AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2015 - 77

The machine-gun kids shot through the
engines and bayoneted the jet's fuel cells,
while Popovich hopped out of the airliner
and yelled for them to stop.
man for himself." What if Baby Doc hadn't
been overthrown? "My guess is I would
still be there, rotting," he says. The airplane was only worth between $400,000
and $500,000, after all.
"My definition of scary has changed
since I was younger," he says. "I'm not as
crazy as I was when I was 30 years old."
Today SPI has assembled a worldwide
database of 4,000 pilots, each rated from
highest to lowest by how much time in
type, how much transatlantic time they
have, and how much transpacific time.
From that database a crew is assembled.
Most repossessions go smoothly. "I have
an agreement with the bank not to breach
the peace," Popovich explains. In other

words, he approaches the delinquent borrower, tells them he's repossessing the jet,
and the borrower tends to give up without
a fight. Then they work together to assemble maintenance logs.
The lender has already scanned the
logs during the prepurchase inspection,
while the airline has kept the majority up
to date. "One time a pilot wanted $25,000
for them, and I said, 'We'll call the FAA
and say you're trying to extort me,'" he
says. The pilot handed over the logs free
of charge. "I love when they try to extort
money from me. It's a federal offense to do
that-not to mention if they do it over the
telephone, it's wire fraud," he adds. "They
generally see the light."

Once in a while they have to get an
attorney involved. And while English
is the official language of aviation, that
doesn't extend to record-keeping or airport
staffs. "A lot of places like France or South
America don't have lot of English speakers in the corporate world," he says. On his
only repo in China, for instance, he had to
hire someone to translate the logs. But otherwise, no trouble from China.
So have 25 years and 1,600 repossessions changed Nick Popovich?
"I think it's maybe made me more compassionate," he says. "It's taught me a lot of
humility. I repossessed two airliners from
a Greek airline that put 300 people out of
work. It's not an easy thing to do." From that
experience he realized it's better to negotiate when he can. "Lately I've been preaching
this to the seller," he says. "Instead of repossessing, let's negotiate something." AOPA
PHIL SCOTT is a freelance writer and pilot

living in New York City.

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AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2015

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