Originally Posted by
JamesNoBrakes
Well, it's good to see where this comes from, like I said, i had no idea. It's neither in our Orders, Guidance or any processes we have to look at anything in or relating to ASRS reports. We don't have links to the databases or anything of that nature. I wouldn't even know how or where to start, since it's just not something we do. If this was happening, any semi-competent lawyer would have a field day with it, tearing into counsel if it came to a trial. In our old processes it did ask whether the airman submitted an ASAP, to prevent us from going down enforcement roads when the investigation had to be entered correctly as an ASAP to protect the airman's file.
I think it's likely something that will rarely come into play; it's more the legal nuances applicable to filing, sharing, and using the ASRS in the event of an investigation and subsequent enforcement action. In my experience, very few airmen are aware that the title strip, which is separated from the body of the report and returned to the pilot with the date-stamp, is outside the protected body of the report.
While the intent of the program is safety and one should provide adequate detail in the report to enhance safety, one should also not go out of one's way to incriminate one's self; the wording of the title strip can do just that, and while the body of the report cannot be used for discovery or used against the pilot so long as he/she falls within the scope of the program, the title strip does not enjoy that protection.
A pilot is called on the carpet for an altitude deviation at the base of Class B airspace. He has filed an ASRS report. He attends an informal meeting, or responds by mail and sends a copy of the title strip, anxious to show that he's done his part. The inspector receives the title strip, the title of which is "Altitude Bust While Joyriding and Performing Low Level Aerobatics Without a Parachute in Class B Airspace."
The inspector is surprised to learn that there is more here than an altitude deviation, that multiple other regulations have been broken, and that the pilot has elected to send a legal confession.
The pilot thinks he's covered himself, when he's done just the opposite, and opened another can of worms.
He may have been better off entitling his report "Altitude error," or better, "Altitude issue," to preclude placing himself in jeopardy.
The above is only an example, with and does not intentionally represent any specific person, living or dead; intelligent, or brain-dead.