, not deputized to enforce the law.
 
Kenny Phillips said:
To the MYOB crowd: let's assume that the OP actually saw something besides the seats being removed; something serious. At what point do you say that the plane should be grounded, and perhaps also the pilot? I never car if an idiot injures themselves, but I do worry a bit about others, who may inadvertently fly on a plane with, say, extensive corrosion in the tail cone.
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In this case, the FAA is already on the case, per the OP. He is just wanting to know if he should call up and add his 2 cents worth of "everyone knows..." information. Information which, per information provided, is neither illegal, nor is more than hearsay, but everyone knows it.

In your scenario, if the FAA was not already aware of the case, and you had something you felt strongly about, then by all means call them up and let them know. From there your conscious is clear.

EDIT to correct a most embarrassing typo.
 
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Kenny Phillips said:
To the MYOB crowd: let's assume that the OP actually saw something besides the seats being removed; something serious. At what point do you say that the plane should be grounded, and perhaps also the pilot? I never car if an idiot injures themselves, but I do worry a bit about others, who may inadvertently fly on a plane with, say, extensive corrosion in the tail cone.
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Let’s assume that instead of being a coward the op actually, I don’t know, asked him, the owner, why he had the seats out or was spraying the tail cone with salt water. Maybe the op would learn there was a good and legal reason the seats were out and it, while not brilliant, was perfectly legal reason to hose the plane in corrosives. But since tail cones are falling out of the sky onto innocents heads constantly I guess that does make it everyone’s business and totally worth ratting out the other guy because it is everyone’s god given right to be busybodies. No actually, MYOB.
 
Joepilotmsp said:
Let’s assume that instead of being a coward the op actually, I don’t know, asked him, the owner, why he had the seats out or was spraying the tail cone with salt water. Maybe the op would learn there was a good and legal reason the seats were out and it, while not brilliant, was perfectly legal reason to hose the plane in corrosives. But since tail cones are falling out of the sky onto innocents heads constantly I guess that does make it everyone’s business and totally worth ratting out the other guy because it is everyone’s god given right to be busybodies. No actually, MYOB.
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Did the OP say the part about salt water, or is that a hypothetical?
 
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