Fatal Crash XLL 9/28/2022 - CFI McPherson charged with Involuntary Manslaughter

He shouldn't have flown with someone that's had an accident, no matter the cause. So sayeth Cliffy.
I said I wouldn’t instruct a person who had an accident. You can do put your signature any anyone’s logbook your little heart desires when you become a CFI.

DPEs are legally insulated from post accident lawsuits, CFIs aren’t.
 
no, “evaluate” doesn’t means “bust.” :rofl:

But you stated that the DPE should be evaluated because he “passed this guy,” and the logical assumption being that if the DPE hadn’t “passed this guy,” the DPE wouldn’t need to be evaluated.

So how would you suggest the DPE not pass the guy in order to avoid being evaluated if the guy performed satisfactorily on the checkride?
Again, I never said the DPE should be busted or the applicant shouldn’t have been passed. What I am saying is the FAA should investigate further reference this pilot.

If you don’t find the circumstances of all this a bit suspicious, that’s ok too.
 
Again, I never said the DPE should be busted or the applicant shouldn’t have been passed. What I am saying is the FAA should investigate further reference this pilot.
you said “the FAA needs to evaluate the DPE.” There’s a difference between evaluating a DPE and investigating further.
 
I’ll agree with that, but only one person knew for sure that he was not legally instructing.
It looks like he was hired by Proflight Aero in April 2021, which was after the two accidents, but before the 44709 letter in May 2021. So, it appears he was legal at his time of hiring. Still, "participation trophy" is a concept to describe a reward given to a person that doesn't deserve it. It seems to be an apt description.

I am a bit confused by this sentence: "On April 23,2079, MCPHERSON received a temporary pilot's certificate pending a retest." One doesn't get a temporary certificate until a test is successfully passed. I assume this a lawyer's mix-up and misunderstanding of the certification process, but I don't know what was actually meant here.

Strange how the NTSB report doesn't even mention the PIC's certificate was revoked. Did they omit this information because they thought it wasn't a contributing factor to the probable cause (but yet they included the non-PIC's toxicology information which they stated wasn't contributing), or another reason, or did they not perform adequate due diligence?
 
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Well the FAA asked him to surrender it and he did. I don't know if that's the same thing as a revocation, and to me it doesn't matter.
If it was revoked, they wouldn’t have given him a temporary certificate so he could practice up for another 709 ride.
 
If it was revoked, they wouldn’t have given him a temporary certificate so he could practice up for another 709 ride.
Thank you for the correction. I think that would be equally as noteworthy as a revocation for inclusion into a final NTSB report.
 
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Well the FAA asked him to surrender it and he did. I don't know if that's the same thing as a revocation, and to me it doesn't matter.
It wouldn’t matter to me either except the FAA issued a restricted temporary certificate after he surrendered, which is a far cry from revocation.
 
you said “the FAA needs to evaluate the DPE.” There’s a difference between evaluating a DPE and investigating further.
The FAA can evaluate the DPE’s approvals without opening an official investigation. They simply compare the DPE’s pass rate vs the averages, the % of applicants he may be passing out of a specific 141 school, ect.

If the evaluation provides reasonable suspicion, the FAA can start an official investigation. The FAA usually sends a letter of investigation once it gets to that point.
 
The FAA can evaluate the DPE’s approvals without opening an official investigation. They simply compare the DPE’s pass rate vs the averages, the % of applicants he may be passing out of a specific 141 school, ect.

If the evaluation provides reasonable suspicion, the FAA can start an official investigation. The FAA usually sends a letter of investigation once it gets to that point.
You really need to lay off whatever substances you’re ingesting before you try to pretend you’re replying to what you quote.
 
If this is the one I think it is, I don't think the NTSB caught the revocation in their report. Not that it excuses anything, but how many times has this come up? I've read about pilots having accidents all the time that had expired licenses, but I don't recall reading one where a CFI was teaching expired or revoked before.
 
I think the employer also holds blame for not even verifying the certificates/ratings. Takes two clicks on the Airman Registry.
 
So, if he suggests that he was believed that the temporary cert allowed him to legally instruct, what will a jury decide?

