PIC RECEIVED COMPANY SUSPENSION FOR VIOLATING FLT TIME LIMITATION DURING SCHEDULED OPERATION.

Narrative

9/MON/88 STARTS 1 WK SUSPENSION AS CAPT FOR FLYING ASSIGNED SCHEDULE THAT I COULD NOT POSSIBLY DO WITHIN LEGAL LIMITS. DAILY SCHEDULES BLOCKED FOR LESS THAN 8 HRS CANNOT BE DONE IN 8 HRS. WE ARE ASSIGNED SCHEDULES WITH UNDERSTANDING THAT THEY WILL WATCH OUR TIMES AND HELP US TO STAY WITHIN LEGAL TIME LIMITS. WE ARE OFTEN TOLD WE ARE OK ON TIMES WHEN WE ARE NOT. I AM BEING SUSPENDED FOR 1 WK AND ALSO FAA HAS BEEN INFORMED. I AM TOLD THAT I WILL RECEIVE A VIOLATION AND FINE. DURING MONTH OF AUG 2 DAYS WITH OVERNIGHTS WAS ADDED WITH UNDERSTANDING THAT TOTAL TIME (WITHIN 120 HRS/30 DAYS WAS OK) AND THAT IF ANY PROB OCCURRED (IN SHORTER TIME REQUIREMENTS) THAT I WOULD BE NOTIFIED AND TAKEN OFF LINE THE LAST FEW DAYS OF MONTH. ON 9/THURS/88 WE TERMINATED A TRIP IN HICKORY; NC; AT XA30. AT XA45 I CALLED REQUESTING THAT MY TIME BY CHKED; THAT I WAS NEARING LIMITS. OPS ADVISED ME THAT I WAS OK; BUT THEY WOULD CHK THEIR COMPUTER AND CALL ME IF THERE WAS ANY PROB. THE OPS CLERK MADE WRITTEN NOTE OF OUR CONVERSATION. SHE LEFT A NOTE THAT I WAS OUT OF TIME AND THAT I WAS TO BE CONTACTED AND STOPPED THE NEXT MORNING. FRI MORNING I CALLED AND WAS TOLD THAT I WAS OK TO CONTINUE FLYING. THAT DAY WAS IFR; IMC ALL DAY. SCHEDULED TIME WAS EXCEEDED ENDING THE DAY WITH OVER 9 HRS OF FLYING TIME. ON 9/THURS/88 I WAS ADVISED BY THE CHIEF PLT; OUR DIVISION; THAT I WAS SUSPENDED; THAT A LETTER WOULD BE PUT IN MY FILE AND THAT THE FAA WAS ADVISED AND THAT I WOULD RECEIVE A VIOLATION. FEEL FREE TO CONTACT ME IF NECESSARY OR LEAVE A MESSAGE FOR ME TO RETURN YOUR CALL. CALLBACK CONVERSATION WITH RPTR REVEALED THE FOLLOWING: COMPANY TOOK ACTION TO KEEP THE FAA OFF THEIR BACKS AS AN FAA SWAT TEAM WAS DOING A ROUTINE INVESTIGATION OF COMPANY RECORDS AT THE TIME. RPTR ALSO CONFESSED THAT HIS MEDICAL CERTIFICATE HAD EXPIRED AND THAT THE FAA HAS INDICATED THEY WOULD PROCESS THIS VIOLATION BUT PROBABLY WOULD NOT INCLUDE THE FLT TIME VIOLATION BECAUSE OF THE COMPANY ACTION. A POSITIVE RESULT OF THE FAA INVESTIGATION IS THAT THE COMPANY IS IN THE PROCESS OF REVISING THEIR SCHEDULED BLOCK TIMES TO BE MORE REALISTIC.