Flight School Safety Whistle Blowing

While taking some flying lessons, I notice that the plane I was flying was leaking oil badly. I reported it, and I was told that the mechanic check it out and it was fine and it seemed to continue to leak oil. I’m not a mechanic, so I assumed that it was infact fine…

Until I was out in the middle of BFE and my oil pressure dropped though the floor. I had to make an emergency landing and found the plane had gone through 4 quarts of oil in an hour. My CFI told me that that kind of poor maintanence happens all the time and the owner of the flight school doesn’t do anything about it.

It occurs to me that this dangerous practice aught to be against some kind of regulation, but I’m not sure where to start grousing.

First, take your business elsewhere!

Second, contact the FAA.

I am licensed sail plane pilot, and have been puttering around working on my powered license for a while. I think mostly I go up occasionally and log time with an instructor just to fulfill my desire to be in the air some more. (Not that any of that really matters… )

Congrats on a successful handling of an emergency!

At least in my area, there are flight schools that have planes that magnificently maintained. I was very impressed when I looked at them the first time I showed up. You should be able to find a school around that does this right.

Have to second all of the above.

That sort of lack-of-maintenance is NOT normal and NOT to be tolerated - take your business elsewhere.

Second - blow the whistle on these people before someone gets killed due to their negligence. Talk to the local FSDO, tell them you have some concerns about poor maintenance. Those guys would rather do a surprise inspection than fill out the papework on an accident. If you’re worried about having your name get back to the FBO - you could probably do this anonymously. If the FBO is on the level and doing their job they shouldn’t have to worry about random ramp checks. If they’re cutting corners… they deserve to get caught.

And - congratualations for dealing successfully with an emergency. Keep up the good work. You’re not just a pilot, you’re a good pilot.

I agree with both of these statements, but would add one more thing: You just got your first lesson in the importance of taking personal responsibility for the safety of your flight. You’re the pilot - NEVER let someone else talk you into doing something that in your judgement is unsafe. And believe me, lots of people will try. You don’t know pressure until you’re 500 miles from home with a friend who HAS to be back at work in the morning. It’s marginal VFR, and dusk, but this guy is practically pleading with you to get him home. Oh, and you’ve also spent a ton of time in the past justifying your flying by telling everyone just how reliable and useful General Aviation is, and now he’s asking you to prove it…

You shouldn’t have gotten into the airplane in the first place, but now that you’re safely on the ground you have to take steps to rectify the situation. That can mean going to the FAA, or it can mean telling the owner of the company that you refuse to fly in his airplanes and why, and demanding that he do something about it. Think how you’d feel if you do nothing and two weeks from now you read an article in the paper about a student and instructor killed after losing an engine and botching a forced landing.

Nice post by Sam Stone.

He hit it on the head far better than we did.