A couple of questions on airline apps. I had an incident a few years back (2002 to be exact). No damage to the plan or anything else. The FAA gave me a letter (forget what the official name of the letter is) saying that if I talked to the an FAA inspector about what I did nothing else would happen (no violation). In hindsight I should have fought it because I believe I could have got off without anything. The FAA said the letter would be on my record for 2 years and then gone. Is an incident kept for that long as well or is it 5 years? I have a request in with the FAA for my record but just wanted to see what everyone thought. Also, I'm thinking about going to the airlines now. I know the question is "have you even had an incident or accident?" If it's not on your record should you put it down? I've talked to FAA people and other airline pilots who were all close friends and not obviously going to say just answer the question truthfully. Some have said if it's not on your record why bother putting it down. What are your opinions? Thanks.

 

what did you do? inquiring minds want to know.

 

well i was 17 and I ran out of gas and landed in a field. Even though the gas guage wasn't reading zero which should have got me off automatically and I had a flight instructor at the flight school check my planning and said it was fine. Turns out the 152 was burning something like 10 gal an hr which is more like a 172. I know the POH doesn't tell the truth but the POH said about half that at cruise. Well i was young and obviously didn't know what the hell was going on so I just wanted it to all go away as quickly as possible. At least my emergency landing was solid .

 

The airlines won't care. They know that we can't calculate very well; that's why dispatchers plan our fuel and FMS navs our route

 

10 gal per hour? I find it hard to believe an 0-235 could run that rich (it would have been a fuel/air ratio of about 4 to 1). It is more likely a fuel leak (a loose fuel cap?) or there wasn't as much fuel in the tanks as you thought.

I would reconsider blaming the aircraft for you running out of fuel unless you can PROVE it was not your fault. Interviewers like to hear you admit your mistake, what you learned, and how you avoid it in the future.

Just a suggestion

 

If it was a warning letter, than yes, it will stay in your file for 2 years and then be removed. You can do a check of your record to be sure. If you did, in fact get a warning letter, then it is not an accidnent or an incident. Or so I was told when I got mine. Now the tough part, they ask any accidents/incidents? Most will then ask, are you currently under investigation by the FAA? Followed by, have you EVER been under investigation by the FAA? If you did get a warning letter, you probably were under investigaton. Did you ever recieve a letter/telephone call informing you of such?

Honesty is the best policy. Tell them the truth if it comes up. Don't get defensive or hostile. Tell them you screwed up, you learned ALOT from the experience and you are a much better/safer/more competent pilot because of it. Works great for an interview story. Don't worry, it more than likely won't be a show stopper.

 

i'd also throw in their that you were a crack stick and rudder guy from day one on that solo x-c.

PS- did you happen to lean the engine on that flight, i know i wouldn't have as a student pilot...and @ max cruise in the skychickens, we'd get fuel flows in excess of 15 gal/hr if you left it full rich and ran that bird @ redline.

If i were in your case, check and see if its on your record, check and see if its an incident (i believe it is) explain that you were young, new to aviation, and that was a real learning experience for you, and move on. Sure they'll see the same, and have no quirms with it. Good luck.

 

it was probably a leaking fuel line or something. The reason I know what the fuel burn was - after I landed the FAA released the airplane and the chief pilot came and flew the a/c off from a road (middle of nowhere in indiana). On the way back I calculated it and we difinetely leaned it out. Like I said if I knew what I know now I would have fought it. But at the time everyone was telling me the letter thing wasn't so bad. And yeah I was under investigation. The operator of that flight school is now serving time for tax evasion so I know what an upstanding gentleman he was . Thanks for the replies

 

It was probably a letter of correction. After two years it is gone. Dont put it on a resume or application.

It is onle viewable by the feds (inside of that two years) if you have another situation of the same nature.

X

 

Honesty is the best policy. Even though it isn't on your record, if the question is "Have you..." or "Have you ever..." the best thing is to answer yes. You'll be asked to explain it, but if you explain that from this experience you learned a ton from it about fuel management, it shouldn't hurt you. I wouldn't even consider omitting it, regardless of whether or not it is on your record. Remember, the question isn't "Have you ever been involved in an incident we can find" it is "Have you ever been involved in an incident".