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The Editors of AVweb |
FAA
Administrator Jane Garvey appeared before a standing-room-only crowd in the FAA pavillion
auditorium at EAA AirVenture in Oshkosh Sunday at 11:30 am for the traditional "Meet
The Boss" session. Prior to the session, AVweb had heard rumors that Garvey
was cancelling her Oshkosh appearance, and other rumors that she planned to take up most
of the hour with a lengthy prepared statement that would leave little or no time left for
questions from the. Both proved completely false. In fact, the Administrator began her
remarks by saying that she was going to keep her opening remarks brief to leave as much
time as possible for Q&A.
Garvey was joined on stage by key top management from the FAA:
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Monte Belger, Acting Deputy Administrator
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Jim Washington, Acting Director of Air Traffic
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James Whitlow, Deputy Chief Counsel
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Jon Jordan, Federal Air Surgeon, Office of Aviation Medicine
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Cecilia Hunseker, Regional Administrator, Great Lakes Region
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Tom McSweeney, Director of Aircraft Certification
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Peggy Gilligan, Deputy Associate Administrator for Regulation and Certification
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Steve Brown, Deputy Associate Administrator for Air Traffic
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Stan Rivers, Director of Airway Facilities
Garvey started by reminding the audience that her first "Meet The Boss"
session at EAA '97, she was brand new on the job and in fact had not even yet been sworn
in as Administrator. She said that coming to Oshkosh, she was particularly touched by
seeing the family involvement in grass-roots aviation at EAA, and the involvement of young
people and young instructors as typified by the Young Eagles program.
Cites importance of FAA/industry partnerships
The Administrator talked about the importance of
problem-solving partnerships in aviation, saying that it was clear that most of the
problems facing aviation could not be solved either by industry or the public sector
alone, and that collaborative partnerships were essential. She spoke of the "Safer
Skies" initiative, announced on April 4th by Vice President Gore, which set the FAA's
safety agenda for the coming years. The initiative has three key components: general
aviation, commercial aviation, and cabin safety. "It was very, very important to us
going into shaping that agenda to involve the General Aviation community — to make sure
they were a key part as we thought what that agenda would be," Garvey said, "and
so we've really ended up with something I think reflects initiative and reflects
priorities that are important not only to the commercial aviation world, but to the
General Aviation world as well."
Speaking of General Aviation's future, Garvey said that she meets frequently with NASA
Administrator Dan Goldin to make sure that the R&D agendas of NASA and the FAA are in
sync. She pointed out that the Agency worked very hard over the Fourth of July weekend to
process certification for Lancair's Columbia 300, and that it is also working intensely
with Cirrus Design on certification of the Cirrus SR20. "Those kinds of certification
are critically important not only to the General Aviation world, but to the entire
aviation world as well." She praised the GAMA's GA Team 2000 initiative, calling
"a terrific example of encouraging young people to get involved in aviation."
Garvey stated that in any partnership effort, occasional differences of opinion are
inevitable, and as an example, she specifically cited the FAA's new controversial
"ticketing" program. "I know a number of you have been very concerned about
that…did I hear a yes?" She explained that the program grew from a post-ValuJet
study and a GAO report, both of which indicated that the FAA was not capturing many
administrative actions in its safety database, and that those that were being captured
took an average of 145 days to get into the database due to the bureaucratic procedures
involved in processing such actions. The ticket program came out of the Agency's desire to
streamline the procedures and eliminate the delays, lost data, and unnecessary paperwork.
"However, we've heard a lot from people in this room as well as people in commercial
aviation that have given us pause. We had a wonderful…I thought a very good meeting
last week where industry came in…and identified both concerns they had with the
programs and suggestions to get at the two issues that were raised in terms of
streamlining and in terms of capturing the right information," said Garvey. "All
of the comments were in by last Friday, the 31st…we're going to be looking at those
over the next couple of weeks, and I can promise you we're taking those issues very, very
seriously. We're looking at what actions we should take either to modify the program or
just to re-think it."
