My friends are selling their partially completed Vans RV-7A kit. Located near Seattle, WA is a complete Vans RV-7A slider kit with no laser cut parts, numerous
upgrades, and more than 1000 hours of labor put into the construction.
It’s at a point where you
could finish the cabin, mate the canopy, stand it up on gear, and then move on to avionics or
your engine. It comes with the following:
All plans: (e.g. instructions and engineering drawings) Empennage kit: build complete. Horizontal stabilizer and elevators mated to the fuselage. Vertical stabilizer and rudder need to be attached to the kit.
The electric trim kit has not been
installed, and no fiberglass work has been completed, but all of the parts are included. Wing Kit: build complete. Conduit run. The landing (Duckworks) and position lights have not
been installed. No fiberglass work has been completed. All the parts are included.
Fuselage Kit: mostly complete. The fuselage kit is at a point where the cabin group needs to be
finished, and the wings need to be mated.
Finishing Kit: no work has been done with any of the parts of the finishing kit. Once the cabin
group is complete and the wings are mated, removed, and set aside, you’ll be able to install the
roll bars and mate the canopy to the fuselage. And then put it on gear.
The engine mount is for
an O/IO 360/375.
I asked why they were selling. The owner said, "Although building is deeply satisfying, I have too many competing priorities
(e.g. family, work, volunteering, flying and maintaining other airplanes). I don’t need to sell, but I
would like this kit to find a home with a builder that can dedicate the time to completing the
project, and enjoy the finished product."
I won't part out the kit. Everything will be sold together. I’m also happy to help you load it up, but I expect you to handle shipping or
transportation of the kit to your preferred location.
This is a great opportunity for a
motivated builder to get a jump start on finishing a Vans RV kit.
A year ago at the Western Washington Aviation Conference I met a delightful couple with two amazing children. The kids each went home with one of the children's books and then this fall, I attended their school and read the Happy Plane to the students. Amazing connections came from that conference. When I heard they wanted to sell their family plane, I offered to share that here because she is a beauty and needs a good home. Due to their busy life and two growing children, they just don't find themselves flying her much as they did. She is a clean, beautiful airplane, with a fascinating history.
N349RF began life on Mactan Island off the coast of Cebu in the Philippines where she was manufactured as a fast build kit—serial number ES-102-FB. Built by a Boeing engineer, and his building partner, he wanted additional range. Therefore, he called upon coworkers at The Boeing Company to model out and flutter test wing tanks that extended past the ribs of the Lancair's existing wing design. The testing showed stable flight characteristics, so he built this ES with "50 gallon" tanks. He shared his engineering data with Lancair and they later incorporated his design into future kits.
The construction of N349RF and the required hours for phase one were complete, along with DAR sign off, in 2003. At some point the primary builder sold the airplane to his build partner. Unfortunately, the build partner passed away, and the Boeing engineer repurchased the aircraft in an estate sale. The original owner / builder cared for and maintained N349RF until 2017 when he once again decided to sell the aircraft.
The aircraft was then purchased by a retired airline pilot, turned Seattle realtor, who possessed a love of restoring wooden boats and airplanes. The new owner began a modernization project that included overhauling the engine (i.e. Poplar Grove Airmotive) and propeller (i.e. Tiffin Aire), as well as installing a new interior (i.e. Douglass Interior), and avionics (i.e. SteinAir).
Unfortunately the new owner passed away, unexpectedly, in the early stages of the modernization project. The widow worked with Galvin Flying in Seattle on Boeing Field - KBFI, to reinstall the overhauled engine and propeller, as well as the new interior. She worked with Duncan Avionics to remove the old panel and install the new panel.
The current owner was based at Boeing Field and had seen N349RF. He immediately fell in love with her sleek lines, but never thought anything of it. In 2021 he saw her on the ramp again and decided to do a little digging. To his delight he discovered she was for sale, so he bought her.
N349RF was very much a “90% complete, 90% of the way to go” project when he purchased her. She possessed a long list of squawks spanning engine, electrical and avionics. He knew this going in, and didn’t mind, since he had experience with avionics and maintenance from the US Air Force, and had been caring for a Vans RV-6A.