IMO, he’s clearly guilty of violating the CFR. I would bet a fill-up with 100LL, though, that there will not be a single certificated pilot on the jury, so they will believe whatever the legal teams can convince them.
It's important to understand the difference between what juries decide and what judges decide in jury trials. The judge decides what the law is and instructs the jury on the applicable legal principles. The jury decides what the facts are. I would expect a federal District Court judge to instruct a jury, as a legal principle, that the temporary did not authorize carrying passengers and did not authorize instruction.

The jury disregarding those instructions is certainly a possibility, but "jury nullification" by a jury of non-pilots in favor of a pilot who violates the same rule 40 times with multiple questions of their competence and someone dies doesn't strike me as all that likely. And yeah, a jury can theoretically decide the pilot lacked the proper degree of intent to violate the rules.

Of course, the case going to trial at all doesn't seem all that likely either, but it certainly could happen.
 
The FAA had my license as being suspended for about 8 years. Yet I added type ratings, mel, etc during that time. But if an airline checked the registry my license was suspended
 
It wouldn’t matter to me either except the FAA issued a restricted temporary certificate after he surrendered, which is a far cry from revocation.
Wasn't Bob Hoover trapped by voluntarily surrenduring his certificate?
 
With a good attorney, this person is not going to be convicted because nothing the FAA did was logical.

1. The FAA conducted a 709 ride, he surrenders his commercial pilot certificate, no mention of the instructor certificate in the indictment although once he surrendered his commercial certificate he is not eligible for the CFI. (61.183)
2. FAA issues a temporary with a no passengers restriction although the FAA’s own Kortokrax opinion states the students are not passengers. The FAA didn’t comply with their own regulation (61.27). Passengers is not a rating to delete under 61.5 and there was no exchange for a lower certificate listed in 61.5.
3.. The flight instructor certificate says it must be accompanied by a pilot certificate #123456. His temporary certificate contained his certificate number.

§ 61.183 Eligibility requirements.
To be eligible for a flight instructor certificate or rating a person must:

(c) Hold either a commercial pilot certificate or airline transport pilot certificate with:


§ 61.27 Voluntary surrender or exchange of certificate.
(a) The holder of a certificate issued under this part may voluntarily surrender it for:

(1) Cancellation;

(2) Issuance of a lower grade certificate; or

(3) Another certificate with specific ratings deleted.

(b) Any request made under paragraph (a) of this section must include the following signed statement or its equivalent: “This request is made for my own reasons, with full knowledge that my (insert name of certificate or rating, as appropriate) may not be reissued to me unless I again pass the tests prescribed for its issuance.”

§ 61.17 Temporary certificate.
(a) A temporary pilot, flight instructor, or ground instructor certificate or rating is issued for up to 120 days, at which time a permanent certificate will be issued to a person whom the Administrator finds qualified under this part.

(b) A temporary pilot, flight instructor, or ground instructor certificate or rating expires:

(1) On the expiration date shown on the certificate;

(2) Upon receipt of the permanent certificate; or

(3) Upon receipt of a notice that the certificate or rating sought is denied or revoked.
 
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The FAA didn’t comply with their own regulation (61.27). Passengers is not a rating to delete under 61.5.
61.5 does not specify the Limitations that can be placed on a certificate. The passenger verbiage was a Limitation.
 
61.5 does not specify the Limitations that can be placed on a certificate. The passenger verbiage was a Limitation.
I get it, but a temporary is not a pilots certificate in regulations so it is not a lower grade. The lowest grade certificate is a student, which would have provided the no passengers restriction.

There appears to have never been:

1. A cancelation.
2. Issuance of a lower grade certificate
3. Another certificate with specific ratings deleted.

In #3, an example would be a pilots certificate with a category, class, or rating deleted. Passengers is not a rating to delete from his certificate under 61.5.

Edit. Section IX of the temporary certificate says the person was found properly qualified and is authorized for the privileges of something. So if the FAA left commercial pilot on the temporary with a no passengers limitation, that is not in compliance with their own regulation,
 
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I also suspect that “surrender” is not the technically correct term for what happened…from the 8900.1:
1723305034103.png
 
I also suspect that “surrender” is not the technically correct term for what happened…from the 8900.1:
View attachment 132318
To be honest, I am not sure what occurred. But, I don’t believe the person who wrote that policy guidance anticipated putting a no passengers limitation on a ATP or commercial pilot certificate holder.

