Originally Posted by
windypops
If you suspect it’s happening, call the police.
If I suspect
what is happening, exactly? All the flights I've been on like this were arranged by my client and I've never seen any of the relevant paperwork. I have a good relationship with the client and I would like to make sure, discreetly, that they are doing things by the book, for their sakes as well as mine.
My concerns differ for my various flights, too. On one, the concern was safety-related: as I said the takeoff amid incoming fog was over-hurried to my mind but I am not in the pilot's seat and not well-placed to provide anything other than an impression. On the other, the concern is regulatory. From what I'm reading here, I'm far from convinced the pilot of the N-registered aircraft had the appropriate certification for the flight, even though their passanger safety procedures appeared good.
I really can't tell whether either operation was 100% legal, but I don't have any compelling evidence and deem the type of arrangement I was invited to use was not by any means unusual in that part of the world. I had never given its legality a second thought before this event and this discussion and I suspect there are many others like me out there.
I also appreciate there may be some resentment on the part of full-time professionals about the "uberisation" of non-commercial flying. I suffer from this in my own way in my own line of business but would like to think I can distiguish criticism of unfair but not illegal competition from actual rule-breaking that would merit a call to the authorities.
So now my questions are:
- assuming I have assessed the technical risks of boarding a single-engine piston aircraft to hop to a Channel Island on business on a nice day and deemed them acceptable...
-> what are the minimum regulatory requirements a) for the pilot to make such a flight b) for them to legitimately take on board a paying passenger such that in the event of an incident, it could reasonably be argued that such a flight was legal?
For many jobs there is a minimum amount of paperwork or certification to be supplied (or at least declared) to the client. What does this list consist of here? What should SLF be asking for as a minimum?