Pilots Charge FAA With "Harassment," "Harming Children"

ANN has received a number of strongly worded reports about FAA conduct at a charitable aviation event, Saturday, in Birmingham, AL. To be perfectly honest, such strongly worded reports tend to put us off a little... since they're so one-sided and tend to be pretty emotional. Oft times, that means that someone has an axe to grind... though, some times upon investigation, that axe deserves to be at the ready. This appears to be one of those times.

As noted, ANN received a number of written and phone reports about the May 2nd, 2009 'Dreams On Wings' event at the Alabama Air National Guard Base at Birmingham International Airport. Dreams on Wings is a lovely concept -- an innocent and exciting day of fun for afflicted kids who need a little joy, a little hope, a bit of an adventure, and the care that others might give them. Dreams On Wings puts their mission this way, “Giving children faced with serious illness the experience and joy of flight which pilots feel privileged to share.”

Dreams On Wings is designed to give those children and their families a day to forget about the issues they’re dealing with, and do something few people get to do—FLY!!" It's a great day... filled with limo rides, food, games, clowns, drink... you name it. All services are donated, all pilots and staff are volunteers. It's a wonderful program that puts forth a positive and uplifting image for aviation... and aviators... or should have.

It also seems to have been conducted with a reasonable degree of care and caution. Pilots were vetted, children had to have medical clearance for the flight and the obligatory waivers clearly set forth the potential hazards involved. Dreams On Wings is also the recipient of a prestigious award by the NAA and the Air Care Alliance. One note in the documents explains much of who and what they are, though... "Dreams On Wings is a nonprofit, volunteer pilot organization. We utilize a network of volunteer pilots. These pilots donate their time, planes and fuel to provide free flights to children and families facing serious illness. Pilots do not get reimbursed for their costs. It is imperative that our very limited resources go to those truly in need."

During the day of the event, 8 aircraft (6 airplanes and two helicopters) showed up to volunteer their time and services to fly each of the invited children in one of a variety of aircraft to let them "experience the thrills that pilots love." Each ride lasts about 45 minutes and includes a bird's eye flight around the city of Birmingham -- with the invited child not only having a wonderful time but doing so in the company of some of their immediate family or close friends -- who often get to go along. 

The May 2nd event seems to have been marred by the fact that two FAA Inspectors from the BHM FSDO showed and reportedly ramp-checked each and every involved aircraft while the event was running... That's 6 fixed wing airplanes and two helicopters, including a Citation 550, who were reportedly "ramped." According to several pilots who assert they witnessed the events in question, some aircraft were told to shut down after children had already been loaded in the aircraft and engines were started... leaving the kids, many of whom are dealing with severe or terminal illness (some bound to wheelchairs), simmering in the hot cabins while the Feds conducted the checks. They complain that the FAA could have come to the event's Pilot Briefing ahead of time and avoided much of the delay and hassle, and that the way that the checks were conducted were tantamount to "harassment" and even created the potential for some "harm" to the children awaiting their rides in the warm weather. One pilot also alleges that the ramp checks did not "just happen" but were instead inspired by bad blood between one of the organizers and the local FSDO, who has been linked to several "complaints/problems/scandals," including one alleged skirmish that will have them in front of an NTSB Law Judge later this week.

The FAA, as one might expect, tells a different story.

The FAA's spokesperson, Kathleen Bergen, responded to ANN inquiries when BHM FSDO Manager Linda Silvertooth refused to answer our questions. This refusal occurred shortly after ANN indicated that we could not divulge our sources at the onset of the inquiry. Bergen claims that the two Inspectors who visited the event had no prior knowledge of the event beforehand and that they had not been invited, but instead showed up for no specific reason. She further stated that the Inspectors only started ramp checks after seeing a pilot load an aircraft, with children, with the engine running and that this incident served as their rationale for the series of ramp checks that followed (reportedly of all 8 aircraft). Bergen insists that whatever disruptions that may have occurred, happened solely due to the "need to keep things safe." ANN has asked to speak directly to the Inspectors who conducted the ramp checks and has been referred, each time, to the FAA PAO.

With this information in hand, ANN talked to one of the pilots and organizers of the event. ATP Pilot Alan Farmer counters some of the specific details of the FAA's story. Farmer relates that the event, on the ANG ramp, was carefully conducted and monitored by a great number of concerned volunteers as well as ANG personnel. He further notes that the FAA neither asked for, or received, permission to enter the ANG ramp (indeed, the event was conducted with the public notice that all pilots, volunteers and participants must be registered prior to entering the Alabama Air National Guard Base) though he insisted that they had to have some knowledge of the event beforehand due to local media exposure and the presence of FAA Air Traffic Personnel during at least one planning meeting. Farmer knows of no loading going on with an aircraft engine's running and saw nothing of the kind... but that one FAA Inspector did question him about what he might know about such a thing-- as he conducted the ramp check on his airplane.. which would seem to contradict the FAA's given reason for STARTING the inspections. Further; the order of events that Bergen related does not seem to hold up to what ANN was told by witnesses. Farmer considers the FAA's actions, "harassment" and worries that future events might be hampered by pilots who will avoid it because they would be, "afraid of trouble from the FAA... I'm really concerned about future damage to this event." Farmer adds that if this kind of activity happens again, he'll "hard-pressed to find planes and pilots to volunteer to fly these children in the future. That would be tragic."

ANN continues to investigate this story and is undertaking additional investigations into what appears to be some associated issues. We are in the process of filing a number of Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA) requests and will be requesting direct interviews with the Inspectors involved as well as the FSDO Manager... we'll keep you apprised as to what we learn... but the one thing that seems clear in all this is that no matter who is right or wrong, that the actions of the FAA could (at the very least) have been handled far more tactfully, more positively and under far less intrusive circumstances. More info to follow....

FMI: www.dreamsonwings.org, www.faa.gov