Over the course of the next couple of years the current he worked through the punch list of squawks. Some of the projects included:
Troubleshooting and resolving inoperative turbochargers, so he could make full power at FL180 - 220KTAS WOT and mixture rich. Lots of fun, but burned way too much fuel
Replacing the Garmin GMA 340 audio panel with a Garmin GMA 245 with bluetooth, USB charging, 3D audio and playback functionality.
Troubleshooting and repairing the Garmin autopilot system anomalies (e.g. chaffed wiring), so that he'd be able to shoot GPS coupled approaches down to minimums in IMC.
Simplifying the transponder configuration, by replacing the Garmin GTX 330ES.
(ADSB-out only) with a Garmin GTX 45R (ADSB-in/out) and using the Garmin GDL 52 solely for Sirius XM radio and weather.
Adding a second Garmin GDU 460 to the panel.
Simplifying the electrical system that included 2 separate battery buses, with 2 heavy lead acid batteries, but only 1 main electrical and 1 avionics bus. The current system has 1 battery bus with 1 Earthx battery and a primary and secondary alternator.
Replacing the primary alternator with a new one that is more consistent.
Overhauling the fuel divider that began to leak.
Making baffling modifications to help with engine cooling.
Balancing the prop.
Configuring the unmetered and metered fuel pressure and flow per TCM manuals.
"N349RF is our family airplane. When she’s not resting in our hangar, we use her to access the Pacific Northwest. What’s possible? We can drive to Bend or Sunriver OR in 5-6 hours, or we can fly there in slightly more than 1 hour. We can fly from Seattle to Bozeman, MT in less than 3 hours, or drive there in 10.5. Wine country? No problem. We can fly to Walla Walla in an hour, or down to Sonoma in 2 and a half hours. This airplane puts family adventures on steroids. We have 2 girls and our whole family flew from Seattle to Raleigh and back last summer, along with weeks worth of baggage."
"We love N349RF, but we realize we are not the flying family we originally envisioned. We don’t fly as often as this beautiful bird deserves. We put in a ton of work to make this plane turnkey for the next owner. Everything is ready for you to load up, hop in and fly away. We hope you enjoy her as much as we have!"
Enjoy the Journey! And check out this plane. She needs a new home that will love her as she has been throughout her life.
When the legal system doesn't hold anyone accountable, someone must take justice into their own hands. The 8th Novel in the Flight For Series is released. Flight For Revenge. And those deserving characters are being disposed of, one by one.
I'm now revealing the truth and what's gone before to help you win $1000. For those who don't know, I wrote novels throughout my ordeal with Delta. They were fiction based on truth, but exposing realities. In those novels I had to include murder, sex and a sinister plot because nobody would believe the truth could actually happen with an airline like Delta. Now, that truth is being exposed. However, I thought Revenge would be the only fully fictionalized novel, but I was wrong. There is too much truth in the pages. Therefore, I am running a contest for one of my lucky readers to win $1000. You don't have to have all the answers, just the have the most correctanswers.
November Clue:
Dr. Marsh, in the novel, is inspired by Dr. Faulkner, Delta’s in house doctor. If you want to know what is true about Dr. Marsh’s character in the novel, read Dr. Faulkner’s deposition testimony here. Each fictional character was dealt with in a manner befitting to them and their behavior. Read both Flight For Revenge and the deposition, and those truths will be revealed.
You can also read the novels Flight For Discovery and Flight For Justice, to confirm more truths. All Trial and Deposition Testimony is verbatim. More truth than you can imagine and it could help you win the contest.
Previous Clues:
September: All Revenge in this book is fiction.
October: If you want to know my favorite Bourbon, Kathryn and Josh drink it.
Check out the Bookstore to get your autographed copy!
HIMS was a 1974 study to research military pilots with respect to alcohol abuse who would become airline pilots. This HIMS research transitioned into an assistance program. Today, however, this program has shifted from helping pilots to a money-making pilot abuse program that has enabled a medical industry to extort money from airman. Doctors assert airman have a substance abuse disorder, whether they do or not, and then threaten their airline careers if they don’t participate in the program, forcing them to pay exorbitant amounts of money and time to retain their career.
The Pilots for HIMS Reform (P4HR) group is working to end this abuse, but they need your assistance.
If you have fallen victim to HIMS, you are not alone. Pilots for HIMS reform is trying to fix the problems, which are many. But they need to show the current reports of system abuse are not isolated cases.
