Friend Of "Aviation Criminal" Site Gets Turned In, Anonymously, For Alleged Medical Ailment

News/Analysis by ANN Editor-In-Chief, Jim Campbell

There is a point at which the law becomes immoral and unethical. That point is reached when it becomes a cloak for the cowardice that dares not stand up against blatant violations of justice.

Kurt Huber

One of my favorite sayings goes something along the lines of... "thank God we're not getting all the government we're paying for." And while the late, great Will Rogers was reportedly the instigator of that profound opinion, we sincerely doubt he had any idea as to how literally his warnings might have to be taken.

ANN is monitoring the complex and bewildering plight of an airman in California who was turned into the FAA some weeks ago, via the FAA Hotline, anonymously. The anonymous tipster told the FAA that "Pilot X" (identified that way in order to allow him some protection from further harassment) had kidney stones -- a malady the FAA Medical folks can consider immediately disqualifying for flight privileges.

This kind of stuff happens now and then and from what we hear (and have dealt with, personally), the FAA is usually not too difficult to deal with when such anonymous nonsense turns up without a shred of evidence.

But.... not so, in this case.

"Pilot X" is a friend of Kristy Graham, known to ANN readers and many others worldwide, as the webmaster of the "Aviation Criminal" site... a web blog dedicated to warning the aviation world about the Convicted Felon, conman, fraud and swindler, David Riggs. "Pilot X" is also an alleged victim of Riggs' actions and criminal activities and id engaged in legal action to defend himself against him.

Riggs, as you may recall from previous ANN stories, is a pilot who -- in the last few years -- served jail time (among other penalties) for a dangerous public buzz job that terrified hundreds (and made pilots look like asses) as he flew an L39 in VERY close proximity to the Santa Monica Pier, and was also stopped by the FAA from pulling off a poorly conceived and demonstrably dangerous air race promotion/scam this past summer that could have endangered many attendees at the Camarillo Airshow. Riggs's exploits have embarrassed the aviation world time and time again... while Graham's site has been tenacious, well-detailed, and instrumental in making sure that as many people as possible knew about the hazards posed by a man with an extraordinarily dangerous history of hazarding others... physically and financially. Riggs has threatened and harassed Graham (and others) a number of times... but because of the manner in which Graham lives her life, his threats have had minimal effect.

David G Riggs

And now... mystery of mysteries, friends and associates of Graham's appear to be getting harassed by person(s) as yet unknown... though the finger seems to point, prominently, in one direction.

Despite the anonymity of the complaint and the total lack of factual evidence of any kind, the FAA sent a letter of investigation to "Pilot X" and demanded information, five years of medical records, and the like.

The letter opened with a chilling paragraph, stating that, "We have recently received a hotline compliant (sic) alleging that you suffer from kidney stones information which indicates a reasonable basis to believe you may not meet the medical standards described in Title 14 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), Part 67. You may not be qualified to hold any class medical certificate."

The letter continues, "Under the authority of Title 14 of the CFR, Sections 67.413(a) and 67.407(d), the Federal Aviation Administration is reexamining your qualifications in order to determine whether you meet the medical standards for the medical certificate issued you by the aviation medical examiner.

We are writing, therefore, to ask your assistance in this matter. In order to determine whether you meet the medical standards, you are requested to submit to this office all medical/treatment records for the past five years and a personal statement responding to the allegations that you have a history of kidney stones."

(E-I-C Note: Bold and Underlined text above denotes same font treatment as seen in FAA Letter.)

The letter goes on to advise that "Pilot X" is responsible for all costs associated with the FAA's requests and that a failure to accede to their demands means that, "...pursuant to Title 14 of the CFR, Section 67.413, your failure to furnish the requested information could be the basis for immediate suspension, modification, or revocation of your certificate."

The December 21st letter, (sent by Stephen E. Goodman, M.D., Senior Regional Flight Surgeon, Western Pacific Regional Medical Office) goes on to state that if he doesn't reply within 30 days, that the FAA will, "have no alternative except to deny your application in accordance with Title 14 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), Section 67.413." The letter also warns this pilot that any flying in the meantime, "in view of your possible disqualification," could be used to instigate a violation against him.

So... in other words... he either jumps through the hoops proffered by the FAA in response to an unsubstantiated, anonymous complaint, or he gets grounded. And... he gets to pay for whatever expenses arise out of having to respond to the aforementioned anonymous, unsubstantiated, complaint.

"Pilot X" responded carefully... and after having passed a quasi-recent medical exam, hoped that this response would mollify the FAA.

His response stated the following:

"This letter is in reference to your letter dated December 21, 2011 regarding an anonymous "Hotline Complaint" alleging that I am suffering from kidney stones.

