AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2013 - 102

NEWS & NOTES
ON THE

WEB

MEMBER PRODUCTS

AOPA Pilot Protection Services guards both your pilot and medical
certificates to protect your freedom to fly (www.aopa.org/pps).

BY KATHY YODICE

Surviving a ramp check
IN MY EXPERIENCE, FAA ramp checks are
a bit of a mystery. We hear about them, but
because there are so many airports and
so many airmen—and not as many FAA
inspectors—the chances of being ramp
checked are not high. Still, it can happen
to you any time.
The FAA defines a ramp inspection
as “surveillance of an airman, operator,
or air agency during actual operations at
an airport or heliport,” and it is a routine
function for an inspector in response to
notification or observation of a possible
violation of the FARs or as part of random
surveillance. It is the FAA’s policy not to
conduct random ramp checks at organized
aviation events, although the inspector can
still do so if he or she observes something
that raises a concern.
For the most part, ramp checks are
conducted professionally, cordially, and
without much consequence. The FAA
inspector is expected to have credentials
and to be able to show them to you, so ask
to see them. Upon the inspector’s request,
you must show your pilot and medical certificates and photo identification,
and you must present the aircraft documents, including airworthiness certificate,

AOPA Pilot
Protection Services

registration certificate, radio station license
(if you have one), operating manual, and
weight and balance information. If you’re
required to carry a pilot logbook with you
on a flight, the inspector can ask to see it.
Note that if you have the aircraft logbooks with you—and I don’t recommend
that any logbooks be regularly carried in
the aircraft if not necessary for the flight—
the inspector may ask to review them, too.
If you are carrying logbooks with you, make
sure they are up to date. The inspector may
hold and review the documentation that you
provide, and may make copies on a portable printer, but the inspector must return
the documentation to you promptly. The
inspector does not have any authority in a
ramp check to confiscate your certificates
or to ground the aircraft, and the inspector
should conduct the inspection in a manner
that avoids any delay to your flight.
The inspector likely will walk around
the aircraft, in the nature of a preflight
inspection, and may ask your permission
to board your aircraft to check placards and
charts inside the aircraft. If the inspector
notices anything amiss during the ramp
WEB

inspection, the inspector is to communicate his or her observations to you.
Be courteous, remain calm, and be
responsive. Listen to what the inspector
has to say and avoid volunteering information that may be beyond the scope of
the ramp inspection. If practical, have
or invite a witness to join you during the
ramp inspection. If the inspector is using
the ramp inspection as an investigative tool
because of a possible violation of the FARs,
then the inspector is expected to provide
you with a Pilot’s Bill of Rights notification that you are under investigation. Don’t
be defensive, but be on guard because the
FAA can use anything discovered during
the ramp inspection against you.
Kathy Yodice is an aviation attorney for

AOPA’s Pilot Protection Services and Legal
Services Plan. She’s assisted AOPA members for more than 13 years and is a former
FAA attorney. She owns a Cherokee 180
and has been a pilot since 1994.

Learn more about the Pilot Protection Services program (www.aopa.org/pps).

ANSWERS FOR PILOTS

HAS IT BEEN A WHILE SINCE YOU’VE FLOWN?
PILOTS ARE BUSY PEOPLE—sometimes even too busy to fly! We can
get so wrapped up in our activities that before we realize it, our
proficiency has lost its edge and our currency lapses. This spring,
take the time to get back in the air and enjoy what you love. If you
want to review what you need to do to regain your currency, read
AOPA’s subject report, Getting Back into Flying (www.aopa.org/

102 | AOPA PILOT April 2013

members/files/guides/getback.html), which has information on
the flight review and other topics you may need to brush up on,
especially if it’s been a few years since you’ve flown. Also, read one
pilot’s experiences with recurrency lessons in the series of articles, “Resuming the Journey,” which describe the first few hours
of flying after 10 years on the ground.

http://www.aopa.org/pps http://www.aopa.org/pps http://www.aopa.org/pps http://www.aopa.org/

AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2013

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2013