REFLECTOR: NTSB insult, no injury intended

[jcbarnes@ibm.net]

Hi Jack, 

	Pardon my sense of humor: in no way did I intend any disrespect for
such a worthy government program, or Larry's very good suggestion that
it may in fact help to soften the blows of life's outrageous fortune. 
And tasteless as my humor usually is, it did bring out some exceptional
learning material, because...

	THANKS FOR AN OUTSTANDING URL (http://olias.arc.nasa.gov/asrs) !!  Very
educational web-site and good to see all the useful lessons gathered
with this program, which is it's main objective: improving flight
safety.  

	What I found humorous was the concept of ANYTHING precluding a
bureaucrat taking arbitrary enforcement action IF a bureaucrat so
chooses.   Look at the saga of B&C Specialty Products (Bill & Celeste
Bainbridge) http://www.avweb.com/articles/faalegal.html.

	Kinda like trying to "litigation proof" the sale of a homebuilt: you
can try anything but you can't stop a lawyer from suing you. Whether he
wins or not, he gets paid. Lawyers and bureaucrats are a 'leapords and
spots' thing.  At least as far as main stream stereotypes go.

	Wayne's tale bears truth the FAA does in fact employ some pretty
reasonable people.  I've met some very knowledgable, sane and reasonable
FAA people.  I've not personally been the victim of any "rampant
bureaucrat" and really don't hold any grudge against the FAA or the
NTSB.  From the initial posting on this thread it seems some of us have. 

	 I also hold in high regard those Velocitites and other
homebuilders/flyers that are in fact FAA/NTSB/gov personnel and must be
counted among the enlightened: to you guys no offense intended as well. 
And you probably have more than a fair share of bureaucrat jokes, just
like my lawyer acquantances have the best lawyer jokes.
 	
	I agree that voluntary compliance with the ASRS reporting system would
go a long way to establish a "compliant attitude", possibly aid in the
later appeal of any enforcement action, but in any event add to a
database of knowledge on anything that can/might go wrong with us or our
planes.  In any event, I don't think (or certainly hope) that Don's
prediciment would or could land him in any legal hot-water, the NTSB's
errant preliminary reporting notwithstanding: that's why it's
preliminary.

	But to all, I apologize for such a bad joke, cuz if I got to explain
it, much less defend it, it really sucked. 

Best Regards,
Jeff Barnes
XL-RG a-buildin'

John Hayes wrote:
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: jcbarnes@ibm.net <jcbarnes@ibm.net>
> To: reflector@awpi.com <reflector@awpi.com>
> Date: Thursday, June 17, 1999 12:58 PM
> Subject: Re: REFLECTOR: NTSB insult
> 
> >lawrence epstein wrote:  >>snip
> >> Shouldn't NASA forms be filed for both events?  Doesn't this protect you
> >> from enforcement?
> >
> >Ha ha ha, ooh, ah, ha, ha !  Good one Larry !
> >I'm just being cynical. Actually, maybe there is a catch there.
> >
> >Regards, Jeff Barnes
> >FWIW If I were you , I would take the time to look into this reporting
> system and how it can be a very positive thing for any pilot to understand.
> There must be a reason that every Chief Pilots office for air carriers have
> forms available to all pilots. There is also a monthly safety bulletin sent
> out to  anyone who sends a written request. The bulletin is titled Callback
> and is a NASA publication. Also look at http://olias.arc.nasa.gov/asrs
> When you get through all of that let me know how funny it is!
> 
> Jack Hayes