New FAA strategy... Maybe?

alaskadrifter said:
http://www.flyingmag.com/technique/...1&spJobID=660897366&spReportId=NjYwODk3MzY2S0

"The FAA wants safe operators, not operators who inadvertently make a mistake and then hide it because they're afraid they will be punished," the agency said in a press release after FAA Administrator Michael Huerta discussed the new philosophy at a Flight Safety Foundation breakfast in Washington, D.C., yesterday.
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Yep. It's officially the new compliance philosophy ordered from the very tippy top of the FAA. No more letters of warning or corrections in the ASAP program. No more enforcement actions for unintentional errors even outside of ASAP.

I was in a meeting yesterday with the FAA Director of Air Traffic Oversight from Oak City, and this here now effective Oct 1. It's really a huge step in the right direction. Now the FAA can use enforcement action where it is needed, which is with intentional disregard and reckless behavior.

Any local FSDO that doesn't fall in line will get "realigned" in short order, I can assure you. They have made it very clear that FSDOs will comply. Period.

In our ASAP ERC meeting on this past Wednesday we debriefed 2 crews who would have gotten letters of warning had we held the meeting one week prior. Instead it was just a debrief and that's it. This is a very positive step forward.
 
I'm curious if this is a preemptive move to PBOR2. Separate from the medical stuff, PBOR2 proposes that pilots can directly seek redress from the Federal court system (vice the current administrative process of appealing to the NTSB). If there's no enforcement, then there's nothing to take to court....
 
hook_dupin said:
I'm curious if this is a preemptive move to PBOR2. Separate from the medical stuff, PBOR2 proposes that pilots can directly seek redress from the Federal court system (vice the current administrative process of appealing to the NTSB). If there's no enforcement, then there's nothing to take to court....
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No this has been in the works for a decade. It just took that long (and a new administrator) to finally push it through. They are finally catching up with "just culture." This will relieve the pressure on the enforcement legal process, since the only cases that will go to enforcement are the ones that deserve it. An inadvertent altitude bust probably won't even get a phone call any longer.

This is a HUGE deal, and it seems like no one even knows that it happened.
 
PhilosopherPilot said:
No this has been in the works for a decade. It just took that long (and a new administrator) to finally push it through. They are finally catching up with "just culture." This will relieve the pressure on the enforcement legal process, since the only cases that will go to enforcement are the ones that deserve it. An inadvertent altitude bust probably won't even get a phone call any longer.

This is a HUGE deal, and it seems like no one even knows that it happened.
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I'll believe it when I see it. For those who do not see the benefit of ALPA this is an area they can help you if you need it. The legal system is VERY expensive and while there are some legal plans out there such as AOPA they are not limitless and the FAA lawyers know this. They have the full weight of a federal monstrosity with endless assets and they will nickel and dime you, drag things out until your legal plan is depleted, then you have two choices: 1) Spend tens of thousands of dollars continuing your defense 2) Take the enforcement action. I've seen pilots have their careers destroyed over very minor infractions because of this process.
You say FSDOs must comply. We'll see. I've heard that one before. Maybe they will for part 121 carriers with political clout, but I'm not holding my breath for the rest.
 
PhilosopherPilot said:
Yep. It's officially the new compliance philosophy ordered from the very tippy top of the FAA. No more letters of warning or corrections in the ASAP program. No more enforcement actions for unintentional errors even outside of ASAP.

I was in a meeting yesterday with the FAA Director of Air Traffic Oversight from Oak City, and this here now effective Oct 1. It's really a huge step in the right direction. Now the FAA can use enforcement action where it is needed, which is with intentional disregard and reckless behavior.

Any local FSDO that doesn't fall in line will get "realigned" in short order, I can assure you. They have made it very clear that FSDOs will comply. Period.

In our ASAP ERC meeting on this past Wednesday we debriefed 2 crews who would have gotten letters of warning had we held the meeting one week prior. Instead it was just a debrief and that's it. This is a very positive step forward.
Click to expand...

I'm not exactly disagreeing with you, but is that like how the office of chief counsel says that 24 hour on call periods violate part 135 rest rules, yet FSDO's refuse to enforce this?
 
jtrain609 said:
I'm not exactly disagreeing with you, but is that like how the office of chief counsel says that 24 hour on call periods violate part 135 rest rules, yet FSDO's refuse to enforce this?
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Yup. I'll believe it when I see it. Government agencies are leviathans that are very difficult to change. The field of government is littered with such attempts in different agencies. Those below who do not believe in such changes just keep a lower profile for a year or two until the current administrator leaves. Heard the same thing after the MCI FSDO was cited in an NTSB report and a DOT IG inspection report for hounding a guy to his death. What happened to the people at the FSDO? Nothing.
 
