Couple years ago, I trained a client for the instrument rating. I have been doing this for well over fifty years, it's my favorite type of activity as a flight instructor.

The client, who is a very competent and conscientious pilot, called me a few weeks ago, he was rather upset and was looking for guidance.

It seems that he had made a flight, complying 100% with ATC (Air Traffic Control) instructions, and had been incorrectly accused of "pilot deviation" -- accused of not complying with instruction and regulations.

I contacted ColoradoHunter44 to get his take on the matter. He (ColoradoHunter44) is a retired Air Traffic Controller, and currently a flight instructor, among other things.

CH44 gave me a great suggestion: contact the air traffic control tower in question and ask them, in my role as instructor, what remedial training would be recommended. That is the Reader's Digest condensed version, there was more to it than that, but that is the essence.

My client was having sleepless nights, very concerned over the wrongful accusation, worried that it would be a case of "he said, she said," and the FAA would prevail with the incorrect accusation.

Long story short, I received an email today from the air traffic control facility, acknowledging that there was a mix-up on their end, the offending pilot was flying a different twin Cessna, my client had, in fact, complied 100% with ATC instructions, and dindu nuffin wrong!

Celebration! YAY! CH44's suggestion to me, re how to handle the situation, was great.

Thank you sir!

Dindu nuffins!

I love happy endings!

Great outcome and awesome that the OP went the extra mile for a former student.

Awesome! I hate issuing the Brasher but that’s why we say “possible” pilot deviation. Mistakes happen, on both sides. Glad everything worked out!

What would the potential ramifications to the pilot be, if this weren't reversed?

Well done!

I stand humbly amongst the great members here who daily go out of their way to help a friend in need. Many thanks for the accolades. I hope to be in the MCO area around February 14th, and if so, hope to meet up with you.

I’m very thankful it was all just a misunderstanding/miscommunication.

quote:

Originally posted by P250UA5:
What would the potential ramifications to the pilot be, if this weren't reversed?

Could be anything from the pilot using a "Get Out Of Jail Free" card, a requirement for retraining, a suspension, a revocation if the Feds took the stance that it was a deliberate action, a "709 ride" (re-examiniation flight), . . .

There are many possibilities, depending on how the FAA views it, whether inadvertent or deliberate, how hard they are pushing for disciplinary action, etc.

CH44 suggested that the instructor (me) making contact to suggest remedial training might tone things down, by us showing a spirit of cooperation. The whole thing was clouded by the fact that my guy did everything correctly, the pilot of a similar airplane was the guilty party, and there was a lot of confusion as to which pilot landed on the wrong runway without communicating with the control tower.

Per CH44's suggestion, I requested a copy of the recording of radio communications between the pilot and the control tower, so that I could review them as part of the remedial training. I guess that the tower supervisor reviewed the recording before sending me a copy, realized that my guy was blameless, and sent me the email apologizing for the confusion. I never did receive the copy, but they retracted the accusation.

quote:

Originally posted by P250UA5:
What would the potential ramifications to the pilot be, if this weren't reversed?

It depends on a lot of things. Contrary to popular belief, the FAA isn’t (usually) unreasonable. If one screws up (and let’s face it we all do from time to time) and there is a notice of possible deviation, but no accident or loss of separation, it typically goes one of two ways:

If the pilot has a “Gee, I’m sorry, what can I do to fix this?” attitude, they may get assigned some remedial training and told to go forth and sin no more. Or maybe remedial training, a 609 or recertification checkride, and told to sin no more.

If the pilot has a “Screw you, I dindu nuffin wrong, go away.” attitude, he typically sees a different face of the bureaucracy.

ColoradoHunter44’s suggestion was pure brilliance because here’s the pilot’s instructor (who isn’t going to get upset about being wrong accused) asking them what remedial instruction would be recommended. This clearly shows the pilot is interested in doing the right thing (compliance attitude), but it forces them to do a little research in order to determine what to recommend. Lo and behold, when they did their research, they found their error. The pilot of the other twin Cessna may be hearing from them, but that isn’t V-Tail’s client’s problem.

Nice outcome. Sometimes coming at them politely and sideways makes all the difference.

Very nice outcome.

Is it possible to get Coloradohunter44's help on an issue I have? I got caught doing 80 in a 65 mph zone...

Seriously, I'm not surprised at the generosity of people here.

I was also going to say great thinking on the client's part to get in touch with V Tail. I wouldn't have thought of going back to someone who trained me.

Then it was also good on V Tail's part to want to help.

quote:

Originally posted by Rey HRH:

great thinking on the client's part to get in touch with V Tail. I wouldn't have thought of going back to someone who trained me. Then it was also good on V Tail's part to want to help.

Not at all uncommon. When I train somebody, and send that person to an examiner with a signed application form and a logbook entry stating that I find him / her competent for the certificate or rating in question, I take on a commitment to be that person's mentor, and to be available when I am needed.

I typically do follow-up, recurrent proficiency training with that person.

That's a pretty cool outcome!

A question for V-tail: Do all the flight instructors know each other? My mom is long-time friends with the wife of a flight instructor (perhaps retired) in Titusville. I think that may be near your area. That would be a nifty connection.

quote:

Originally posted by mark123:

Do all the flight instructors know each other? My mom is long-time friends with the wife of a flight instructor (perhaps retired) in Titusville.

There are a lot of flight instructors out there, so no, we do not all know each other. There are probably a lot in my area I do not know.

Titusville is maybe an hour drive for me, could be less than fifteen minutes flying, depending on what airplane and on what ATC has to say about the route that I would take. I'm actually in Titusville on a regular basis, a couple of Ace Hardware stores there are customers of mine.

I know that there is a fair amount of training activity at a couple of Titusville airports, including a helicopter school, so it's quite possible that your mother's friend is active at one of the airports there.

quote:

Originally posted by V-Tail:

quote:

Originally posted by mark123:

Do all the flight instructors know each other? My mom is long-time friends with the wife of a flight instructor (perhaps retired) in Titusville.

There are a lot of flight instructors out there, so no, we do not all know each other. There are probably a lot in my area I do not know.

Titusville is maybe an hour drive for me, could be less than fifteen minutes flying, depending on what airplane and on what ATC has to say about the route that I would take. I'm actually in Titusville on a regular basis, a couple of Ace Hardware stores there are customers of mine.

I know that there is a fair amount of training activity at a couple of Titusville airports, including a helicopter school, so it's quite possible that your mother's friend is active at one of the airports there.

Thanks. Just wondering if we had a small-world connection.

quote:

Originally posted by mark123:

Thanks. Just wondering if we had a small-world connection.

Could be, but not that I'm aware of. What's his name? You probably don't want to make that public, but you can send me an email at the address in my profile.