Why the FAA FSDO Fired DPE Ken Wittekiend - His Story - InTheHangar
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- Опубліковано 3 чер 2024
- (Please SUBSCRIBE) In October 2020, the San Antonio FSDO (Flight Standards District Office) terminated the appointment of a beloved and much respected Examiner in the Central Texas area- Ken Wittekiend. He joins Dan (@TakingOffDan) and Christy (@PilotChristy) to tell us what happened and what's going on as a result in the world of pilot examiners.
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![ПОЛНАЯ ИСТОРИЯ ЭКЗОРЦИЗМА [Топ Сикрет]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/qBySr6Bt0B8/mqdefault.jpg)
What an exceptional person. FAA should have been honored to have him. Says a lot.
The FAA is full of incompetent social Justice fools. I retired after 30 years because I could not stand it anymore. It’s full of people who know nothing, attend classes all day long on social issues and are in charge.
@@toddw6716 my thoughts exactly..
Basically, this is purely a case of being tried, convicted, and executed without cause or defense.
One person started a campaign, with enough clout or money, to ruin the reputation and income of another person.
Sadly, this is the exact situation shown in our government in Washington.
Thanks for sharing Ken's story.
To be terminated without so much as a warning, sanction, counseling, etc., is unconscionable. Just because it is in their "Right" to do so still doesn't MAKE it right.
Yeah,well, welcome to the "new friendly FAA". Some of you may be too young to remember when the FAA annonced that as their new slogan.
This is why so many aviators are afraid of the public eye. I've had a CFI that was afraid of a camera because of possible repercussions. How do we turn our short comings into teaching moments if we're afraid to talk about them. Sad the FAA doesn't see the asset they've lost with his termination.
I am privileged to have learned from legendary CFI, CFII, Tailwheel, Amphib; and "test prep instructors" in 30 years of GA. Ken, is the best, and clearly taught me how to fly my 75 year old tail wheel beauty safely. Ken's stories and experiences are so rich; yet, safety is number 1 with him.
Hello from Minnesota! What a tremendous loss to the FAA. But it sounds like he has found a niche that he enjoys that will benefit GA! It was a real pleasure to listen to him tell his story.
Fantastic interview. Great job Ken. Keep up the good work.
Probably the best TAKING OFF I have seen yet. Thank you.
Great video, Dan (and Christy)! I very much appreciate your passion and desire to have this wrong righted. Ken is a special guy and definitely deserves better. Thank you for giving him this opportunity to speak.
Excellent episode Dan and Christy, thank you. Dan, I could clearly see the frustration and emotions that you were experiencing through this interview. I agree 100% that this was not a reasonable action. Glad that Ken has found a silver lining to all of it. Keep up the great work, you guys are awesome. 🤘🇺🇸🛩️
One cannot measure the broad reaching effect of the wet blanket effect this action brings. ALL pilots are affected in their suspicion of the FAA in all dealings. The largest concern is the possible effects of reporting safety issues because of later retribution. The FAA is NOT a fiefdom! It is a group of federal employees who work on behalf of the public, and ARE accoountable to congress. I would not count out a congressional investigation on this case alone. It takes work, but with numbers of folks chiming in, it can be very effective. Ken is a really good man and his case needs to be heard, or the rep of the FAA slides much deeper into the slime. Good show!
You are sadly mistaken, thousands of aviation people have suffered badly under the FAA Fiefdom. It is truly sad that the AOPA,EAA and all the other aviation groups have not nagged Congress to fix the issue.
This guy is an absolute gem.
I'm very impressed by Ken and his approach here, including his interest in improving instruction from the experience and perspective of DPEs.
When one door closes another one opens. More opportunities have already began for you and I’m glad you’re enjoying yourself after this mess
I'm glad that you aired this out. What a sorry way for the FAA to behave. He didn't do anything wrong as far as I'm concerned. Shame on the SAT FSDO!
Good work Kem keep😃
I was also a DPE, and can attest to the unscrupulous, arbitrary and capricious attitude & actions of the FAA. My background: I was a career pilot, Part 121 Airline Pilot , Part 135 Pilot , CFII, A& P w/IA, Parts 121/135 CAT II & DPE & Part 121 DDE (Dispatcher Examiner), not all simultaneously. I also founded the 1st standardized Dispatch Cert. Course @ 30+ FlightSafety centers where I had also served as Pilot Examiner. Many of those Examiniing Authorities remain with the company for which one works and when you leave is surrendered. Due to this excellent & experienced background, I was asked by the FAA to become a DDE, separate from any employment. The DDE is very special & limited as some FAA regions did not even have 1. I held Authority #3 in the Eastern Region (from Maine to Virginia). As such, you can probably surmise there are not many Dispatch Inspectors, Examining Authorities must be renewed annually usually in one"s birth month.
The FAA Inspector"s Handbook stated an Examiner serves at the discretion of the FAA, however although unwritten, is NOT meant to be arbitrary & capricious.
Until my termination of authority, I enjoyed over 30+ yrs of excellent working relations with many FSDOs nationwide.
While the FAA could have refused to renew for no reason, could have given any reason, instead they decided to bring me up on 3 FALSE charges and revoke my Authority 30 days prior to its expiration (which they could have let expire without renewing or giving any reason at all)!
An Examiner has the following appeal process:
1 Request a conference with the FSDO,
2 Request an Appeals Hearing @ the Regional Office
3 Request an Appeal to the FAA Adninistrator in Washington
4 Appeal to the US Court of Appeals (note: the NTSB is NOT available to Examiners unlike pilots),
5 Appeal to the Supreme Ct of the USA.
A friendly FAA Inspector told me that I was the victim of circumstance, as the Inspector bring ging the charges was not a pilot and was told by the FSDO Mgr that for her to get a promotion she had to have a suspension, revocation or termination initiated by her. As I was the only person in the Region under her supervision, she had to move against my Authority!
