Unlicensed, Unregulated, illegal theft, etc?
 

Last night I watched a rather bizarre (from an aviation perspective) documentary on US pilots who undertake the repossession of aircraft on behalf of banks, and other institutions. Last nights programme featured a group who were simultaneously repossessing a CJ1 light business jet, a boat, and a Lamborghini all at the same time.

Now my question is, all the pilots appeared to be able, quite legally, to fly the aircraft away, to take off from any controlled or uncontrolled airports, without clearance, and no apparent flight plan. They also seemed to be able to accept a request from a bank, etc, to execute the repo at very short notice.

My question is...Are these pilots rated and current on the specific aircraft they are repo-ing?, and how are they getting around all of the regulation and permits necessary to stay the right side of the law. Or is it, as I am beginning to suspect, all put together as a TV show with consenting defaulters. (the cameras seem to have been set up in the defaulters premises prior to the recce to gain access to the aircraft.

If I don't get a comment, I shall assume the worst, :cool:

Imagegear

My original commercial license allowed me to fly and fixed wing,subsonic aircraft as long as it wasn’t for hire or reward....
Remember many aircraft had no dual controls so that any pilot worth his salt and able to read a flight manual should be able to jump in an aircraft and fly vfr.

Are bizjet type rating specific or cover a range of aircraft?

I think all the programs are set ups, like those storage bidding shows.

The airplane repo TV program is scripted, just like most of the "reality programs." It is phony.

To quote the Producer of a TV film I was involved in a few years ago: "Its all an Illusion"

Well watching the CJ1 disappearing into the distance at some speed was certainly not an illusion. (But perhaps it flew a circuit and returned from whence it came :ok:)

Imagegear

Interesting title. A quick Google search will show that flying in the US is certified and regulated by the FAA. And 'theft' is taking something from its rightful owner - not returning it.

Obviously it's sexed up for TV with a lot of 'owners' turning up at the last minute, but presumably it does happen for real. The only issue I can see is that of type ratings and insurance, presumably they have numerous pilots rated on a number of different aircraft each,
and a trade policy. They could always hire in contract pilots for unusual stuff.

It does happen for real, but this TV program is scripted and staged.

I think it says briefly in the credits at the end of the show that it is "a re-enactment" of the events portrayed.

Well OK then...sounds like a bit of fakery in the production process but I am still intrigued as to how the pilots performing this function can get past the rating and licensing issues.

Thanks for the comments so far.

Imagegear

In the U.S. they are not relieved of our FARs. They have to be current in category, class, and if appropriate, have a type rating that is current, etc.

They also have to meet the requirements of the insurance company.

These TV programs are fake.

Apart from the TV shows a real repo company needs to use pilots rated on type to meet insurance requirements.
A CJ1/CJ2/2+/CJ3/CJ4 and the Citation Mustang can all be flown under the same type rating although the FAA requires some ‘familiarization’ like reading the manual.
Pretty much all conventional piston singles and twins can be flown by competent pilots.
But you don’t get a repo job right out of flight school.
These guys are highly experienced pilots with many, many types flown.
And they usually operate on a contract basis.
So the repo company has a Rolodex with Lear pilots, Citation pilots, Boeing rated pilots, tailwheel guys and everything else they may ever need.