The other issue is the indictment stated the FAA inspector had to assume control of the plane on a go around. No competent CFI would give a solo endorsement to student who could not demonstrate a go around. So why in the hell did the FAA give him a temporary to fly solo? Nuts.

At best, he should have been given 30 days for remedial instruction and realistically should have gotten an emergency revocation .
 
With a good attorney, this person is not going to be convicted because nothing the FAA did was logical.

1. The FAA conducted a 709 ride, he surrenders his commercial pilot certificate, no mention of the instructor certificate in the indictment although once he surrendered his commercial certificate he is not eligible for the CFI. (61.183)
2. FAA issues a temporary with a no passengers restriction although the FAA’s own Kortokrax opinion states the students are not passengers. The FAA didn’t comply with their own regulation (61.27). Passengers is not a rating to delete under 61.5 and there was no exchange for a lower certificate listed in 61.5.
3.. The flight instructor certificate says it must be accompanied by a pilot certificate #123456. His temporary certificate contained his certificate number.
The temporary certificate expired and he made no effort to renew it. Therefore he had no pilot certificate at all. He was not authorized to act as PIC under any circumstances and his CFI was invalidated due to not having a pilot certificate. Regardless of whether the temporary was issued properly, he still flew illegally for at least 10 months leading up to and including the fatal crash flight.
 
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the 120 years is just click bait for the media. One of the boober videos hightlighted an attorney explaining federal sentencing guidelines; this first offender would likely have the repetitive counts served concurrent. 11 years he's out in 8. If he gets a good lawyer this thing becomes another involuntary manslaughter case, 8 years he's home in 6, or gets acquitted of the killing as a potential overcharge. Maybe they get him to plea to the admin counts and serves 2 of the 3 years in lieu of the risk of aquittal on the manslaughter charge.

The hypothetical this case opens up which I find more interesting, is the potential for charging pilots with manslaughter when they display negligence in the conduct of their certificate, and kill bystanders. Is the possession of a valid certificate really the inflection point here to draw the line on the level of incompetence that rises to criminal negligence versus the current apathy towards charging entitled pilots with a crime when they kill others? Which brings us back to the OSH gyro fatalities.

I personally don't hold very much distinction between DUI/vehicular manslaughter, and some of the aviation fatalities borne out of "I do what I want/what I can afford". All stem from the same individual sense of entitlement. The courts see it differently up to this point, but this case kinda opens it up a little for me.
 
Student in my school just failed practical for PPL twice with same DPE, brand new DPE, once for tail not clear of the hold short line after exiting the runway. On the retest for the landing, failed him for not landing center line. Seems DPEs are free to be creative with the interpretation of the ACS. The student was advised not to go back to that DPE on the first failure. He can’t believe he’s got two failures before even getting his ticket.
Yeah, evaluation quality control has always been a specious affair, especially in part 61 land. Rule #1, Life ain't fair. The notion everybody gets failed/passed when incurring the same infraction is facts not in evidence. I've had failures I deserved, and ones I didn't. That experience certainly informed my evaluation roles in later life. I sincerely believe they made me a more effective evaluator, even if they did/could stunt my income potential in life.

It appears your friend got stuck with someone unable to see the forest for the trees when evaluating. People like him/her will do a lot of damage to others before they leave the role. The deviations you list would have been a mere downgrade (basically defrief items, conversation topics after the check) in [primary training] my side of the military. See rule #1. Thing is, any monkey can referee single line calls on a binary; that's not the mark of an effective and credible evaluator.

A further problem I see with the ACS is that it doesn't have Q/Q- criteria. it's Q or U, which fosters myopia. Real life benefits from yellow lights.
 
The temporary certificate expired and he made no effort to renew it. Therefore he had no pilot certificate at all. He was not authorized to act as PIC under any circumstances and his CFI was invalidated due to not having a pilot certificate. Regardless of whether the temporary was issued properly, he still flew illegally for at least 10 months leading up to and including the fatal crash flight.
I must have missed the temporary expired part.
 
I'm curious who he was flying for, and how or why he wasn't vetted.
 
