Alternator failure on take off and the FAA

[aaronk25]

So departed Rochester MN IFR two days ago in beautiful weather when the JPI 830 got real upset and indicated a electrical discharge instead of charging. Told KRST departure I had a charging issue and needed to return to airport. They asked if I needed to declare a emergency, to which I responded negative just be advised radio may not work on way in ( I was 30 miles out). So slowed and dropped the gear, so I wouldn't have to crank it down if the battery died and left the flaps up.

No issue. Did get a call from the FAA Fsdo the following day asking me to send them a pic of my log book correcting the issue ASAP.

I called the tower asking why the FAA called me or how they even knew? They said it got recorded as a "occurrence" in their tower log report which gets forwarded to the Fsdo at close of business for the day.

Sure seems like alot of "job justifying" going on. I called AOPA and they said I have to comply with the FAA requests because there was an occurrence.

In the future unless its a emergency I'm not giving a reason. This government is getting ridiculous. .

[N601RX]

There was also another incident on here about a year ago where someone reported a small bird strike that left a small dent in the tail.  The FAA showed up and the plane was grounded until Mooney blessed the plane as being airworthy.

[bd32322]

Great ! Lets make pilots think 3 times before declaring an emergency

[Rwsavory]

I'm always amazed to read about the government regulating aviation.  Who knew?

[Jeff_S]

So we understand, the request from the FAA was for you to send a picture of the airframe logbook where whatever problem  you had is now fixed...is that correct? That is an interesting one. I had a total electrical system failure on my first ever, pre-PPL long x-country where I had to land at a towered airport using their handheld light signals. Never got a call from anyone about that.

[1964-M20E]

About a year ago I was leaving KNEW on an IFR plan when my vacuum pump failed.  I told ATC I was returning due to vacuum pump failure.  They asked if I wanted to declare an emergency I told them no since it was mostly VMC conditions.  Returned and landed with no issues and I never heard anything from anyone on the issue.

[KSMooniac]

They have funds for make-work BS like this, but not for some busy control towers... go figure.  Anyone want to venture a guess as to the union status of the bureaucrat that processed this occurrence?  

[aviatoreb]

They have funds for make-work BS like this, but not for some busy control towers... go figure.  Anyone want to venture a guess as to the union status of the bureaucrat that processed this occurrence?  

 

+1

[N201MKTurbo]

I would tell them that if they wanted to see my log book they can meet me at my convenience, at my place.

[N201MKTurbo]

And any A&P can sign off an alternator repair, it doesn't require the FAAs blessing.

[danb35]

No, no reason to need the FAA's "blessing" at all.  The way I read it, they're just saying, "sorry you had a problem, let us know when it's fixed."  Sounds pretty reasonable, and straightforward, to me.

[Marauder]

I remember this kind of behavior from the FAA back when the Class system replaced ARSA, TRSA, control areas. They seemed to be on watch for people who had transponder issues. I remember receiving a letter confirming my intermittent altitude reporting transponder was repaired.

[jetdriven]

Control towers put in their tower log any occurrence such as this, since he was on an IFR flight plan, thats probably what triggered it.  Remember, if it was low IFR or below minimums an alternator failure could be a serious emergency.  Airlines are watched even more carefully. A rejected takeoff or even entering the runway and not taking off, triggers an occurence. The FAA then asks what happened, and it usually ends there.

 

Letters of Investigation are another, more serious, matter.