Current Reports Indicate
Dr. David B Altman
There is no FAA oversight. Instead, the FAA has abdicated their accountability to HIMS AMEs.
To put this into perspective, the once leading HIMS AME doctor, Dr. David B. Altman, who testified in a court of law that he conducted more pilot evaluations than any other doctor, forfeited his medical license to avoid prosecution. Altman had accepted $74,000 from Delta Air Lines in exchange for providing a false diagnosis against me. Three years of my effort but one dirty doctor was gone.
HIMS AME Dr. Chien, stated, “Doctors can be bought” and “This is a dirty business.” Chien also told me he was an anesthesiologist and quit to become a HIMS AME because he could make more money. Dr. Alan Kozarsky is a trained ophthalmologist who is acting as a HIMS AME for Delta. Faulkner, is managing his own emotions with long-term anti-depressant use.
Unfortunately, airlines and unions use the HIMS program to control pilots while bastardizing the HIMS process. Any doctor can become an HIMS AME without any additional training. Dr. Faulkner testified in court that all they must do is attend a four-day conference. Well, at least that’s what he did. Yes, alcohol is involved at these seminars. Not for research but for consumption by the doctors at the end of the day.
Airline management sets arbitrary standards such as random thresholds for PEth or ETG testing. Airlines also require far greater monitoring than required by regulatory standards, and they force pilots to sign contracts, that are not required by the FAA. Where is the union? They are participating in this fraud.
When a pilot enters an airline’s HIMS program, the airline controls the pilot with the threat of medical certificate revocation, something they should have no control over. The HIMS contracts restrict the pilot’s ability to use sick leave, and the company threatens pilots when they call in fatigue, write up maintenance, etc. Airline management uses this program for control.
Airline management also uses the “HIMS contract” to terminate pilots who are not “compliant” with that contract, of which is outside the Pilot Working Agreement (PWA). Compliant can be subjective. One pilot faced consequences that he was not "working a good program" despite evidence that he never drank. Pilots have no job protection under the HIMS program despite what the union touts, and instead they expose themselves to arbitrary termination.
An entire industry is profiting from HIMS. Psychiatrist, rehabilitation centers, group therapy providers, and individual medical providers are all profiting by forcing pilots to jump through ambiguous hoops. Some of those pilots don’t even have a “substance use disorder” but are coerced into the program for other reasons than drinking. Many are forced by their union. Why? The union profits from this program too. While airlines reimburse some pilots for their medical expenses, there is no recouping the extensive time lost in their lives. I know of two pilots who quit the job because the program itself. One said it would have cost him his marriage. The HIMS program is a non-paid full-time job.
The linchpin in all this is the AME who is forcing pilots into psychiatric referrals. While the FAA does not use medical standards for the HIMS program, the AME and psychiatrists at the rehabilitation centers write insurance codes requiring proper medical standards. There exists a huge medical disconnect.
HOW YOU CAN HELP
If you, or anyone you know, was pressured into attending MARR (Maine Association Recovery Residences) or any other addiction recovery center, or if your AME has taken liberties with undue and arbitrary requirements, high expenses, or in any other manner harmed you, you can help by sharing your details.
Examples of the information requested:
Your position and where you work. Example, Pilot at Delta, or pilot at major airline.
Who told you to go into the HIMS program? (AME, Union, Management, FAA)
What happened that forced you into the program?
Who forced you to see a psychiatrist? (AME, Union, Airline management, FAA)
Was any pressure applied to join the HIMS program?
Were you coerced into seeing a psychiatrist?
Were you coerced into admittance into MARR or another treatment center?
What is your current medical status?
Was any employment action taken?
What were your out-of-pocket expenses?
All Documents you can share, such as letters, emails, notes, even invoices will be much appreciated. You will remain anonymous, unless you're mad enough to share your story. We understand those still employed, need anonymity. Do not believe that your story is unique and they will figure out who you are, too many, too much of the same, will protect you. This is simply data collection to prove the numbers.
This week Dylan Phillips reached out asking for help. His school, South Kitsap High School, is in the finals of the T-Mobile competition! They won the first two prizes and now we can help them win the big prize of a $1,000,000 dollar stadium makeover and an all expense paid trip for selected school representatives to the 2025 SEC Championship game!
