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Unusual Attitudes: What the FAA Lady Said

Maybe, as my letter of reprimand stated, it’s about why FAA inspectors cannot allow “private negotiations…or personal economic experiences [to] influence their professional responsibilities.” Philippe de Kemmeter
Gemini Sparkle

Key Takeaways:

  • An FAA inspector investigating a bird strike incident made an indiscreet comment about the chosen repair shop, based on negative personal experiences with the facility.
  • The overheard comment led to a series of complaints from the repair shop and the inspector receiving an FAA reprimand for allowing personal economic experiences to influence professional responsibilities.
  • Despite the official reprimand, the inspector expressed no regret for her truthful assessment of the repair facility.
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Gallipolis is a town in extreme southeastern Ohio—not to be confused with the World War I battle site on the Gallipoli Peninsula in Turkey. This one got its name in 1790, when some Frenchmen (“Gallia”) established a village or city (“polis”) across from where West Virginia’s Kanawha River joins the mighty Ohio. They’d been discovered as stowaways on an Ohio riverboat and unceremoniously put ashore in what was then Native American territory. It’s probably most famous today as the site of the first Bob Evans restaurant on his farm in nearby Rio Grande.

Martha Lunken

Martha Lunken is a lifelong pilot, former FAA inspector and defrocked pilot examiner. She flies a Cessna 180 and anything with a tailwheel, from Cubs to DC-3s.

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