First; I will state that I am NOT suffering from kidney stones, nor have I ever suffered from kidney stones. I am in excellent health and have been most of my life.

Second; Since I do not have any medical conditions I do not have any medical records other then the ones the FAA possesses from my third class medical exams by Dr. Edward Shore.  And, as they state, I am in excellent heath and not suffering from any conditions.

Third; I take issue to your threatening letter demanding that I relinquish ALL personal medical information regardless whether it pertains to this witch hunt or not. As well as threatening to revoke my FAA medical in 30 days. This is a violation of my civil rights. A simple inquiry to this matter would have been more then sufficient to get your questions answered.

It is quite apparent that anyone can call your FAA "Hotline" for no other reason then to harass a pilot using the FAA as a federal henchman. And, as in this case, that's exactly what has happened. I am the plaintiff in a lawsuit against a multi convicted felon over an aviation fraud issue. A well known FAA problem named David G. Riggs. Contacting Ian Gregor, FAA western regional spokesman would verify this.

I have not violated any FAA regulations nor am I suffering from any condition that would prevent me from holding a current FAA medical."

"Pilot X" furnished the requested statement/denial of having kidney stones and noted that he had passed a recent medical exam with his AME... but did not furnish any additional medical records, because (being in good health), he didn't have any and stated so.

"I can't supply what doesn't exist," he explained.

The FAA's Ian Gregor, to his credit, did forward info and supporting data to the FAA medical staff to fill them in on the probable source of the anonymous report... but the sad fact is that all this fell on deaf ears and "Pilot X" still finds himself squarely in the FAA's cross-hairs.

Gregor also noted that, "I can't comment on anybody's private medical matters. We are obligated to investigate every hotline complaint we receive. We can't randomly pick and choose which ones we look into and which ones we don't look into. The fact that we send someone a letter concerning a hotline allegation does not mean we believe the allegation is valid."

Inexplicably, though, the FAA is treating this unsubstantiated, cowardly, and anonymous report as valid... and last week, "Pilot X" received an unwelcome and confusing response from the FAA. The January 25th letter from Latonya Walton, a Program Analyst for the FAA's Western Pacific Regional Medical Office demanded more information... information that apparently does not exist.

Walton stated that, "we are still unable to establish your eligibility to hold a medical certificate," and that while they were not denying his medical certificate, per se, that they WOULD do so unless he furnished the rest of the info they requested the month before. Examination of the responding letter reveals only one item of any significance missing from the "Pilot X" response... the five years of medical records/history that did not exist outside of the medical info the FAA already had from his having participated in his regular, mandated, FAA medical examinations.

Catch 22... you can't furnish what you don't have.

AND; even if he did all that, Walton's letter concludes that even when those demands were satisfied, "...further testing may be required by the FAA."

Pilot X is not a happy guy in all this, and has told ANN that, "I think this story is very important and should be questioned and told. The FAA must, in no way, take an anonymous phone call and turn it into an inquisition on the pilot. A simple inquiry would have been the best first contact. The pilot is guilty until proven innocent, and as the letter clearly states, it's ALL on the accused pilot. And I take that as the FAA can do anything they please to go as far as they please to make you prove anything they demand, along with suspending or revoking a pilot's medical until they feel the matter is resolved, AND demanding private medical records that have no bearing on the complaint.

All this from an anonymous phone call.

But this issue is not about me it's about the FAA's arrogant practices and violation of citizens rights. I would rather you wrote about the big issue and not about me personally..."

In the meantime, despite an amazing amount of testimony, witness reports, video (many posted to YouTube and other sites), audio data and other reports, Convicted Felon and perennial aero-embarrassment, David G Riggs, seems to be conducting a number of questionable and potentially unsafe/unlawful aviation activities... and receiving far less scrutiny for his mountain of truly ponderous actions and allegedly unsafe actions, than "Pilot X" is getting for an unsubstantiated and anonymous complaint alleging a malady that was NOT reportedly evidenced during his last medical exam with an AME.

ANN finds that puzzling and, yes, reprehensible.

Riggs is a known and proven danger to others as well as himself (frankly, we're amazed that he hasn't hurt/killed himself or someone else -- and there are those who suggest he may have been responsible, in part, for a fatal film-stunt gone bad in which two pilots died) and he seems to get away with quite a lot (while receiving the occasional slap on the wrist... a situation which he is known to flaunt and brag about--publicly)... while one of this alleged victims now finds himself within days of losing his flight privileges... for a reason he has a hard time separating from the threats and harassment he (and friends) have experienced at the direction of Riggs...

More info to follow.

FMI: www.faa.gov, www.aviationcriminal.com