Q: Are You Part Of The Aviation Unit? A: Well, I Think I Am...

Palm County (FL) Sheriff Ed Bieluch may be nursing a rather bothersome case of foot-in-mouth disease after his sworn deposition July 2nd.  The Palm Beach Post reports, when he showed up to testify in a lawsuit filed against him by a former captain on the force, he wore the gold wings of a Palm County Sheriff's Department aviator. He's taken lessons in the department's two helicopters and has used his deputies as instructors.

It's all there, in the record. "Are you a member of the unit?" attorney Gerald Richman asked Bieluch in a videotaped deposition over a lawsuit filed by former sheriff's Capt. Ken Eggleston, Richman's client.

"Well, I think I am," Bieluch responded.

On further examination, Bieluch (right) said, even though he isn't a qualified pilot, he has taken lessons during which he piloted the aircraft. And even though he described himself as a "student pilot" with something close to 50 hours of training, he has not received a physical and has not been granted a student pilot privilege's via a CFI's FAA-mandated sign-off.

Anybody Got An FAR Manual Handy?

We're not lawyers (but we've seen them on TV), so we won't even begin to describe the legal or FAA ramifications of Bieluch's admissions. But, in case you were wondering, we suggest you review FAR 61.133, FAR 121.383, FAR 135.244, FAR 135.329, FAR 135.323 and FAR 135.324 (among so many others) --- unless, of course they're going to claim that all this falls under Public Use exemptions...

Backpeddle. Fast.

After Bieluch's testimony was released Friday, his subordinates verbally rushed to his defense. "Maybe he went up and they showed him how to hold the stick, but he's not taking flying lessons," said Maj. Dan Smith, a close friend and commander of the sheriff's division that includes the aviation unit, as quoted in the Post.

Indeed, the aviation unit has no record of the sheriff flying in the helicopter. None at all, either as a student pilot, pilot-in-command or even as a passenger, according to the Post. Still, two witnesses in the wrongful termination lawsuit filed by former Capt. Ken Eggleston say they saw the sheriff in the right seat of the department's one-year old Bell 407. The witness said it was unclear whether Bieluch was actually controlling the helicopter, since it has dual flight controls. But when the 407 landed in a school yard to deliver Bieluch to a speech where he talked safety to elementary students, the witness said it appeared as if the sheriff himself was manipulating the controls. So far, there's no indication from the FAA whether an investigation might be pending.

FMI: www.pbso.org/index.cfm?fa=aviation