Restricted Area Bust!
 

An old student of mine who got his private recently busted through a restricted area while it was hot. He has received the dreaded certified letter and has contacted our beloved friends in Oklahoma. This young man wants to become an airline pilot. I fear this may look very bad for him down the road, in reality what is likely to happen to him because of this hiccup?

If it's bad, he may get a suspension (like almost hit another aircraft, etc), if it's not, maybe just a warning. If he doesn't talk and there's no way for the FAA to know if he knows what restricted areas are or how to avoid them, he may get a reexamination too.

In time, he will probably be ok. He should hire a lawyer ASAP.

I once asked a longtime DPE about any memorable moments in his career as an examiner. One was that an applicant flew to him, his home airport, and passed the exam no problem. On the return flight, literally with wet ink on his Temp certificate, the new private pilot, apparently excited, entered and followed a GPS beeline "FML" back to his home airport. The big problem was that it was right through the middle of a very busy Class B airspace... It was so absurd that the examiner was OK, though I think the new pilot earned himself a 709 ride.

The student has already done both things that cause his damage his case the most. He's flown through the restricted area, and he contacted the FAA without consulting an attorney.

The FAA can have a difficult time placing the pilot in the cockpit; usually the evidence is given by the pilot himself when he or (or she) contacts the FAA. It's for this reason that contact should not be made until first speaking with an attorney who handles FAA matters.

Tell your friend to sign up with AOPA immediately and buy the legal plan. It may not cover him in representation at the appeal, but he will be able to get consultation. Don't do anything further until consulting an attorney.

Wil this impact an airline career? Maybe, maybe not. Early in his flying, probably not a major impact, but take it very seriously none the less.

This 100%! In private ops they usually can't identify the PIC was even in the aircraft unless they say they were. I have seen that a few times.

I hope your friend didn't say much when he was talking to his "friends" in OKC. Agreed with others, may not have that much of an impact this early on in their flying.

Thanks for the responses everyone. Unfortunately he sided with my flight schools chief pilot and just offered up all the information regarding the violation without speaking with a aviation lawyer. I hope this doesn't screw him.

One of my former students busted a presidential TFR and he said they did not even put him on a 90-day. He was not evasive with anyone and he was sorry. I told him to get the AOPA plan though for the next time he does this. What makes me angry is he actually asked me about this particular flight before he did it and I said wait until the coast is clear and he did it anyway with some stupid plan of flying close but not into the TFR.

Well, if there's some technicality or reason why it wasn't really a bust, and the FAA won't listen, that's what the lawyer is for. If you did it and you know it and are looking for some kind of technicality or loophole, you are going to make things painful. The good part is that most lawyers realize this, they will ask you if you did it, and they will do for the most part what you should have done, which is tell you to tell the FAA your side of the story, but they'll charge you more for it. The next thing the FAA might do if you don't want to discuss it and try to stonewall is request to see your logbooks, which is allowed by regulations. Failure to comply with these things could result in a suspension that can't be stopped, same thing with the 709, and because the FAA is responsible for making sure the pilots out there are competent, they have no way of knowing this because they never learned what/why it happened, a momentary/unique event vs. not qualified. That's what the FAA is trying to figure out here.

If this is handled well by the pilot, it usually won't affect their career, the warnings expire after two years and the inspectors are looking for a positive outcome in terms of what you learned, how you won't do it again, the steps you'll take, etc. For the most part in life, unless something egregious happens, it's usually about how you deal with it, what you learn, etc. If it is egregious, it is more in "uncharted territory" where you may or may not be able to overcome it, but this early in one's career and just an airspace violation, not likely.

Hope this helps.

No NASA report?