Cites AVweb's influence on FAA's ticketing program decision
Garvey singled out the ticketing program editorial written by AVweb
editor-in-chief Mike Busch for special mention. "I want to point out one item…I
read in AVweb, Mike Busch I think wrote a terrific…that was a great column, a
great couple of pages on both the perspective of what the ticket program…both why we
were trying to do it and then some real concerns, and I thought what was terrific about
that article is that you had some very specific suggestions for improvement, so I really
appreciate that." She said her staff would be examining those suggestions and others
over the next ten days or two weeks. "I heard you…we heard you…and I
promise you we'll take those issues very, very seriously and thank you again for getting
all of that in."
Finally, Garvey said that perhaps the biggest challenge faced by the FAA and by
aviation in general is the incredible rate at which technology is changing. She said that
it was vital for the FAA to keep asking itself "are we doing business in the right
way? What do we need to do to keep up with the technology and challenges?" She
reiterated that none of these problems were insurmountable, but that none of them could be
dealt with by the FAA alone, and once again stressed the importance of "constructive
collaboration" between government and industry.
The Q&A Session
The Administrator then opened the session to questions from the audience.
Ed Sweeney, a pilot and A&P mechanic from Colorado Springs, asked whether or not a
pilot was required to report undergoing "lasix" laser surgery to correct vision
anomalies. Dr. Jordan said that the FAA wants a report from the treating physician to
ensure that there are no complications, side-effects or problems associated with the
surgery, and that a pilot who undergoes such surgery should not use his medical
certificate until receiving clearance from the Agency.
AVweb editor-in-chief Mike Busch asked the Administrator whether she had read AVweb's
editorial on the FAA Chief Counsel's decision that the FAA would stop making airman
addresses available to industry, and whether there was any chance that the FAA would
reverse or modify its decision to withhold such addresses. Garvey said she hadn't read
that particular AVweb editorial (but promised to do so), but exhibited considerable
familiarity with the issue. "We've had two categories of comments on that…those
folks who say 'this is a mistake, you've always done it, keep doing it.' We've also had a
group of folks saying 'you know, we're not really comfortable with our names going out'
and so forth, so it's been mixed. There's been a suggestion made — and this by the way is
in legislation now before congress — that we set up some sort of a voluntary process.
We're watching that legislation and very well aware of it, and will continue to watch it.
We'd have to do a lot of administrative work to handle something like that, but certainly
if that's our direction, that's certainly how we will go."
Roger Manning of Portland, Michigan, asked about the latest info on the future of Meigs
Field. Garvey seemed unprepared for this question and deferred to her deputy Monte Belger.
"As a fundamental policy, we're going to oppose the closure of airports," said
Belger, drawing applause from the audience. "However, it real boils down to a local
community decision. When the decision comes up again after the five-year moratorium, we're
going to weigh-in strongly. It's a critical asset to the aviation system," Belger
continued. Garvey added, "Because the five-year moratorium is still in place, there's
not been an opportunity to weigh-in again, but we will."
Don Hollingsworth from Camarillo, California, talked about residential encroachment on
the clearzones surrounding certain small General Aviation airports. "When you go to
the FAA — and the famous quote from Western Region is 'no objection' — the lawyers for
the developers turn this around that the FAA actually endorses these projects." The
questioner suggested that the FAA have a knowledgeable person come testify before local
government bodies to persuade them not to approve such real estate developments that
threaten airports. Garvey promised to look at it.
Ed Kirkpatrick from Incline Village, Nevada, asked why the FAA refuses to follow the
lead of Australia and Japan to permit airline pilots over 60 to continue working. Garvey
passed the question to Peggy Gilligan, who said "we have looked at this carefully. We
have been requested by many pilot groups to look at it repeatedly. At this point, we've
made the determination that the medical evidence is not sufficient for us to determine
what an appropriate other age would be. It is an issue that we will continue I think to
reexamine, because you will continue to request that we do, and I think that's appropriate
as the science is improved. But at this point we've made the determination that the age 60
cutoff is the appropriate one to maintain a level of safety."
