Sen. Inhofe had his own near-disaster in 2010. He got away without certificate action, something that would be dished out readily to any other civilian.
True enough, he screwed up. And he didn't appreciate being called out on it. It's no coincidence that Sen Inhofe was the
driving force behind the pilot's bill of rights, (
H.R. 3816) signed into law last year. The law addresses a number of issues related to FAA enforcement actions and NTSB appeal panel procedures. It has long been known that FAA enforcement procedures differed from other federal administrative law in that the FAA administrator was not required to follow federal administrative rules of evidence and that the FAA actually had the power to
overrule NTSB appeals court findings in enforcement cases when the finding was for the pilot subject to enforcement action.
It's interesting indeed that none of these issues actually applied in Inhofe's case since he was only required to receive remedial training in lieu of enforcement action, or what is sometimes referred to as an "administrative action". If one presents evidence of having completed the remedial training and has no more violations over the next two years, the matter is not pursued further. So his "free pass" for committing a violation most pilots would consider worthy of sanction seems to have inspired the man to sponsor a Senate bill which actually makes some improvements to enforcement procedures, airman medical reviews and NOTAM dissemination. But then one might make the case that we should expect no less from a member of the senate aviation caucus even if he hadn't made such an egregious screw up! But then he has been sort of a lone voice for GA in an environment where the president himself actively opposes our interests.
In any case the bill is now law. And outside of a little additional paperwork with every new certificate or rating application, seems to be an improvement to a system that can always use improvement. We're lucky to have someone willing to spend any personal political capital on matters of interest to airmen at all these days. BTW, this is not the first good thing he's done for aviation and I hope it's not the last. So thanks Jim! (please read your NOTAMs and keep your eyes open when landing from now on...)
westhawk