This is maddening that the FAA allowed this pilot to stay in the air, didn’t outright pull his license sooner, after multple incidences, yet I’ll be grounded (and many others in my situation) between 18-36 months due to medical deferral status for SSRI use. This is after already accumulating over 400 hrs TT, TW, complex, and HP endorsements. I’ve had real life/solo flying in flight complete electrical failure and engine issues resulting in safe landings in both instances. Meanwhile, this joker was able to fly and even be issued a temporary airman certificate?

How the hell did this guy get his commercial and instrument when he couldn’t safely even conduct a go-around??


FAA priorities are messed up.
 
This is maddening that the FAA allowed this pilot to stay in the air, didn’t outright pull his license sooner, after multple incidences, yet I’ll be grounded (and many others in my situation) between 18-36 months due to medical deferral status for SSRI use. This is after already accumulating over 400 hrs TT, TW, complex, and HP endorsements. I’ve had real life/solo flying in flight complete electrical failure and engine issues resulting in safe landings in both instances. Meanwhile, this joker was able to fly and even be issued a temporary airman certificate?

How the hell did this guy get his commercial and instrument when he couldn’t safely even conduct a go-around??


FAA priorities are messed up.
There's another thread on this. He was grounded by the FAA when the accident happened.
 
There's another thread on this. He was grounded by the FAA when the accident happened.
After which accident? The first, second or the final one after he got a student killed? Or after the safety complaint made to the FAA after the 2nd accident and before the accident killing the student?

And no,the FAA didn’t take away his pilots license, he surrendered it. The same day the FAA gave him a temp airman certificate. Nor did the FAA update this so a flight school or student could check the validity of the instructors certificates.
 
But that thread doesn’t highlight the OP’s woes.
What does that have to do with the FAA allowing this pilot to stay in the air, sir? If you’re not a tad concerned that there are FAA “endorsed” instructors or pilots that have been able to get their commercial and instrument ratings yet can’t properly conduct a go around, I don’t know how to respond to that.

Or maybe this describes you and you’re sensative about it?
 
What does that have to do with the FAA allowing this pilot to stay in the air, sir? If you’re not a tad concerned that there are FAA “endorsed” instructors or pilots that have been able to get their commercial and instrument ratings yet can’t properly conduct a go around, I don’t know how to respond to that.

Or maybe this describes you and you’re sensative about it?
+10 for blind rage to the point where you argue against those that agree with you. Rage on. An extra .1 for misspelling sensitive for a total of 10.1
 
+10 for blind rage to the point where you argue against those that agree with you. Rage on.
I think you’ve missed the boat on this one. He’s referring to my (OP’s) situation.
 
The ire is displaced imo. FAA did ground this guy. He chose to continue to fly and instruct. That on him. Trying to draw a parallel between this and SSRi deferral is stretch.
 
What are they supposed to do beyond taking his flight privileges? Take his car so he can’t go to the airport? Hire a skywriter to spread the word? Jail him pre-emptively?
 
The ire is displaced imo. FAA did ground this guy. He chose to continue to fly and instruct. That on him. Trying to draw a parallel between this and SSRi deferral is stretch.
Yes, grounded after 2 accidents and a safety complaint…and given a temporary airman certificate even after he’s already failed a check ride. Good work FAA!

My point is this indiviudual WAS allowed to fly, after multiple incidences, and even after failing a checkride…albeit even if only for a 30 day time frame. He was even allowed to continue to instruct others because the FAA didn’t do their job; i.e. changing his FAA records so flight schools could know he was not certified to conduct such operations. He clearly wasn’t a proficient pilot and I question a system that would allow this person to get their PPL, let alone commercial, instrument and CFI designation.

Meanwhile, individuals that are in medical deferrals are unable to fly solely in regard to medical status, some of which are of questionable reasons, even though they are more than proficient from a safety, knowledge and skillset standpoint.

As you said, just my opinion, and yes I have a bais. But I can assure you I’m not alone in that. So much so that Congress conducted a massive review of all existing practices with many recommendations bieng made to the FAA.
 
What are they supposed to do beyond taking his flight privileges? Take his car so he can’t go to the airport? Hire a skywriter to spread the word? Jail him pre-emptively?
As I said already, if you’re okay with a system that allowed this guy to continue flying under a temp airman certificate, after 2 accidents, a safety complaint and a failed check ride, I’m even more disturbed.
 
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