FAA violations and accidents

Dave Stadt wrote:
: There are very few FAA people that can tell an airworthy airframe from one
: that is unairworthy. They can look over paperwork but beyond that don't
: expect much..

... and if you look hard enough at *ANY* aircraft, you will conclude that it
unairworthy. One piece of non MIL-spec'd heat shrink tubing or wire end. One
lightbulb gotten at AutoZone rather than a PMA'd one. That one screw on the spinner
that wasn't torqued with a calibrated torque wrench. The list is long, but in true
leagaleaze, anything not done according to approved data is unacceptable.

I've heard horror stories about going to the FSDO for a CFI-checkride and
having the FAA droids comb over your aircraft. Alegedly one guy came in with a
plane that had a pin-head sized air bubble in the wet compass that couldn't be seen
without putting your head down on the floor and looking up at it. *POOF* unairworthy
(no air is acceptable). If you're lucky they'll let you ferry it home.

Again, "We're with the FAA and we're here to help..."

-Cory

--

************************************************** ***********************
* Cory Papenfuss *
* Electrical Engineering candidate Ph.D. graduate student *
* Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University *
************************************************** ***********************