I have been questioned by the FAA (never NTSB) on two occasions. One was impromtu, the other was by appointment. No attorney was present, nor even thought of, but I never have been knocked out in a plane crash and didn't know what happened.

The first time was flying my Cessna 177 from Hayward, California to Orange County, California, when the alternator went out. First, the transponder stopped, then the radios (I had a back up battery powered radio). So, ATC had a heads up of a problem before I landed. I was met on the ramp at my plane by FSDO dudes (the FAA guys that handle this, Flight Standards District Office). EDIT: They may have been GADO in those days, General Aviation District Office.

One side note. I was an FAA employee at the time, in ATC. Anyhoo, these guys were all business, which gave me the initial impression that they were jerks. But, they asked for my pilot certificate, and medical. Asked a few questions. Never heard from them again. No problems.

On the second instance, I had some problems with control of my Beech Baron, after a new paint job. I declared an emergency, and landed. The FSDO was notified by me, and they came out and took a look. Very pleasant dude.

Virtually all the FSDO guys/girls are pilots also.

For you book, any reader would not be surprised that in the USA, you don't fart without calling a lawyer. But, it could just as easily not be a factor.

But, if I thought I had done something wrong, you bet I'd get a lawyer who specialized in this type of investigation. But without a lawyer, just like with a police man stopping you for a road side chat, you hand him your license, don't admit to jack squat, and don't volunteer information that can be used against you. If it progresses beyond questions and a traffic ticket, sure, get a lawyer. The same would go for a car crash.

As to the NTSB, they do not investigate ever plane crash. Plane running out of gas and crashing.... yawn. They've heard that story a few times. I doubt they'd make more than a phone call. NTSB for aviation is a really tiny office in Washington DC. FSDO's are everywhere.

I, too, wouldn't buy that a single fuel pump caused any plane to crash.

 

Okay, my fault. I forgot to mention windshear. What I was originally looking for was a manageable situation, turning unmanageable ... i.e., loss of fuel pressure along with ...... At first I tried to write in a bird strike but that got too messy and I hated the way it was going, so I scrapped it. My previous tech advisor suggested windshear and, once I figured out the ins and outs of that, that's what I kept in the picture. So taking all that into consideration, hopefully that should be a little more realistic??

Thanks ...
w

 

So, a single fuel pump failed, which probably wouldn't stop any plane, and then a windshear event? I don't get it.

There are a zillion ways to crash a plane. The two most common are flying a perfectly good airplane into terrain (CFIT... controlled flight into terrain); usually getting in clouds and losing visibility... and continuing on until crunch time. The recent Senator Ted Stevens crash in Alaska was probably this.

The JFK, Jr. crash was a loss of control when the horizon disappeared over the ocean at night in marginal visibility. The plane banks one way or the other, and is not corrected by the pilot because he can't see a horizon (and doesn't know how to follow the instruments available to him). Then, when the airplane starts descending, the pilot pulls the controls back, which at this point, does not stop a descent. Instead, it tightens the descending spiral... until crunch time.

The other popular way to smash up a plane is running out of gas. Instead of a fuel pump failing, perhaps a misfueling / fuel leak would be more believable. Leaving a fuel cap off on some airplanes can siphon the fuel out. The pilot might not notice right away, but then there's almost always two tanks. A fuel line breaking will pump out plenty of gas.

This actually happened to me in my trusty Cessna Cardinal, IFR over the mountains of western Montana at 13,000 feet. The engine quit. I switched tanks, engine restarted, and I landed at nearest suitable airport.

For a windshear event, sure, you can smash up a plane just fine. Maybe some fuel issue caused this pilot to go to an airport that he hadn't planned, which had bad weather, and a combination of worrying about the fuel issue, stress from whatever, getting the crap pounded out of him in the weather, and not recognizing the shifting of wind with enough warning to power out of it. Bang.

Ya, I'd buy that.

 

Something that is supposed to take about half a chapter is getting more and more complicated. I'd probably scrap it if I wouldn't have to rewrite the rest of the whole book. My pilot is an IFR 30-yr veteran flyer, used to be a professional. I just can't see him leaving a fuel cap off or running out of gas. It's not easy thinking of something he can't control that would take him down. My former tech advisor suggested windshear. To put him over rough terrain was easy ... just reroute him because of weather. It should've been no big deal to him. But couple that gusting winds and therein lies a problem. So that's a bad idea?

 

Unfortunately, it happens. How about this aviator gets into a monster thunderstorm? That can happen easy enough (recent Air France crash in the Atlantic). Radar setting not proper, no radar installed, radar failed, etc.

The pilot didn't think there would be serious weather, and since he's a pro pilot, he checked with flight service, and they didn't see embedded TS's along the route, but they were forecast for later.

So Ace Durden launched (get there-itis), even though the radar was broken, and then starting having doubts... considered turning back, but... boom! In a level 5 cell. All heck breaks loose, like it no doubt did with Air France.

Losing control in a TS / CB is easy enough... living through it, well... if the plane stays together, I guess there's a chance. There would be plenty of wind shear in the microburst !

Rough terrain, sure. Ace, fighting for control, and feeling stupid after 30 years of flying without an incident, is in shear terror as he pops out of the bottom of the storm clouds only to see trees. CRASH !!!

When Delta crashed in DFW due to windshear / microburst, they had at least 30 years of experience in that flight deck, and radar. Yes, it can happen to any of us.

 

Fuel cap is but isn't always the pilots fault. Some caps look secure although a linemen might've put it on improperly, and the pilot simply trusted they knew what they were doing. My experience is though it only vented about 10gal maybe, and the worst part was trying to get the cap back off because they forced it on out of alignment, but who's to say something couldn't break/fall off and cause a problem.

 

When the NTSB arrives, it's usually with the FAA in trail. The FAA is a party to NTSB Investigations.

Perhaps the pilot (or employer) decided a lawyer was a good idea due to the cargo being carried? Or the location of the crash into the ever-present schoolyard full of children.

You can make the investigators as mean or as gentle as you like. The nicest investigators can turn into the most forward and in-your-face interrogators if need be. Is your pilot fearful of what happened? Does the pilot have something to hide that the investigators might have seen in the wreckage? Or did the post-impact fire destroy the evidence?

As far as the medical goes, that's probably a distraction not needed in the book. Sometimes the FAA will want a re-exam ride and that requires a medical, thus the pilot will be grounded. Or, the pilot realizes he won't be qualifying for his commercial medical again and allows his to expire, to take up sport flying after his injuries heal. Everything is a process and even if the FAA wanted to do an emergency revocation of certificates, the paperwork takes a few weeks to months.

The investigators could ask questions whenever they want. They'd direct the questions to the attorney, if there is one. The attorney would make it a more adverse process, but, no matter, the investigators will ask their questions. The pilot could get a call with questions months after the initial investigation.

What are your characters telling you?

 

The chapter name is Under Glass and it needs to be as high-tension as I can write it. My pilot needs to come out of the safety of intensive care right into the line of fire. As of the moment, I haven't scrapped the attorney; he's just visiting in an initial consultation mode. Because no laws were broken, the pilot owned the plane, there was no other property damage, and neither drugs nor alcohol were involved, the only purpose for retaining him would be to make the interrogations easier to get through and make sure nothing he says will be twisted or incriminating. As for the medical certificate, it's just a matter of how to word the sentence, i.e., is revoked vs. will be revoked. His injuries will prevent him from ever flying again; no way could be reinstated.
What is my character is telling me? That he wishes he hadn't survived.

I'm getting awesome feedback here ... thank you all so much for your help. I appreciate it more than you can know.