Originally Posted by
USMCFLYR
On another board, someone did some research and posted three others letters like this one from similar examples.
i work with many ex-ASIs and they told me some stories of similar circumstances too.
The FAA actually has some type of investigative branch. I don’t know how you would catch these DPEs unless it were some type of undercover ‘give me check ride and let’s make sure you are doing it right’ operation or some checked student pilot/upgrade pilot turns the DPE in if s/he even knows what is/is not a valid check.
I know of at least one ASI who was cooking the books.
—-
Teterboro-based aviation safety inspector Harrington Bishop, 63, entered a guilty plea in a federal court Thursday on charges of receiving illegal gratuities in exchange for what court documents allege were hundreds of unauthorized pilot check rides. Bishop had been assigned to the Teterboro FSDO. On available days off, weekends, and holidays, from May 2004 to February 2011, he allegedly took pilots on check rides at Cave Flight School at Flying W Airport in Medford, NJ. Pilots who flew with him on those occasions ultimately numbered in the hundreds. None of the flights were authorized, each one illegally paid Bishop, and in almost every case a certificate was granted to the tested pilot.
Pilots were allegedly tested for anything from private to airline transport pilot certificates. Bishop allegedly collected tips that amounted to $300 per flight on average from the hundreds of pilots he managed to fly with over seven years. This, in spite of the fact that while acting in an official capacity, Bishop was not allowed to accept payment from pilots in exchange for his services. By Bishop's own account, he passed almost every pilot who flew with him on those occasions. Each pilot then became officially certificated by the FAA as a result of Bishop's work. The official charge against Bishop was one count of receiving illegal gratuities while acting as a public official. He now faces a maximum potential fine of $250,000 and up to two years in jail.
—
I’m not sure if a DPE would get jail time, but this former ASI got some prison time.
https://www.nj.com/gloucester-county...pemberton.html
He must have had a pretty good thing going at McGuire AFB!
It's not undercover or a clandestine operation, most likely it was discovered through this. The Designee Management System (DMS) is a new computer system, but the policy below from the order is what's been in place for years. The policy was put in place due to previous incidents of DPEs not conducting tests.
FAA Order 8000.95 CHG 5:
(2) Interviews of Recently Tested Airmen. Each managing specialist will conduct interviews of recently tested airmen. These interviews are to ensure that the examiner is properly following the PTS/ACS when the FAA is not in attendance. Inform interviewees that the questions are to evaluate the testing procedure and are not a reexamination of their certificates. Conduct a sufficient number of interviews each four quarters (at least five randomly selected airmen or 50 percent of the airmen newly certificated by the designee, whichever is fewer) to provide confidence that the designee is properly conducting the test. If the interviews indicate satisfactory performance by the designee, the schedule for direct observations developed by DMS may be followed. However, if the interviews of recently tested applicants indicate a deficiency with designee performance, the managing office must conduct additional direct observations.
Note: Interview results are risk indicators used to determine the frequency of direct observations. Surveys and scripted interview questions must not be used. Closed-ended questions should be avoided and the ASI should have a relaxed but directed conversation with the recently tested airman about their check ride experience with the designee. Ask followup questions based on what the airman says. The goal is to determine if the designee is giving an adequate test. Is the designee teaching, allowing repeat maneuvers, failing to test all of the required items in the PTS/ACS for the certificate or rating tested? Using interviews properly will give the managing specialist a picture of how the designee is conducting their work on behalf of the FAA.
This is a required action for ASIs overseeing DPEs. This is conjecture, but it's likely that one of the recently tested persons decided to be honest and further investigation showed that the guy was handing out certificates/ratings without testing.