All you need to do is Scan the Link below or go to the website HERE and enter your email and click vote. I voted on the scan. My husband at the website. Both worked great. And, you can vote each day.
Dylan said, "Our school has put their blood sweat and tears into this competition getting us to were we are now. We all have put so much effort in because this money would make a huge impact. We have youth soccer teams, youth football teams, youth cheer teams, and all of our high school teams using this stadium. This infusion of funds would help the community in so many ways."
The current stadium has no cover. The impact of that in the middle of winter in Washington State with parents, families, friends, and fans of band, cheer, dance and football as well as all other sports, suffer in the rain. Let's help make dreams come through.
I'm giving my car away as a gift to say THANK YOU to my readers. Tonight I drew the name. While there could only be one winner of the car, you are all winners in my heart. Therefore, I will be running another contest soon and giving away $1000, for all those who read the books and want to play Fact or Fiction and What has gone before. I will provide a clue each month. Details coming soon.
THIS is a Classic. And I will draw one lucky winner!!!
I am giving my car away on August 31st!
Five days remaining in to get your entry in. Learn more about the car here. It's a collectors item (or will be soon). So, if you're in need of some summer reading, checkout the bookstore. Every purchase gets an entry because I am thanking my readers! If you read on Kindle, just send me your info that you bought it, and I'll add you into the contest!
From now until the drawing, anyone who purchases all the novels will get an extra 10 entires (17 total... unless you buy revenge then 18. If you want to purchase all of them and gift them to someone this Christmas, while you win the car), go to Flight To Success blog. (shipping is smarter on the blog than the website. But if you buy more than one on the website, I will refund your shipping that goes over the actual.) You can also pre-buy the newest book Flight For Revenge. I think it's my favorite. And I'm going to be running a contest for those who read all and will be giving $1000 as the grand prize.
There Are Seven Novels
Number Eight Is Complete
Available for pre-orders:
Flight For Revenge, When there is no Justice.I'm also going to be giving a $1000 away for those who read the books with a contest to guess what is "fact or fiction" in the newest novel:
If are reading and hoping to win the car, you want to get one more entry in before the drawing and pre-order flight... Flight For Revenge, When there is no Justice You'll get an entry now for a thank you... the book will be available November 2025. But Sunday you could have a chance to win the car!
If Novels are not for you... I thank all those who are purchasing the Non-fiction too!! And You'll get an entry. Even audible or Ebook... send me the proof of order and you're in.
All the novels that have gone before were based on truth, with real accidents, real events, and real people whose names were changed to protect my job. There was more truth than fiction in all of them. I had anticipated that Flight For Revenge would be the only book that would be 100% non-fiction.
I was wrong!
SPOILER ALERT: Only one of the bodies in this novel was at the pointy end of a knife. I call him shark bate. The others' demise were all far more creative. Death, torture, and gaslighting. Psychological torture as well as physical. I suspect a few of the characters might have wished for death instead of what they experienced. Who thinks this stuff up? Oh. Wait. I did!
When there is no Justice,
There is Revenge!
Warning Airline Management:
Beware! If you falsely accuse a pilot of mental instability, you might just might get what you ask for. When Global Air Lines called Darby crazy, they pulled her from duty. When they paid a doctor $74,000 to make her bipolar, the union told her that her career was over. While she never lost her medical, the airline prohibited her from flying. Even when the Mayo Clinic stepped in.
Darby Bradshaw embarrassed Global Air Lines in court, with win of the century. But they didn't learn their lesson. The airline appealed. She fought back. Then management escalated this game of chess to the highest level. Nobody is held accountable. Passenger safety be damned. Laws and regulations that are supposed to protect the public are worthless. When the legal system is a toothless tiger, and the FAA looks the other way then it's time to take action.
While Global's appeal is in process, all those who participated in Darby's demise are being dealt with. One by one they are eliminated. This is a thriller that reads like a mystery. And the most fun "who done it" book you will ever read. Why is it fun? Because the bad guys get what they deserve, exactly how they deserve their punishment. What do you get? A great read! And a chance to win $1000.
YOUR CHANCE TO WIN $1000
All you have to do is read all the novels. Then, when you read Flight For Revenge, you will be asked to tell me all the facts that were in the previous books now brought forth in revenge. And then identify all the facts in the novels that are true. The person with the "most" facts correct will win $500. If you get them all, you win $1000. If there is a tie, then we'll do a drawing. Final details will come when Flight For Revenge is released. For now, read the books! Be ready. And pay attention. Take notes on what you believe to be true.
