mcbirdman said:
But the bottom line is that I don't care how many people think it is okay to break the law and rules. I am sorry but medical and current profficiency requirements do enter the catagory of safety. How would you feel about someone hopping into a plane with passengers and know they haven't landed once by themselves for 4.5 years? You wouldn't think or say anything to the pilot? Who's business is it if we are all actually watching out for each other? To make it realitively simple - easier to speak up now before they fly and risk someone getting mad but maybe being able to consider a point being made than to watch someone herd 3 other people into the plane knowing full well that things are going to get interesting. Should anything happen you will live with the knowledge that you let an opportunity pass. That is all I mean if that makes more GA sense.
James I highlighted a part of your post. Your post leads me to believe your talking about going up to this pilot and warning him not to fly till he is current. This whole ranting of mine is because others here say they should report the guy to the FAA.
Get the FAA involved and it becomes serious business. It can cost a guy thousands upon thousands in fines and legal fees.
Once more I say you guys are TOTALLY MISSING MY POINT.
HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO SAY IT..... It is okay to and highly encouraged in my opinion, to go out of your way to warn, scold, yell, preach to.....
And if there is still a problem.....
REPORT their butt to the FAA
IF THE ISSUE IS A SAFETY ISSUE!
Flying 3 of your buddies when you haven't flown in 4.5 years is clearly a safety risk. Flying while on a LSD trip is clearly a safety risk. Flying with known medical conditions is clearly a safety risk.
Ah.... but what about flying on a expired medical...? Well here is where you and I might differ. If I know the pilot, and I KNOW that he is in great physical shape and has no health problems, and he is a month behind on going to the doctor, Well if I see the guy flying I am not going to haul ass to the phone to report the guy to the local Fsdo. The Faa says you can fly without a medical in sport pilot, so I don't see it being a huge safety concern if Johnny Pilot is out on a day VFR flight with his Wife in a Cessna 152 with a expired medical, UNLESS I know johnny has a health problem.
But again, I am not saying you should turn away from known safety issues. If a rule is being broken that you feel can lead to a crash or incident, it IS your duty to go to the person and try to talk some sence into him or her and if nothig positive changes go and report them. If it is a major safety issue such as flying drunk maybe you should just go and report them immediatly. But....
Again for another example, what if you know someone at your airport that is about to fly a plane that is a month late for annual, but it otherwise in perfectly good airworthy shape? Should we rush to the phone to call the FSDO? Or is it not really important enough to put the poor guy in the hotseat just yet... maybe we should wait till after we have talked to the guy or at least wait till the annual is really out of date?
What if you notice a non A&P doing work on his or her certified airplane? Again, from experience I can tell you that at least in the Charlotte area, the local Flight schools planes are IMHO piles of junk that are falling apart. I see everyone and their brother turning wrenches on these planes. That bothers me, because I know that people who don't see that stuff are renting these planes and assuming the maintance is all performed by some super mechanic and their safety is assured. It hasn't bothered me to the point of calling the Fsdo, but I have made comments to the ones with tools in their hands.
But how you would feel about a private pilot that owns say a Cessna 172 and you know he replaced the carb, or the starter or some other bolt on item without a A&P sign off? You know some people have enough mechanical skill to do such a demanding task as replacing the starter, and I don't see it as a big deal if they didn't go to their mechanic for a signoff. I don't see that as a safety issue, unless I know the guy tightened the bolts with a pair of pliers or something else that tells me the guy may have not installed the starter properly.
you see my point is there are some things that really should be reported and other things that may be breaking a rule but aren't nearly as important and IMHO not important enough to have you go out of your way to hot the guy in the hot seat.
Getting passed by a Drunk on the highway you SHOULD follow the guy and call 911. Getting passed by some yahoo going 150 mph down the interstate, if you got his tag number go ahead and call it in.
But should you sit on a street corner all day writing down tag numbers of every person who didn't have his seatbelt on? who turned right without using the blinker? whose inspection sticker is expired? etc??? No I don't think so, that if for the police to handle, let the police do their job.