HeyEng
Well-Known Member
So this is some fun. We were going to fly up north a little bit to visit family for Thanksgiving. Just before taxi out, I called up FSS to activate my flight plan for about :25 past the hour. So, I taxi out and have a maintenance issue. After some troubleshooting and playing the "what if" game, I decided to taxi back and cancel the flight. After a couple of minutes, I called FSS to cancel my flight plan which was at :35 past, about 10 minutes after it was to be activated. He said he didn't show me in the system but "would make a note that you are on the ground and didn't depart". So, fast forward a little bit...go out have some dinner, and other stuff and come home to message on the home phone and 2 missed messages on my cell (which I didn't have with me) from FSS. Yep, you know where this is going. After discussing what happened (they were very nice, I have to say) they said "no big deal, but we had started the SAR sequence". I was assured that the tapes are kept for 90 days in case this comes back later. About 10 minutes after talking to FSS, the AF SAR peeps from Florida called. So, the story was told again. So, the moral of the story, it's not a bad idea to get the initials from the briefer if there is any doubt as to the status of understanding (eg, "I don't show anything in the system"). I KNEW better when he mentioned "nothing in the system" and let my trusting self just about get me hemmed up.
That being said, can I expect anything else from this or not? I tend to think not, but if so, I guess I'll be calling AOPA legal eagles Friday.
That being said, can I expect anything else from this or not? I tend to think not, but if so, I guess I'll be calling AOPA legal eagles Friday.