ACFT IS RPTED TO HAVE FLOWN CLOSE TO OTHER ACFT WITHOUT PERMISSION. OWNER OF ACFT CLAIMS HE WAS NOT THE PLT THAT COMMITTED THE OFFENSE.

Date: 1996-03 · Aircraft: Amateur/Home Built/Experimental

Anomalies: deviation-discrepancy-procedural-far|deviation-discrepancy-procedural-published-material-policy|deviation-discrepancy-procedural-other-unknown|other-unspecified

Synopsis

ACFT IS RPTED TO HAVE FLOWN CLOSE TO OTHER ACFT WITHOUT PERMISSION. OWNER OF ACFT CLAIMS HE WAS NOT THE PLT THAT COMMITTED THE OFFENSE.

Narrative

ON MAR/AB/96 I RECEIVED A LETTER FROM THE SPOKANE FSDO OF THE FAA STATING THAT ON MAR/AA/96 AT APPROX XX45 PM THE PLT OF AN ACFT; WHICH I AM THE REGISTERED OWNER; POSITIONED THE ACFT ON 5 OCCASIONS CLOSER THAN 300 FT TO ANOTHER ACFT IN FLT; WITHOUT PRIOR AGREEMENT BY BOTH PLTS. I WAS AT MY PLACE OF BUSINESS AT THE TIME OF THE ALLEGED OCCURRENCE AND HAVE NO KNOWLEDGE OF IT OTHER THAN THE ABOVE DESCRIBED LETTER FROM THE FAA SPOKANE FSDO. I THINK THAT THE PROB WAS CAUSED BY THE NEW POLICIES OF THE NEWLY EXPANDED SPOKANE FSDO; WHICH 'DISCOURAGE FRATERNIZING BTWN FAA PERSONNEL AND LCL PLTS' AND EMPHASIZE ENFORCEMENT AND VIOLATIONS; LEADING TO OVERZEALOUS INSPECTORS. I THINK THE PROB CAN BE SOLVED BY FAA PERSONNEL REMEMBERING THAT THE PRIMARY MISSION OF THE FAA IS TO PROMOTE AVIATION SAFETY. AVIATION SAFETY IS BEST PROMOTED BY FRIENDLY AND OPEN COMS BTWN PLTS AND THE FAA. CALLBACK CONVERSATION WITH RPTR REVEALED THE FOLLOWING INFO: RPTR WAS CALLED TO SEE WHAT LIGHT MIGHT BE GIVEN AS TO HOW THIS CAME ABOUT. RPTR STATES THAT HE LEAVES THE KEYS IN THE IGNITION AT ALL TIMES AND ANYONE COULD TAKE THE ACFT AT THEIR CONVENIENCE. THE ACFT IS AN RV6; WHICH HAS GOOD PERFORMANCE. IT'S THE TYPE THAT ANYONE COULD EASILY FLY. RPTR NEVER OFFERED ANY MORE INFO OTHER THAN THAT.

Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.