Not to burst your bubble, but the FAA can and will be out to get you or your company if they so desire. In the mid-90s I flew DC-9s and MD-87s for a charter airline in Nevada. In the last year that I was there I averaged an inspection once per week by some flavor of Fed. We had Operations inspectors, maintenance inspectors, and security inspectors looking at us through a magnifying glass. Here are some of the fun things they do:
Portland, Oregon. Fully booked flight. FAA operations inspector comes on the airplane 30 minutes before boarding and does a " set back break away check ". Ever heard of that ? He started at the rear of the aircraft and worked his way forward pushing the back of every seat to see if there was resistance to it's moving forward. Being a 30 year old DC-9 there were a few seats that failed his inspection. Result, we had to MEL the seats and bump the pax.
Bismarck, North Dakota. Winter time flight over from Fargo with a landing in light freezing fog. No sooner does the door of the airplane open than Dick the Fed barges onto the airplane and asks if I'm going to de-ice. " Well ", I say, " I don't know, I haven't done a walk around inspection yet". Dick the Fed says, " well, I'll go with you then". So we go arm in arm to walk around the airplane and I notice that there is some ice build-up on the radome, but don't say anything. Then at the wing-tip I notice there is still some Type IV fluid leftover from our de-ice in Fargo. I mention in passing to Dick the Fed that we had de-iced in Fargo and this was leftover. The field conditions are still showing some frozen precip so as we finish the walk-around I turn to Dick and say, " yea, I think we'll de-ice " Not that I had to say anything to him and not that I wasn't going to if he wasn't there, but he was following me like a love sick puppy about to hump my leg so I just had to say something to him. Long story short, we deice and fly back to Nevada. Next day my D.O. and our POI call me on a conference line and ask, " what's this you weren't going to de-ice in Bismarck ? ". I'm like, " huh ? "
" what are you talking about , I de-iced in Bismarck ". " No ", they say, " you wouldn't have if the Fed wasn't there ". Again, I'm like, " huh ? "
" what are you guys talking about? ". They then say the Fed thought my comment about the de-ice fluid still on the airplane from Fargo meant that I wasn't going to de-ice. " Oh, for crying out loud, I say. It was a comment in passing. " " Just be more careful next time " they say.
Des Moine, Iowa ( or one of those cities ): Land on a short stop to pick up some pax and go back to Nevada. I'd fueled through out of Moline or Rockford. No sooner than we shutdown the Fed twins show up and ask to see our fueling manual. Seems they'd flown in special just to ask this question of us on a tip from Signature that our fueler didn't have a current/approved manual or wasn't otherwise qualified to fuel us. My retort ( knowing we didn't have one with us ) is, why do you want to see that, we're not getting any fuel here ? With the wind visibly let out of their sails, they reply, " oh, we thought you were " then go on to do a thorough inspection of the cabin and exterior of the aircraft.
So Feds can be an annoyance and they can be out to get you or your company.
TP