While this is certainly an advocacy piece from ANN, it is related to the FAA debate...
Happy New Year! Your Airplane May Be Grounded
Beware -- Your FAA Has Done It Again! Awww… C’mon Man!
By Bruce Brandon, Atty, ANN Aero-Legal Specialist
You can’t make this stuff up.
There are hundreds (perhaps over a thousand) airplanes that will be grounded on January 1, 2014.
Why?
The FAA won’t have completed the paperwork for a large block of airplanes that are queued for re-registration.
You will recall that the FAA mandated re-registration of all civil aircraft started in 2010 under the authority of 49 USC § 44101 et. al. The FAA, over objections, imposed 14 CFR § 47.40 that requires a 3 year re-registration. So far, it’s a mandate making GA more of a hassle -- but manageable -- only if FAA does its job (always a questionable proposition).
Now the rub.
FAA, who points the finger to the recent government shut down that paid the FAA employees but wouldn’t let them work, as to why it is behind in processing the re-registrations. Really?
The delay means that hundreds, if not a thousand or more, aircraft will be grounded as of January 1, 2014 because the FAA hasn’t done its job.
Amazing isn’t it, most professions have to get the job done regardless of external factors. Why doesn’t the FAA respond to questions asking why this happened, as I had to, while a cadet at the US Air Force Academy. The answer to a “why question” was “no excuse sir!” Instead, the FAA has fumbled the ball and blames others. Now one could, perhaps, be forgiving of the tardy reregistration done by the FAA, if the FAA were to use its extremely broad discretionary powers to mitigate the harm. It could simply extend the registration on those aircraft whose registration expires on December 31, 2013 by 30-60 days or until the FAA completes the job.
It would be a simple solution to a problem the FAA unilaterally created with its re-registration regulation -- and its failure.
The FAA could do this but, so far, has not.
Instead, it has opted to inflict pain, cost, and inconvenience on GA owners who are attempting to comply with a questionable regulation thrust upon them and have no recourse in making the FAA to do the right thing. As young officers in the military, one of our irreverent remarks to senior officers (only mentally – never verbally) was “Colonel, you have me confused with someone who cares about your problem”.
I think that most of the GA population feels that the FAA has the same attitude; we have them confused with someone who cares.
For those who are being innocently punished by the FAA, it is strongly suggested that, even though the FAA is the one failing to timely register aircraft, causing great inconvenience and cost to innocent parties and failing to mitigate the impact, that you don’t fly until your airplane is reregistered.
This same FAA, the one that requires you to obey its rules -- even when it fails to deliver what is required of them -- will punish you. (Of course, they are never punished for their failures.)
Not only will the FAA punish you, your state government may very well also punish you.
What can they do to you?
First, in some states, flying an airplane that isn’t registered is a crime, even a felony. To my knowledge, FAA’s incompetence isn’t mentioned in any of the criminal statutes excusing the flying of an unregistered airplane. The FAA will also punish you.
14 CFR § 47.3 states “(b) No person may operate an aircraft that is eligible for registration under 49 U.S.C. 44101-44104, unless the aircraft--
(1) Has been registered by its owner;
14 CFR § 91.203 also requires that you have on board “an effective U.S. registration certificate…”
You can’t have one until the FAA issues it. The Sanction Guidance table for the FAA (similar to sentencing guidelines) calls for a 30-90 day suspension of your pilot’s certificate and/or the maximum civil penalty of $10,000 for each flight in which the aircraft is not registered.
[Still… There is no sanction for the FAA not doing its job].
It is important to remember, that if your airplane’s registration expires December 31, 2103, your airplane is not registered after that -- until the FAA does its job!
Another serious consequence of an unregistered aircraft is that your insurance may be invalid.
Check your policy.
Bottom line, as an airman, this FAA act of incompetence is “a harm without remedy”. Now, don’t think that there is fairness in this matter. There is no “fair for the goose, fair for the gander” when it comes to the FAA. You are held to a much higher standard by the FAA, than the FAA requires of itself. While they aren’t punished for their incompetence, they will punish you if you don’t follow the rules, regulations and law.
Have a happy holiday -- the New Year may be a bear.
The FAA is still in charge. Awww, C’mon Man!
