The entire aviation infrastructure is held together with duct tape and glue. IT systems that haven’t been inspected in 40 years, which is about the time it takes to update anything (if it’s updated at all). The FAA still subscribes to Freudian psychology. Everyone lies on their medical exam because if you say you have ever been depressed at any point in your life you get disqualified unless you feel like going through a years-long expensive administrative battle that you probably won’t win. The written exams still reference outdated concepts that were removed from textbooks 20 years ago, and the only way you would know the answer is by getting a copy of an out-of-print obscure government publication, or do what everyone else does and pay a company hundreds of dollars for their exam prep material and rote memorize the answers. They have been promising to update the questions for 20 years. You can’t take your practical exams with the government, you have to go through a private contractor appointed by the local branches through nepotism. The examiners know each other and maintain artificial scarcity (there are 935 examiners in the entire country, however only 350 are generally available to the public, and you schedule a test by calling their personal number and hoping they pick up.) Right now it’s about a 4 month wait for a test slot on average. Average is about $1000 per test (if you live in a busier area, can be $1500-$2000), and examiners can do 2 tests a day. They take cash and don’t report it so it’s tax-free income they get to milk from students (they are informally exempt from IRS audits because the FAA goes to bat for them).
The dough is stretched so thin it might as well be a window. And it’s starting to rupture.
It gets to a point where it causes something and then it’s too late to do anything. Pilot makes a mistake, pilot dies. Controller makes a mistake, pilot dies. Mechanic makes a mistake, pilot dies. Manufacturer makes a mistake, pilot dies. Company makes a mistake, pilot dies. When you sign the release you just have to take their word that they didn’t fuck up.
Love your aviation posts
Just terrible the state of disrepair all of our infrastructure is in
The entire aviation infrastructure is held together with duct tape and glue. IT systems that haven’t been inspected in 40 years, which is about the time it takes to update anything (if it’s updated at all). The FAA still subscribes to Freudian psychology. Everyone lies on their medical exam because if you say you have ever been depressed at any point in your life you get disqualified unless you feel like going through a years-long expensive administrative battle that you probably won’t win. The written exams still reference outdated concepts that were removed from textbooks 20 years ago, and the only way you would know the answer is by getting a copy of an out-of-print obscure government publication, or do what everyone else does and pay a company hundreds of dollars for their exam prep material and rote memorize the answers. They have been promising to update the questions for 20 years. You can’t take your practical exams with the government, you have to go through a private contractor appointed by the local branches through nepotism. The examiners know each other and maintain artificial scarcity (there are 935 examiners in the entire country, however only 350 are generally available to the public, and you schedule a test by calling their personal number and hoping they pick up.) Right now it’s about a 4 month wait for a test slot on average. Average is about $1000 per test (if you live in a busier area, can be $1500-$2000), and examiners can do 2 tests a day. They take cash and don’t report it so it’s tax-free income they get to milk from students (they are informally exempt from IRS audits because the FAA goes to bat for them).
The dough is stretched so thin it might as well be a window. And it’s starting to rupture.
It gets to a point where it causes something and then it’s too late to do anything. Pilot makes a mistake, pilot dies. Controller makes a mistake, pilot dies. Mechanic makes a mistake, pilot dies. Manufacturer makes a mistake, pilot dies. Company makes a mistake, pilot dies. When you sign the release you just have to take their word that they didn’t fuck up.