Originally Posted by
PerfInit
KF5OVP- Is your name Eric? Is KF5OVP a ham radio Callsign issued to you by the FCC? If so, it's not an anonymous screen name.
Recommend that you heed the advice given by several other posters and at least consider reporting this to the NTSB. Failure to report ( if it is required per NTSB 830,) is definitely not recommended.
Playing the "what if" game with the aircraft owner/flight school is not a good use of your time. You have no control over what the other parties will or will not do.
You paid a lot of money to earn your certificate. Think about what you need to do to keep your pilot certificate in your pocket!
I would also recommend spending some time this weekend writing a written statement about the event. Include details such as final approach speed, descent rate, wind speed, anything you remember. Keep it to yourself, but have it available just in case it is requested by either an investigative agency OR insurance company. The more time passes since the incident, the less you will remember.
Highly recommend you sign up with AOPA Legal plan. Well worth the extra piece of mind.
Lastly, I am glad that nobody got hurt. That is what is most important here.
V/R
This is good advice. There are plenty of things (accidents, violations, etc) that are investigated where a 709 is not asked for. One of the biggest reasons in these cases is that the information above is provided and no one is left wondering "well, did this person just mess up because they don't know how to fly/don't understand what happened/have no control"? Try to turn this into a positive. Sure, it won't be a very "positive" in the sense that you have to pay a deductible and there's a ****ed-off FBO owner, but use it as a reason and a means to get better at landing and make it one of your strongest points. I started out weak with landings, with my private pilot instructor giving me great advice such as "pull the power when it 'looks good'", so throughout my private and instrument I really didn't understand landings or do them all that well. When one did go well, I had no idea why. So I made it my goal to analyze landings and understand what happened and why they worked, none of the pitch-for-airspeed stuff that results in wildly variable approach paths or pretending that you "stall" when you land, just really getting into it and understanding the aerodynamics and why it works when it works and why it doesn't when it doesn't.
If you approach a reexamination like this, own up to it, have the mindset that you want to improve this aspect of your flying and understanding, you will impress the inspector and a 709 will be a trivial thing. You only have to "meet the standard" in the 709 and the landings don't have to be perfect of course. If you explain it like this to anyone in the future, they will probably be impressed, rather than think negatively of you. A 709 ride, assuming you pass, is not likely to affect your career in any way. The 8710 form gets sent to OKC and says you passed a reexamination. It's not a violation or anything like that, which is what the airlines look for via the PRIA requests.
From the Pilot's Record Improvement Act Advisory Circular:
(1) The FAA Aviation Data Systems Branch (AFS-620) will provide information concerning your current airman medical certificate. It will also give information on your current airman certificates indicating level, category, class, and associated type ratings, including any limitations to those certificates and ratings. From the previous 5-year period, the FAA will also summarize any closed legal enforcement actions against you that resulted in findings of violations that were not subsequently overturned. However, the FAA will report any certificate revocation indefinitely.
and from another part of the same document:
3-8. REVIEW AND EVALUATE THE RECORDS. Only your personnel directly involved in the hiring decision are allowed to view the PRIA records. You may use such records only to assess the qualifications of a pilot/applicant in deciding whether to hire the individual as a pilot. Company personnel must take whatever actions are necessary to protect the privacy of the pilot and the confidentiality of the records, and ensure that the information contained in those records are not divulged to anyone not directly involved in the hiring decision, with the exception of an FAA inspector. Remember that your agent is prohibited from creating their own recordkeeping system or database containing the information they receive in response to the PRIA requests.
You should receive the following records:
a. Records From the FAA. AFS-620 will provide the following:
(1) Current airman certificates with associated type ratings and limitations;
(2) Current airman medical certificate, including any limitations; and
(3) Summaries of FAA legal enforcement actions resulting in a finding by the Administrator of a violation that was not subsequently overturned. PRIA reports certificate revocations indefinitely.
NOTE: Hiring employers may use a request with a signed consent by the pilot/applicant to authorize the FAA to release records of Notices of Disapproval for flight checks for certificates and ratings to an air carrier making such a request.
(4) Air carrier representatives involved in the pre-employment screening process may find this additional information helpful in evaluating the pilot/applicant. These requests, however, are not an integral part of the standard PRIA request process. Consult the PRIA program manager for details or see Appendix 9.
So the short answer is no, a 709, assuming you pass, will not be included in a PRIA search, unless you fail and your certificate is downgraded/taken away, which constitutes a failed check and a notice of disapproval is issued. In that case, according to the note, if the procedures are followed, an employer could find out about it. Failing a 709 is statistically very rare. Again, if you turn this into a strength, it would be a good story to share at any pilot job interview, and that would "get it out of the way" too.