Flight Training - May 2013 - 24

PREFLIGHT»

MEMBER PRODUCTS

Surviving a ramp check

BY KATHY YODICE

It’s easy if you’re prepared
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 you will be ramp checked are not great. Still, it can
happen to you any time you’re getting ready to take off or when you’ve just landed, so
let’s look at how they work.
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
federal aviation regulations or as part of random surveillance. It is the FAA’s policy not
to conduct random ramp checks at organized aviation events, although an 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. If an inspector approaches you at your aircraft, be aware that a
ramp inspection is being done and that there may be a reason for it. The FAA inspector
is expected to have credentials and to be able to show them to you, so ask to see them.
Then, 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, registration certificate, radio 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 will ask to see it. If you happen to have the aircraft
logbooks with you, then the inspector may ask to review them. If you are carrying logbooks with you, make sure they are up to date.
The inspector may hold and review the documentation, and may even make copies
on a portable printer, but the inspector must return the documentation to you promptly.
The inspector does not have authority to confiscate your certificates or ground the aircraft, and the inspector should conduct the inspection in a manner that avoids any delay
to your flight. The inspector will likely walk around the aircraft, in the nature of a preflight inspection. He or she may ask permission to board your aircraft to check placards
and charts inside the aircraft. If the inspector notices anything amiss during the ramp
inspection, the inspector is to communicate his or her observations to you.
When members of the AOPA Legal Services Plan/Pilot Protection Services call about
a ramp inspection, I advise them to 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 Federal Aviation Regulations, 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.
There is always a chance you may be ramp checked at random when you are out flying, and chances are that the ramp check will be a double check that your certificates
and the aircraft documentation are in order. That is, you are doing your job as the pilot
of the aircraft and the FAA is doing its job in making sure of our compliance.
To learn more about the Pilot Protection Services program, visit www.aopa.org/pps.
Kathy Yodice is an aviation attorney for AOPA’s Pilot Protection Services and Legal Services Plan. She has
assisted AOPA members for more than 13 years and is a former FAA attorney. She owns a Piper Cherokee 180
and has been a pilot since 1994.

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Flight Training - May 2013

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