Order all the books off the Flight To Success blog, as a package deal. Hardback on the top left margin, and paper on the right. Or go to KarlenePetitt.com bookstore and buy them individually. More so, if you order them before August 31, 2025 you will enter a chance to win a car. Details Here. More you buy, the more chances you have to win. You can also order via kindle, and just let me know that you purchased them and I'll add your name to the drawing for the car.
A couple days ago I received yet another letter with concerns regarding aviation safety. This came shortly after a Delta check airman voiced his concerns that Delta had changed their A330 manuals to an FCOM without adequate training. An FCOM is compilation of all manuals into one, where the information is difficult to access. I'm told all the company did was provide some online information, with plans to train everyone how to use it when they arrive to recurrent. The concern is, those who won't see recurrent for another 9 months will be using a product they have not been trained on.
I used the FCOM for the first time on the A350, and navigating the manual was more difficult than learning the systems. The explanation provide to me was we should select the tab per our knowledge level. If you know a great deal, select one tab for abbreviated information. If you average knowledge you could select a second tab that provided a little more information. If you had no clue, select the third tab to get a full explanation. But what if you don't know what you don't know? Gone are the good old days of looking up the systems in a systems manual. The reality is, this manual is a technicality now, more so than a useable product.
"Nobody knows where to go to find information"
Anonymous Pilot
Then another check airman wrote his concerns of the "One size fits all" door policy. Apparently the flight attendants wanted a universal policy for the door procedures. Inflight told flight operations to make it happen. Flight operations is doing just that, despite the A350 and a B737 being complete different configurations, and some (many) pilots are objecting.
Below is the letter I recently received. Should we be concerned with what's happening in this industry? I'm curious if this is ongoing at other airlines, too.
Dear Karlene,
Here are just a few things that have me highly concerned about going to work these days. These things are leading me to believe Delta is headed for a major accident. I’m not sure if this happening at other airlines but I feel the industry is headed in the wrong direction. I am not sure what to do. Any suggestions? Anything reported to Delta is all for the public and FAA show and is total hypocrisy.
Abysmal E-QRH roll out. Trained via QCQ last fall. Delayed because daddy D crashed the server putting their hands on it. Memory items change with little notice.
MCC in ATL is ignoring maintenance messages sent from the onboard aircraft reporting systems. Writing up a discrepancy under an improper MEL to keep the aircraft on time.
MCC giving out MELs before troubleshooting.
MCC have improper understanding of a malfunctioning aircraft system and therefore testing it improperly which leads to a cannot duplicate problem (eg. improperly checking a pressure regulating bleed valve with the APU…here’s a hint…you can’t properly check operation without running and engine.)
There is an incentive program for MCC in at least ATL that pays more for on-time departures. This has been verified with a former person from Tech Ops.
ATC:
Lying about weather and rides (eg. IAH lying about the ride through moderate and extreme precipitation calling it smooth then changing it to occasional moderate turbulence once you’re in it) it caused one of our aircraft to be hit by lightning.
Dispatch playing games with fuel and weather. (Eg. I have heard stories of them trying to bargaining fuel with the PIC on international flights…trying to give them 500LBS of fuel when they requested more.
STRESS
Failing to comply with paying people for overtime properly and then initially denying the claim. Verified from the Union.(It’s wage theft) And causes too much stress.
Crew tracking editing times to make people legal for duty…(eg. changing or not changing estimates in times for legal FAA rest).
Pam will bring all my books to life. She is the most amazingly talented woman in so many ways. To learn more about her and read her much deserved testimonials you can find her at The Captain’s Voice.
This is a book that provides insight, wisdom, and legal education for any dispute. But more so, it will help improve aviation safety by making it safe for employees to speak out and improve operational performance. You, as the frontline employee, know what needs to be done to improve safety, maintenance, operational performance and so much more. When those in management don’t want to listen because money trumps safety, you need to protect yourself.
While you never think you’ll lose an engine, you train for it regardless. This is your training. But also, there is a chapter on how to survive emotionally and save your mental health when the attack tries to steal it.