Dr. Jon Jordan briefly reviewed the history of the age 60 rule, saying that after
extensive research the FAA "came to the conclusion that age 60 was about as close as
we could come to an appropriate age [beyond] which a person should not be permitted to fly
as a pilot with an air carrier operation. Now it is true that some of the foreign
countries have relaxed the age limitation. ICAO still persists with the age 60 limitation
for the pilot-in-command, and a recommended practice that the first officer also be under
age 60. The Europeans, on the other hand, have come to the conclusion that one pilot could
go to age 65 so long as the other pilot on board is age 60. Admittedly, it's a somewhat
arbitrary rule, I don't know that age 60 is any better or any worse than age 62 or 65, and
some folks believe it should be age 55. But it's about the best we can do." Dr.
Jordan added that "one of the major problems in being able to distinguish who should
be able to fly beyond a certain age and who should not relates to cognitive function and
performance, and that's a very, very difficult thing to measure with any individual, and
it eludes us so far…that's the problem."
Alan Hanks, President of NARCO Avionics praised the FAA's "Task Force 4"
working on streamlining certification procedures, but complained about an almost total
lack of up-to-date information regarding the capabilities of WAAS (the Wide-Area
Augmentation System for GPS) and how it affects the retention of terrestrial navigation
facilities already in place. He asked the Administrator whether the FAA would be willing
to conduct an industry forum where industry — manufacturers of avionics in particular —
could work with the FAA to develop precise direction about what can be done with GPS and
what cannot. Garvey responded that she thought it was a terrific idea and would definitely
follow up on it. She said that WAAS Phase I would be in place by March 1999, and that ATA
and RTCA were currently involved in a study of the impact of GPS on General Aviation.
Bob Hill of UPS in Louisville, Kentucky, talked about the FAA/industry partnership to
develop ADS-B (automatic dependent surveillance, broadcast), said it was a great example
of how industry and the Agency could work together, and invited Garvey to visit the Flight
2000 booth to see the ADS-B equipment that UPS will be putting on an aircraft this week.
Garvey said she would.
Fireworks over the Bill Bainbrige fiasco
Bill Bainbridge of
B&C Specialty Products in Kansas complained bitterly about the FAA's year-long delay
in resolving enforcement action taken against his company by a rogue inspector in Alaska.
He had been promised by top FAA representatives 15 weeks ago at Sun 'n Fun that the false
charges against him would be dropped, but still had received no relief. "Because of
these false charges that have been brought against me," Bainbridge told Garvey,
"you have helped to weaken the trust that must exist between the FAA and the aviation
community. This is totally inexcusable." He spoke of "reprisals" and
"Gestapo tactics" by the Agency against, including FAA people threatening to tap
his phone and threatening to bring him up on additional charges. "It's a
disgrace," Bainbridge concluded in obviously emotional tones as the audience broke
into applause.
Garvey conferred with Deputy Chief Counsel James Whitlow. "James, I thought he got
the letter." "No," replied Whitlow, "he's not gotten the letter."
Garvey then asked Bainbridge to remain after the public session so that she and Whitlow
could talk to him, but several angry members of the audience stood up and hollered,
"we want to hear this publically, please! This is a big issue!"
"Okay," said Garvey, "there is a letter that we thought…that I
thought had been delivered…"
"It had to go to your attorney," Whitlow interjected, speaking to Bainbridge.
"We found out last week that you had not gotten the letter, so we brought a copy
down. We have a copy of the letter for you. But it [the enforcement action against
Bainbridge] was withdrawn. One of the problems that I had was that I had to deal with your
counsel on this, which is why I sent the letter withdrawing it to him. Let me talk to you
afterwards. I think the reasons why it was withdrawn are in the letter, but we have a copy
for you here, it was sent to you attorney. The action has been withdrawn."
"I do not have counsel, sir!" cried Bainbridge.
"Let me talk to you afterwards," said Whitlow, "because you still have a
counsel-of-record. I'll give you a copy of the letter after this discussion."
"A year ago, you put me off until after the meeting," Bainbridge complained
bitterly, "and you're doing the same thing again this year. I want the letter saying
the charges were dropped, and I want a letter of apology. Mrs. Garvey, I would like you to
instruct James Whitlow to do this at this time. Will you do it? Yes or no?"
