"have you ever broken a FAR?"

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FlySooner9

FlySooner9

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Hey guys, i have an interview coming up at a regional. One of the common questions they ask is "have you ever broken a FAR?" Was wondering what you guys thought a good answer would be. I've heard different opinions. Some think if you say No they will automatically think your lieing since most people have broken a FAR in their career regardless of how small it was. Others say you should just say no unless there is something on your records.

Looking for some more opinions on this.
 
Inverted25 said:
I am not a 121 pilot so this is just my opinion on this. But if I were asked this question I would respond like this, " I have never intenionally broke a FAR" and leave it at that.
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Interviewer: "So then you've accidentally broken a FAR? Was it due to your own lack of knowledge, lack of study, lack of preparation, poor piloting skills, or all of the above?"

;)
 
Interviewer: "So then you've accidentally broken a FAR? Was it due to your own lack of knowledge, lack of study study, lack of preparation, poor piloting skills, or all of them?"
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My Response: "Damn it your supposed to go to the next question!" lol

My actual response: "Do to the fact that I have never been issued a LOI from the FAA I'm going to venture and say that I have never broke a FAR" If they can prove I have then I have bigger concerns then just this interview
 
This is a HR question and it assumes that everyone has at one point or another broken a FAR, even if it is something minor or unintentional and it seeks to see who will be upfront about it and display judgement. That is what my girlfriend just said and she has a masters in human resources. The answer they're looking for is somethig akin to never intentionally and when I have I have taken prompt corrective action.

However, she doesn't specialize in aviation HR. The answer I would give is a story about how I broke a FAR during an emergency situation. For example, I had a total electrical failure in ferrying a mooney and broke cloud clearance requirements to maintain VFR when in my judgement the weather conditions would become worse if I didn't land soon.

Probably can't go wrong with an answer that displays good judgement.
 
I lost my transponder after takeoff in class B. Confirmed with ATC, given vectors out of class B. Too bad they vectored me into Canadian airspace. Thanks for visiting Detriot!
 
"Well no, I've never broken a FAR, but I have only 350 hours. By the time I get to 1,000 hours with your company I probably will have, though. Nyuk-nyuk-nyuk."
 
I'm not a commercial/ATP/etc pilot, so I don't know what goes on in those circles, but I also don't understand the notion that they would assume you were lying if you said "no". Yeah people make mistakes, but I know lots of folks (yours truly included) who have never been flight violated or knowingly broken a FAR. I find it hard to believe that we are an exception to the norm amongst professional pilots.
 
I would die laughing if somebody told me they'd never broken a reg. Unintentional or intentional, it's still a broken reg.

That's like a Christian saying they'd never sinned.

It happens to everyone. To say otherwise is either naive or delusional. Or maybe they just don't know the regs well enough.

I've taken off without proper preflight actions (91.103). Allowed a passenger to land without wearing their safety belt (91.107). My following of minimum safe altitudes has been debatable at times (91.119). Busted Class B airspace once (91.131). Gotten too close to clouds (91.155). Flew IFR without a 30 day VOR check (91.171). Flew without an operable transponder once (91.215). Allowed a skydiver to jump with an expired reserve parachute (91.307). Flown over gross weight, carried a passenger at night while out of night currency, flown without an airworthiness certificate on board, etc., etc.

If somebody tried to sugar coat this topic, I'd kick them out of the interview faster than I would if somebody laughed, said, "Who hasn't?" and was realistic about the situation.
 
jrh said:
I've taken off without proper preflight actions (91.103). Allowed a passenger to land without wearing their safety belt (91.107). My following of minimum safe altitudes has been debatable at times (91.119). Busted Class B airspace once (91.131). Gotten too close to clouds (91.155). Flew IFR without a 30 day VOR check (91.171). Flew without an operable transponder once (91.215). Allowed a skydiver to jump with an expired reserve parachute (91.307). Flown over gross weight, carried a passenger at night while out of night currency, flown without an airworthiness certificate on board, etc., etc.
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Fair enough.....I suppose there are more than enough little gotchas out there in the FAR's to implicate most for something. Knowingly busting the more big ticket safety of flight FAR's is a different thing IMHO, but I guess the question is open ended enough to include anything theoretically.
 
///AMG said:
Fair enough.....I suppose there are more than enough little gotchas out there in the FAR's to implicate most for something. Knowingly busting the more big ticket safety of flight FAR's is a different thing IMHO, but I guess the question is open ended enough to include anything theoretically.
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My assumption is they ask if you have broken any to see how well you know the FARs down to sections like 91.103 like jrh listed.
 
jrh said:
I would die laughing if somebody told me they'd never broken a reg. Unintentional or intentional, it's still a broken reg.

That's like a Christian saying they'd never sinned.

It happens to everyone. To say otherwise is either naive or delusional. Or maybe they just don't know the regs well enough.

I've taken off without proper preflight actions (91.103). Allowed a passenger to land without wearing their safety belt (91.107). My following of minimum safe altitudes has been debatable at times (91.119). Busted Class B airspace once (91.131). Gotten too close to clouds (91.155). Flew IFR without a 30 day VOR check (91.171). Flew without an operable transponder once (91.215). Allowed a skydiver to jump with an expired reserve parachute (91.307). Flown over gross weight, carried a passenger at night while out of night currency, flown without an airworthiness certificate on board, etc., etc.

If somebody tried to sugar coat this topic, I'd kick them out of the interview faster than I would if somebody laughed, said, "Who hasn't?" and was realistic about the situation.
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Exactly. Look how ridiculously thick the FAR/AIM book is. We are pilots, not lawyers. There are so many damn regulations that eventually a person is bound to break at least one of them unknowingly.
 
I will say every pilot has flown an unairworthy aircraft. I busted VFR cloud minima on my comm checkride, on purpose. I said We's going through that hole. I looked at him to say something. I think he knew if he did say something I would ask HIM if he ever busted separation as PIC. JRH's comment is spot on.
 
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