Anyone Else's FSDO Terminating DPE's?

caliginousface

caliginousface

Frank N. Beans
At one point we had 5 or 6 DPE's in our FSDO, that has dwindled down to 1, and he is known to be jackass. It's not just hearsay either, personal experience with this guy has been terrible. My instruction days are coming to close (again), and I can't believe this guy is the one left.

Is anyone else having this happen at their FSDO jurisdiction? I feel like there is some corrupt practice going on here.
 
We have two DPEs in our area, both stay pretty busy and both of them are excellent. I haven't heard anything like this, we couldn't stand to lose either of them, I doubt the FSDO will do anything here.
 
Yeah we have a list of 8 or something like that, but I know for sure only 1 is active now. It happened after a staff change-up at the FSDO. At this point the latest terminated DPE told me I need to contact the lone dirtbag DPE or the FSDO for checkrides. Maybe the FSDO wants to do every ride now...but leave you with a 2 month wait list.
 
We haven't reduced our count yet, but one older DPE has been replaced by a new one. I have yet to send a student to her but so far she sounds very fair and accommodating. I know the older guy who she replaced said the DPE's had to work carefully together to be sure everyone was getting in enough check rides or the FAA would drop them. I think the FAA's theory is that it's much easier to manage two very active DPE's who are testing a lot and staying on top of all the FAA's latest preferences and pet peeves, rather than half a dozen doing a small scattering of tests each month. My impression has been that being a DPE can be like walking on egg shells with the FAA at times. They dont care if you're an ass, but you better incorporate every suggestion and preference that the local office is currently big on, or you're done. Strictly my impression as an outsider.
 
Depends which area I guess. AZ could do with more, given the schools can buy blocks of checkrides in bulk from them,

There was a guy charging $800 I was told, the average is $500, up from $350 in 2009 and I can't remember in 2001 when I first took one.

I'd prefer to go with the FSDO but we need more of them too.
 
caliginousface said:
Do you know why? Is this a nationwide thing? I don't understand the reduction if they are not paid employees of the government.
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From what I've heard, the SJC FSDO issue is due to politics / pressure from the Oakland FSDO.

Don't know how true that is. Don't even really know what the game is, but it sure is annoying.

Who is el ultimo hombre? TH?

~Fox
 
FAA dot gov shows 24 in my region, and I see about 6 of them on a regular basis.

From what I understand not all examiners are equal, such as fixed wing vs rotorcraft. Or some can examine in the PA44-180 while they may not be able to examine in the BE76.
 
Not sure about airplane DPEs but in San Diego, Helicopter DPEs went from four to none. And the one FAA inspector who is suppose to be available for rides isn't qualified because he doesn't have a rotory IFR rating.
 
Acrofox said:
From what I've heard, the SJC FSDO issue is due to politics / pressure from the Oakland FSDO.

Don't know how true that is. Don't even really know what the game is, but it sure is annoying.

Who is el ultimo hombre? TH?

~Fox
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Yeah it's him.

I've heard/seen the SJC FSDO do ridiculous things, so this doesn't surprise me, but it's definitely frustrating and annoying.


Kyle A. said:
Not sure about airplane DPEs but in San Diego, Helicopter DPEs went from four to none. And the one FAA inspector who is suppose to be available for rides isn't qualified because he doesn't have a rotory IFR rating.
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That sounds so excellently well done by the FAA.
 
Acrofox said:
I've been told the San Jose FSDO is going through the same issue right now. :<
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Yep, I am getting ready for my IFR and the DPE I used is now gone. I hear there is only 1 left in San Jose.
 
This makes ZERO sense. (Which is par for the course for the FAA). Lately due to sequestration, they are all claiming they are short and can't get their work done. My current airline is trying to accomplish proving runs for a new fleet type and the FAA is almost impossible to nail down to get it done. But again, typical... On another note, I understand the HNL FSDO is adding DPEs, so who knows.
 
The Scottsdale FSDO purged a bunch of examiners starting about 18 months ago, although they seem to have stopped.

They'd send someone to "observe" the DPE on a checkride, and it was pretty clear that the FSDO observer had no intention of letting the applicant pass (the FSDO inspector would start asking questions during the oral and basically hijacked the checkride), which meant they could revoke the DPE's status. The FSDO pulled that on two students at the school I work for (both of whom passed with no trouble with another DPE), and we discovered that numerous flight schools in the area had complained to the FAA about the FSDO's conduct, but they had zero interest in looking into it.
 
Interesting about SDL, which school are you at, DVT?

I had a medical flight test booked with 2 guys (one to get initially current) but the 1st one forgot he ran out of currency. Glad I got it knocked out, could have been months.
 
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