"You'll receive the letter today," replied Garvey.
"And the letter of apology?" asked Bainbridge.
"That I have not had a chance to talk to James about," said Garvey.
"Let's talk after this," said Whitlow.
"I don't want 'after this,'" said an agitated Bainbridge. "Neither does
anybody else in this audience. We're tired of that." More applause.
Zoom keeps the heat on
Jim "Zoom" Campbell of U.S. Aviator
was the next questioner. Campbell talked about due process for pilots who were targets of
FAA enforcement actions, and the need for a "Pilot's Bill of Rights" to protect
airmen against overzealous FAA inspectors. How can you have partnerships, asked Campbell,
when you have storm troopers and Gestapo tactics? "You've heard from Mr. Bainbridge,
you've heard from Mr. Peshak, you've certainly heard from Mr. Hoover. I've got about 300
case histories now I'm assembling and trying to whittle down to about 30 for a book for
next year. What it comes down to is why, in a constitutional democracy — the United
States of America — can the FAA do to pilots what you cannot do to any other
quasi-minority in this country?"
Garvey invited Campbell to bring specific cases in which due process was not followed
to her attention. She said that a big part of the FAA's reconsideration of the
"ticketing" program was to ensure that fairness and due process were not
compromised. "We haven't implemented the program yet."
"But it would have happened if someone hadn't spoken up," Campbell
complained. "Congratulations to AVweb for being first on this, by the way. If
somebody hadn't come up and made a big stink about it, this thing would have been slipped
into place. You were already teaching it to your inspectors. It was already on the
schedule."
"I think what's important," replied Garvey, "is that we've taken a step
back, we're taking a look at it, we've given the industry an opportunity to comment on it,
and we're taking those comments very seriously."
"I would just dearly love to have this conversation next year," said
Campbell, "and be talking about the changes that have been made, and the fact that a
pilot has as much right to justice in this country as some guy caught selling smack to
schoolchildren. We don't! We really don't. It's unbelievable!"
But, there are happy campers the audience
Tom Fahey from St. Paul, Minn., manager of meteorology for an "unnamed
airline," discussed the cooperative FAA, airline and G.A. experiments in thunderstorm
forecasting. Fahey said the outcome of the experiments were expected to benefit commercial
and General Aviation alike, thanked the Administrator for FAA's support of the program,
and encouraged the Agency to continue that support.
Mrs. Amelia Reid, California aviation matriarch and 56,000-hour flight instructor, told
Garvey that San Jose's Reid-Hillview Airport was in a similar situation to Meigs Field,
under assault by a local Board of Supervisors that has been trying to close down the
airport for ten years now. Local pilots, with the help of AOPA, has been successful so far
in fighting the closure, but in the meantime the Board has not requested (and so the FAA
has not funded) any improvements to the airport, which after a decade is badly in need
repaving and other projects. She appealed to the FAA to take a more activist stance
against local governments who try to close airports and refuse to keep airports in an
improved state. Garvey promised to look at the RHV situation to see if the FAA could be
more helpful.
Victor Boyce of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, complained that the FAA maintenance manual AC
43.13-1A is terribly out-of-date, and the new manual AC 43.13-1B has been written and
reviewed, but remains hung up with the FAA lawyers in Washington, and asked whether
anything could be done to expedite its issuance. Garvey promised to follow up on this.
Keith Peshak of Texas gave the Administrator a file of materials relating to an
incident in which an FAA inspector forcibly broke into Peshak's Cessna 152 and confiscated
some experimental equipment, and admitted to doing so in court testimony. Peshak included
some pages from FAA orders that he says the Inspector violated, and some pages from the
Texas penal code that he says shows the Inspector was guilty of felony criminal
violations. "My question to you is very simple," Peshak said. "Given the
way your Agency has behaved toward us, why should any of us follow any of your
rules?" Garvey declined to answer that clearly-rhetorical question.