With every order you have the ability to win a car. Email me if you download the audible book or purchase the kindle so I’ll know to add you to the contest. If you buy off my website, I will automatically add your name. DETAILS HERE The drawing is getting closer! And we should have three more Audible books coming your way before we give away the car.
I will still be keeping this site alive, because there are over 12 years of information is buried within. But, I don't want anyone to miss my posts... so here are some links to my writings.
Why is Delta trying to silence me? Well, because I am deeply concerned that James Graham, one of the two individuals I provided the safety report to in 2016, who subsequently paid a doctor to silence me, was promoted to CEO at Endeavor and exactly what I told him was going to happen has. You can read more on: Miracle at Toronto.
More than that, I have read two incredible memoirs:
“Any landing you walk away from is a good landing”
might be wrong.
I’m surprised that anyone survived this crash, but I am not surprised that this event happened. This was not an “if” but a “when.” This was a training issue that resulted in pilot error. Fast, no flare, they slammed into the runway. But if we don't properly train pilots to land in strong winds, or how to identify when to go around, or how to do so, because that might cut into executives profit, then we failed these pilots.
Why has Nobody Interviewed the CEO
Captain James Graham?
Endeavor Air CEO James Graham
Substandard Training
In 2008 Delta and Northwest merged. In 2009 they formed a single operating certificate. In 2010, I experienced my first Delta training checkride, where the instructor did not give the federally required oral. He sat in the back of the simulator and texted instead of paying attention to the “new to” A330 pilots. He did not even give a debrief. He falsified training records. Why? Because as he said, “At Delta we have the power to do what we want.” He soon became a line check airman.
Meanwhile, in another Delta simulator a different instructor is telling Delta pilots, “Stop asking questions, be the monkey, hit the lever, get the banana.” Delta even provides answers to the written tests, computerized now, for rote memorization. To pass the test however, sometimes you have to answer incorrectly, because the test is wrong. Their training manuals for years said the Airbus A330 had a stick shaker. It does not.
Pilots who flow up to mainline Delta and cannot pass this training are allowed to return to their same captain position, at Endeavor. While I can only attest to facts of Delta’s substandard training to first-hand experience and trial testimony, I only have hearsay as to how bad Endeavor’s training is. The FAA will have to investigate that. But there is the problem.
Effort to Improve Safety
In 2014 I returned to school to earn a doctoral degree in aviation focused on Safety to figure out what the hell was going on at Delta. I learned of SMS and realized that Delta’s processes were violating Federal Regulations, and that substandard training led to the lack of understanding that resulted in accidents. During my defense, a professor said, “What do you think they will do now?” as a result of my findings. “They” being management and the FAA. But the FAA already knew, and management refused to invest in training and the FAA looked the other way.
In 2015 I heard Delta’s CEO, Richard Anderson at the time, speak on safety and reporting that conflicted with the Delta culture. Therefore, I requested a meeting with senior executives, Captain Steve Dickson and Captain James Graham to discuss my concerns. In 2015, Graham put in writing that he planned to send me into a psychiatric evaluation after our meeting went through. In 2016, four months later, Graham and Dickson met with me. Two months after that, they enacted the hit to have me removed, in the exact manner Graham had said that he would.
Safety Concerns
During trial, March 20, 2019, Captain James Graham, Delta’s SVP of flight operations at the time, not only perjured himself on multiple accounts during trial, but he proudly testified, “And Flight Operations, specifically, our ASAP program now has, for the year 2018, we were just over 25,000 reports that were brought forward from our pilot group!” That is not a metric to be proud of.
In my report to captains Dickson and Graham, I expressed my deep concern that pilots could not fly based upon what Captain Dempsey, Delta’s Chair, Human Factors Working Group, told me. He had departed an airport heading to Atlanta, but he lost his auto flight system on takeoff. Dempsey continued to fly to Atlanta, but requested a block altitude, meaning the pilot is unable to fly a specific altitude so they need more airspace. He also flew into RVSM airspace, an altitude that requires an autopilot due to close separation of 1000 feet from other traffic. Upon arrival, Dempsey declared an emergency because ATC refused to provide a block altitude for their arrival phase. He used the emergency card for something that was not an emergency. The Training Department used this as an example of “workload management” and created a training video telling pilots to declare an emergency if they, too, lose their auto flight system.
