sdondavis

I became a Designated Pilot Examiner circa 1984 in order to better serve our customers and offer a more reasonable evaluation than I believed possible at that time, plus it seemed the logical extension of my duties as Chief Instructor where I trained just as many pilots as I tested. Although I felt totally at ease with my ability to fairly critique the flying skills of others, I was keenly aware of the long term responsibility associated with certificating each pilot. More so than most I suppose because there were many times when I lost friends, co-workers, business associates, acquaintances, and former students; at least 25-30 people. Although none of these was a result of my instruction methods or testing there were valuable lessons to be learned from their misfortune and so I altered my teaching to prevent others from having similar accidents. Considering that only one of these accidents was mechanical failure (wing separation), the rest were pilot mistakes, and therefore preventabl...

Federal Aviation Administration abused it's authority by beginning an investigation having already concluded pilot error then contriving case against a US citizen. They "Investigate" by intimidation, innuendo, prejudice, misinterpretation, and misdirection. I was discriminated against because I asked about my rights and never was told, however, they did provide a brochure claiming THEIR rights to investigate and I would be treated fairly with emphasis on retraining versus suspension. Quite the opposite however, as there were many pointed questions asked during the initial interview and later during a conference call which were subsequently used as justification to suspend the examiner designation. Many irrelevant questions were asked as they probed for wrongdoing, referencing the secured engine, such as a 2kt crosswind, idling engine, generator/hydraulic pump location, and student capability should I become incapacitated on the single engine approach. Common tactic by FAA...

 For all my friends, students, customers, associates and interested parties I would like to explain the ongoing situation resulting from my accident in late February 2021. While instructing a private pilot in the multi engine airplane, we experienced an unresolvable mechanical problem that resulted in a landing with collapsed nose gear. Fortunately, there were no injuries however there was substantial damage to the aircraft that resulted in a personal loss to only myself. Air traffic controllers contacted the FAA, who immediately started making demands without due process of any nature. Student and myself were ordered to submit written statements, aircraft recovery personnel along with airport officials were asked to take and submit photos of the aircraft, tower controllers were interviewed and recorded tapes reviewed. I was never given the option to respond to their questions or given my rights, if any and although FAA inspectors consider me uncooperative, they did manage to fabri...