Martha King on the FAA privacy decision
Martha King of King Schools in San Diego, California, once again raised the issue of
the FAA's sudden decision to start withholding airman address information after making
that information available to industry for decades. "I do want to compliment you on
the 'Safer Skies' initiative, and the partnership with industry to prevent accidents.
We're very eager to be involved in that. However, this withdrawal of the pilot list from
industry has put a big crimp in industry's ability to uphold our part of that partnership.
For instance, the company that my husband and I own, in the past seven years, has
mailed out free aviation safety videos to about 700,000 student pilots, and our ability to
do that in the future is going to be very severely compromised by this inability to
communicate with pilots that we've had in the past. I would like to suggest that this is
not strictly a legal issue, as it has been framed by some people, but more of a policy
issue. I would like to encourage you to talk to the Federal Communications Commission. We
do work with them also, and it is their very strong feeling that their licensees list
needs to be available to the public for safety reasons, and they very strongly promote
that and work aggressively with industry to get that out. So it appears that it's not
strictly a legal issue." Garvey responded that she thought it was an excellent
suggestion for the FAA to compare notes with the FCC on this matter, and promised to do
so.
Final Questions
Doug Meyers, director of safety for a regional airline in Milwaukee, Wisconsin,
discussed a petition to the FAA Air Traffic Division calling for FAA recognition of an
initiative to allow local government agencies to implement airport advisory services akin
to FSS-provided AAS or Canada's CARS. Meyers said that it has been six months since the
petition was submitted, and no response had been received from the FAA. Acting Director of
Air Traffic Jim Washington said the FAA "fully supports the concept" and
promised to reply.
Darryl Phillips of Salisaw, Oklahoma, asked the Administrator why, in today's
electronic age, the airman community does not have access to the more than 1400 active FAA
Oders which provide policy guidance for FAA inspectors and other employees. An FAA staffer
replied, "all our handbooks are on-line, including the Orders…all 1400 on CDROM
and on the Internet." Phillips insisted it wasn't so. [Garvey later checked,
discovered Phillips was indeed correct, and promised to follow up on the matter.]
Phillips also complained that some FAA Orders directly
contradicted other FAA orders, leaving field inspectors free to pick and choose which ones
they wanted to follow. Peggy Gilligan, Deputy Associate Administrator for Regulation and
Certification, said that the FAA had a "very active program underway to make sure
that the Orders are brought in line, to make sure that in fact over years we haven't made
mistakes and have conflicting advice out there as well, and all of that will also be
available on the Internet. … The key is for us to get consistent guidance and we are
doing that, that's part of the automated database that inspectors will be getting access
to shortly as well."
Bob Sigfried of Downers Grove, Illinois, commended the FAA on its very rapid action to
approve the use of an IFR-certified GPS as a substitute for ADF and DME, and urged
similarly rapid action to streamline the certification process for new STCs, such as the
alternators produced by B&C Specialty Products, and dozens of other similar products.
"Good comment," said Garvey. Tom McSweeney, Director of Aircraft Certification,
assur Sigfried that his department was working hard "to try to get some of this stuff
online and to get some of these approvals moving along." Garvey added that Task Force
4, referred to earlier, was working on streamlining of the certification process.
"I'm counting on that…terrific people from both outside and inside the FAA and
from industry that are really focused on this. … If we are not more streamlined,
we're not going to be able to keep up with it."
Phil Reed from Boise, Idaho, asked the final "Meet The Boss" question. He
inquired about the status of the Sport Pilot Certificate program, and asked whether the
FAA would support the Aviation Rulemaking Advisory Committee recommendations in front of
the Secretary of DOT. Garvey responded that the FAA had just received the ARAC
recommendation and that none of the staff had yet had time to read the recommendation,
much less decide the Agency's position on it. "It is complicated. It is a tough one
for us. … We will look at it very carefully. I know it's an important issue for
you."
As Tom Poberezny made some closing remarks, Garvey was heard to turn Deputy Chief
Counsel to James Whitlow and tell him that she wanted the two of them to meet with Bill
Bainbridge of B&C Specialty Products in a small room at the back of the auditorium.
For the results of that meeting, see the related article on Bill Bainbridge.
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