The problems with this video were many. The FAA and office of inspector general were working to convince pilots to hand fly due to an endemic loss of hand-flying skills. However, this training video stated that hand-flying was an emergency procedure. The worst part of all this was I reached out to Dempsey about this event, and he told me that, “Delta as a group, cannot fly Level 0, nor can we fly Level 4, so says ASAP.” Level 0 is when there’s no automation engaged, complete manual flight, and that would be no flight director, auto thrust, autopilot. Level 4 is a fully automated aircraft. Delta did not train their pilots but suggested they declare an emergency if they lost their autopilot.
Dempsey emailed me that a Delta Boeing 737 on final in ATL in IMC, meaning they were in the clouds, and at 700 feet the pilots decide to go around but hit the auto throttle button instead of go-around button and the flight director stayed in approach mode. Neither pilot noticed that the pitch was 3 degrees and power was at 56% N1 power, those were not the pitch and power settings for a go around. They should have been approximately 12 degrees up and 90% power. Dempsey said that they didn’t even have the situational awareness to look beyond the flight director and recognize something was wrong. They got to 186 feet, with over 2,000 feet per minute descent, before going around, as the warning systems wailed in the background. Passengers on that flight came within seconds of dying.
Did these pilots attempt a go-around and push the wrong button? That might explain why they did not flare. I am not saying this is what happened, but the thought occurred to me rewriting this event. The NTSB will hopefully answer that question.
The Safety Presentation
Captain James Graham invited me to give a safety presentation as part of his ploy to have me removed, despite already having removed me for mental health concerns because I reported safety. I explained to Captain John Tovani, the director of training, at that presentation, that 90% of my concerns were training related. Yet Delta did nothing but pay a doctor $74,000 to diagnose me as bipolar. The short version of how this ended can be read in the Seattle Times article.
While Dickson was the FAA administrator, awaiting Delta’s appeal, the file regarding Delta’s violation of order for violating duty times regulations disappeared. I have the FOIA response that it existed, but the FAA sanitized Delta’s culpability. Dickson resigned within days of Delta losing their appeal.
Captain James Graham Credibility Assessment by ALJ Judge Morris:
“The Tribunal further questions the candor of Captain Graham’s testimony at various points and occasionally found his testimony to be incredible. In particular, the Tribunal gives little credit to his statements that Complainant’s safety report had no bearing on his decision to refer Complainant for a Section 15 evaluation.” (Decision and Order pg. 71).
“Tribunal accepts as proven—the many inconsistencies in his testimony between his deposition and his hearing testimony. Compl. Br. at 40-42. The sequence of events left the Tribunal with the impression that Captain Graham harbored little if any tolerance for criticism of the organization he ran, especially criticism from a line pilot like Complainant.” (Decision and Order pg. 71).
“The two key actors involved here are Captain Graham and Mr. Puckett. They were the parties moving the pieces in the chess game in which Complainant found herself an unwitting player.” (Decision and Order pg. 99)
Endeavor Air CEO, Captain James Graham
Endeavor Air CEO James Graham
Please answer the question.
How is it possible that Captain James Graham could possibly become Endeavor Air’s, Delta’s wholly owned subsidiary, CEO?
Pilot training under his leadership at Delta was substandard, and when a pilot tried to speak out, with an internal safety report, he violated federal regulations and retaliated. I never lost my first class medial, despite a bipolar diagnosis, but Dr. Altman forfeiting his medical license. Beating Delta in trial and appeal, Dickson retired early from the FAA. Yet how is Captain Graham allowed to be the CEO of Endeavor Air as a result of his actions?
No, I am not surprised that this Delta plane crashed in Toronto. I’m simply surprised that an accident has not happened sooner. The FAA is allowing Delta and Endeavor to do whatever they want to save money; training be damned. These pilots, while their error caused the crash, are every bit a victim to FAA approved substandard training. The CEO, Captain James Graham, and FAA are fully responsible.
In that nobody was held accountable at Delta for their retaliatory actions, despite their loss in federal court, including Graham, Dickson and the Delta CEO, Ed Bastian, I wrote a book to help encourage employees to safely report, and how to use the law to protect themselves, Delta's Debacle, Legal Lessons Learned and Shared to Save your Career and Improve Safety. Safety is contingent upon employees reporting safety concerns.
I'm uncertain what else I can do, but enough is enough. If substandard training worldwide is not improved, then we will see more of these accidents. This time we got lucky, but safety should not be based upon luck.