Blackhawk said:
I'll believe it when I see it. For those who do not see the benefit of ALPA this is an area they can help you if you need it. The legal system is VERY expensive and while there are some legal plans out there such as AOPA they are not limitless and the FAA lawyers know this. They have the full weight of a federal monstrosity with endless assets and they will nickel and dime you, drag things out until your legal plan is depleted, then you have two choices: 1) Spend tens of thousands of dollars continuing your defense 2) Take the enforcement action. I've seen pilots have their careers destroyed over very minor infractions because of this process.
You say FSDOs must comply. We'll see. I've heard that one before. Maybe they will for part 121 carriers with political clout, but I'm not holding my breath for the rest.
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They already are. It's done. This is a huge change, and it's already happened. Open your eyes if you don't see it.
 
jtrain609 said:
I'm not exactly disagreeing with you, but is that like how the office of chief counsel says that 24 hour on call periods violate part 135 rest rules, yet FSDO's refuse to enforce this?
Click to expand...

We should have had 2 crews get letters of warning this week. And now they only got a phone call. It's active, and FAA wide. FSDOs have already begun to comply.
 
Blackhawk said:
Yup. I'll believe it when I see it. Government agencies are leviathans that are very difficult to change. The field of government is littered with such attempts in different agencies. Those below who do not believe in such changes just keep a lower profile for a year or two until the current administrator leaves. Heard the same thing after the MCI FSDO was cited in an NTSB report and a DOT IG inspection report for hounding a guy to his death. What happened to the people at the FSDO? Nothing.
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Okay. Believe what you want. From what I've personally seen, this is a welcome change at the FSDO level. There will be growing pains, but this is the FAA finally coming in line with the industry.
 
PhilosopherPilot said:
We should have had 2 crews get letters of warning this week. And now they only got a phone call. It's active, and FAA wide. FSDOs have already begun to comply.
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I understand what you're saying, but there are FSDO's who outright ignore directives from the FAA at a national level.

And it sounds like your FSDO is complying with this.

But the east Michigan FSDO has let 135 companies do whatever they want. What's stopping that from happening here?
 
PhilosopherPilot said:
They already are. It's done. This is a huge change, and it's already happened. Open your eyes if you don't see it.
Click to expand...

How long have you been in this business?? The FAA swore up and down after the MCI FSDO drove some poor schmuck to his death that they would reform. This was over 15 years ago. Here is a link for an article about the IG report:
http://www.ainonline.com/aviation-n...hdog-faa-harassed-pilot-contributing-accident

"For instance, despite assurances to you [Blunt] that specific inspectors would no longer be assigned at the college,” Mead wrote, “one of those individuals–who had pursued enforcement-related actions against Mr. Brinell–was seen by Mrs. Brinell at the college, sitting at her late husband’s desk with his feet on top of the desk.”
Yes, the FSDO was so scared of the FAA leadership that they sent the same safety inspectors who, according to the NTSB contributed to the pilot's death, to the dead pilot's flight school, in spite of orders not to do so. There, in front of the pilot's widow, he sat in her husband's chair and put his feet on the desk. And.... nothing happened.
My eyes are open. I'll believe it when I hear the inspectors responsible for this type of behavior are gone. But since the Administrator has very little say in who is hired/fired it will be a cold day in hell when that happens. You need to open your eyes and see what happened in the past. Lip service, a little change to please the current administrator, then back to the bad old ways when he leaves.
 
Blackhawk said:
How long have you been in this business?? The FAA swore up and down after the MCI FSDO drove some poor schmuck to his death that they would reform. This was over 15 years ago. Here is a link for an article about the IG report:
http://www.ainonline.com/aviation-n...hdog-faa-harassed-pilot-contributing-accident

"For instance, despite assurances to you [Blunt] that specific inspectors would no longer be assigned at the college,” Mead wrote, “one of those individuals–who had pursued enforcement-related actions against Mr. Brinell–was seen by Mrs. Brinell at the college, sitting at her late husband’s desk with his feet on top of the desk.”
Yes, the FSDO was so scared of the FAA leadership that they sent the same safety inspectors who, according to the NTSB contributed to the pilot's death, to the dead pilot's flight school, in spite of orders not to do so. There, in front of the pilot's widow, he sat in her husband's chair and put his feet on the desk. And.... nothing happened.
My eyes are open. I'll believe it when I hear the inspectors responsible for this type of behavior are gone. But since the Administrator has very little say in who is hired/fired it will be a cold day in hell when that happens. You need to open your eyes and see what happened in the past. Lip service, a little change to please the current administrator, then back to the bad old ways when he leaves.
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Wow. This is...disgusting.
 
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