What’s worse than having your pride-and-joy destroyed in an accident? Obliterating it yourself… on purpose. Welcome to the world of 21st century liability concerns. The real losers: our children. Read more →
Category: Law
Big Brother is Watching
As pilots, it’s worth remembering that virtually all aircraft contain computerized devices, even if they’re just portable ones. They’re everywhere, and they record things that can come back to haunt us later. Read more →
The Double Standard
A guy intentionally fires multiple shotgun blasts at a landing biplane and gets a year of probation for it. I can’t help but wonder what the penalty would be if it was a car instead of an aircraft. Could it be that we have a double standard here? Read more →
FAA Proposes Class D Airspace at LAX
Analysis of a confusing proposal from the FAA to add Class D airspace to Los Angeles International Airport. Read more →
A Carb-Free Future
The general aviation fleet is put at risk by the loss of a major parts supplier. The reason? Product liability concerns. Read more →
Charts: Are They Required?
Is it legal to fly without charts? With very few exceptions, the surprising answer for VFR or IFR is actually “yes”. Read more →
Just Drop Off the Key, Lee
It seems that Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca thinks he’s above the law. Normally he’d be right. But Baca’s department demonstrated a custom designed unmanned surveillance drone to the media last week. The problem? They ignored written counsel from the Federal Aviation Administration, which had told the Sheriff’s Department that flying the drone would require certification from the Feds… Read more →
This Verdict Was Made For Walking
I’d be the last person to defend Michael Jackson (or his music). But he went free because those who testified against him had serious credibility problems that the prosecutor couldn’t overcome. Jackson has plenty of credibility issues of his own, which is more than enough to convict him at the office watercooler. But in American courtrooms, the onus is on… Read more →
A Modest Proposal
I hope Ken Lay, Dennis Kozlowski, Bernie Ebbers, and others of their ilk are reading this. BEIJING (Reuters) – China executed four people, including employees of two of its Big Four state-owned banks, for fraud totaling $15 million, the state Xinhua news agency said Tuesday. The executions occurred in the midst a high-profile government campaign against financial crime. They followed… Read more →
Van Nuys Courthouse Shooting
Between the ambulance chasers, frivolous lawsuits, corporate maneuvering, high finance, and other big dollar areas of our society which are controlled by attorneys, it’s no wonder that dead lawyer jokes are as common as peanuts on a Southwest 737. It’s understandable. Consider our nation’s finest minds, our most brilliant and highly educated physicians. These are people have worked their way… Read more →