Do not blame the pilots for accepting runway 33, as pilots daily accommodate runway change requests safely. Do not blame the helicopter pilots because they were doing training and human error is inevitable. Do not even blame the lights of the city, the night, night goggles, or a controller for managing two runways. These are all known and ongoing facts of daily operations. Blame the FAA! Why? That agency had the responsibility and authority to mitigate the risk in this environment, and despite multiple warnings they did nothing.
Below is a copy of the ICAO risk mitigation chart. Everyone can see that these operations into DCA would be in the red zone mandating a fix. They've always been in the red zone because we should never have had military operations conducting training and flying below passenger aircraft.
The FAA did not mitigate risk in this high risk environment, despite every message saying they should, and thus this accident happened. The question was never "if" it would happen, it was always "when" it would happen. The FAA rolled the dice on the profitability of airline operations over passenger safety. The passengers, crew, and all their families lost.
Our safety system is supposed to identify and reduce risk so accidents don't happen. In the past, we had a system that fixed the problem after we killed people, so it wouldn't occur again. Today we have systems in place to mitigate risk, to avoid the crash before we kill people, but the FAA does not enforce any of them.
History taught us that poor crew communications impacted safety, thus in 1990 CRM began. AQP became a methodology for training with a CRM focus. The 5th generation of CRM brought us Threat and Error Management. These regulations and programs identified our industry was working towards a positive safety culture. Without a positive safety culture, we do not have a safe environment. Then in 2015 came Safety Management Systems (SMS). But wait! Did you know that the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) introduced SMS to its annexes in 1980? It took the FAA 35 years to enact SMS in the United States. This federal regulation was not enacted until 2015, but airlines were not required to have one in place until 2018.
SMS is a federal regulation that mandates risk mitigation. Everyone in the organization is tasked to identify and report high-risk operations to those empowered to create change and reduce risk and avoid accidents. Unfortunately employees are retaliated against when they report safety concerns and their lives are subsequently destroyed. Even when the FAA knows of the violations, the employees still face adverse actions. While it's not the FAA's responsibility to defend pilots, it is their responsibility to protect the airspace! The FAA received ASAP reports and knew of the multiple near misses and yet they did nothing.
We know that that the Blackhawk helicopter hit the American Eagle Jet. We know that this was a checking event. We even know they were off altitude and course. The answers as to why the course and altitude irregularities, will (should) be disclosed after the accident investigation. I speculate that human error was involved. Human error is inevitable, and the reason we have implemented safety measures over the years, to help trap and capture those errors. While it appears the industry has been working to improve safety, unfortunately todays safety measures are nothing but smoke and mirrors.
CBS NEWS
Why is the FAA to Blame?
Because the FAA has an incestuous relationship with airline management. Many of those in FAA oversight also do not have a clue as to the new regulations or constraints of flying today. One FAA oversight inspector on Delta's certificate said, when I mentioned SMS and AQP, "I don't know what those are because I retired before they came into effect." That is scary. Regardless, the options as how to mitigate risk in this DCA environment were many, but they would have impacted the bottom line of airline operations. Therefore, status quo until death.
Until we prohibit the revolving door between airline management, the FAA, and the board of directors position, and find an FAA administrator who believes in life over money and doing the right thing, we will continue to play Russian Roulette with passengers lives.
Heartfelt Prayers to all
living with loss as a result of this crash.
My heartfelt prayers go out to the families of those lost in this accident. I will not allow your loved ones deaths to be in vain. I'm actually angry at what transpired because it could have been avoided if the FAA did its job. This is the very reason I spoke out in 2015, to fight for safety so accidents would not happen and I fought a legal battle for seven years to create change. (Petitt vs Delta, Seattle Times) Nobody was held accountable. No change was made. And the FAA looked the other way and even sanitized records of violations. There are a lot of good people working in the FAA, but they too are fearful for their jobs if they speak out. Something must be done. I took early retirement in 2023 so I could be a voice for safety, and I while we cannot bring your loved ones back, I will fight to make change happen.
I hope that every person will file a wrongful death lawsuit against the FAA. I have evidence of what I write here today and will provide as requested. We cannot bring your loved ones back, but we can create change together and ensure the pain you feel will never be experienced by anyone else.
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