Since I was forewarned of the above, I recorded the pre-renewal meeting In which she asked me to submit my renewal paperwork & clearly stated "the FSDO had no problems & she would send back my renewed card". 2 weeks later I was terminated.
Knowing the above I bypassed the FSDO & went straight to the Regional Appeal. The FAA Handbook spells out how the appeal should be conducted. The FAA DID NOT CARE & violated multiple requirements. I had an attorney, the recording & a transcript of the recording. We crushed their charges with evidence to the contrary & the irony for them was all my evidence came from FAAs own records and my cell phone log.
The Region UPHELD THE TERMINATION with no explanation, ignoring ALL defensive evidence. We appealed to Washington. Washington NEVER EVEN GAVE US THE COURTESY OF A RESPONSE!
With a time limit looming we went to the Dept of InJustice, Ct of Appeals. They refused to take the case based on the Letter of Termination Not being a revocation? We then went immediately to the US Dist Ct who heard the case, ruled the letter met the requirements of a revocation and referred it back to the Ct of Appeals. Now a y Ttorney will tell you this is the reverse of the way Cts work or are supposed to. However the Ct of Appeals then took the case based on findings of the lower Ct. After 3 appeals the last being an eubank appeal the Ct decided then that time had now run out.
I declined going to the Supreme Court based on estimated costs mb and it being unlikely they would take the case.
So when you see the FAA & they say anything you may want to hear, don't trust them & tell them where the door is. Lastly, unfortunately the DOJ & innocent until proven guilty is an ideal myth, far from reality. Don't waste your money. Anyone wanting to learn more can reach me @ Skyroamer69@gmail.com or 718-738-6171.
Well that sucks big time. Bureaucracy sucks when the ones in power are a little on the incompetent side, but in this case it sounds like someone with connections genuinely doesn't like you.
A review and appeal process is important for the agency to find poor training, misconceptions, and corruption in their ranks. It's one of the ways you improve your own processes and quality. You absolutely have to talk openly about past performance and make corrections. Failure to do so supports and propagates poor performance, corruption, and eventual disaster.
At 17:23 "they're under no obligation to tell us". Really? There's no way this could be considered national security. FOIA the FAA for all internal comms regarding this issue. Especially if the concern is he did something else. Anything he did wrong, if it wasn't criminal it could only be safety related, and burying that would be another safety issue. Or at least there needs to be published guidance on proper etiquette during FAAST seminars.
We pay their salaries. "We are under no obligation to tell you" is a cop out that means they have something to hide that would cost them their jobs if it came out.
"etiquette" in guvmit!!!! u gots to b kidding!!!!
I've been watching several videos on this issue. It confirms a conclusion that I reached long time ago. FAA is broken beyond repair. They need to get rid of it completely and start building from scratch Same applies to Transport Canada.
Dan, love the new look, very professional, trim, reporter style!
Sounds like this guy got the shaft …
He got hosed! His integrity is the up most highest!
Says a lot that a person of his position and seniority had to back away from the court system due to financial costs. That is scary and it’s sad. This whole thing is sad
This just makes you wonder if you can TRUST an agency that operates like this.
You can’t.
do u really wonder or jus sayin??!!!!!
Much, much better on the seating and camera angles on Christy. 👍
Why isnt Mike Carroll's phone and address not pinned as the first comment??
I think Ken should start his own UA-cam Channel!
I see stuff on DPE Reform Working Group on the EAA and AOPA websites, but does the working group not have their own individual public space?
Someone is jealous. This man should sue the FAA. There excuses are just ridiculous.
Recently there were 3 DPEs, terminated in Portland all on the same day. I hope there’s a segment over all these recent termination, as to why this might be happening.
Haven’t heard about that. Any details you can share so I can research?
I've heard about it and I have a real good idea why but I need to investigate further before I put it out there. If my sources are correct, this doesn't look good for the FAA!@@TakingOff
They did it “Because we can”.
As a victim of age discrimination, this seems a possibility.
Good point. How old is the hassled DPE?
“There are tons of good people working at the FAA, they’re just all invisible”
Lol
Generally, when people make unreasonable decisions, someone with influence over them has forced their hand. Sounds like someone either within the FAA or outside of the agency wants to make their influence known. Perhaps someone looking to advance their career, or someone with a grudge against the DPE. OR, someone is looking for a bribe.
Based on Ken’s testimony it would be reasonable to suspect that.
Well we have “air missions” now so all is well.
Government always approaches this point and exceeds it unless we keep them in check. Unfortunately the legal system is too expensive and time consuming for common working people to challenge this properly.
4 minutes in! My mount dropped!!!!
I would suggest the FAA and the FSDO should do a official announcement over this issue just so examiners aren't afraid to interact with the public. There might or might not be more to this story. I understand there might be privacy involved here that the FSDO has to obey but with Ken's permission maybe they can release.
Exactly
Someone needs to call Jack Reacher!!
Have you been or seen the bush pilot jamboree!
This is a wonderful human being. This government agencies need to be privatized. Heads need to roll at the FAA FSDO. People in powerful positions acting stupidly. And the FAA wonders why many pilots speak badly of them. Hold your head high Ken, God will sort these people out. Thank you, Ken, for all the years of doing a great job! How about a lawsuit for unlawful termination?
sadly they can terminate without cause!!!!!!
Hey...Christy is wearing "Sectional" pants....1st of those I've seen! :)
It's the human factor add to an investigation and how personal opinion not facts .
Will Ken what's the next rung on the ladder for you maybe 🤔 a u tube show on avionics!
Is there any update?
Where do I get the “Fly like a girl” T -shirts?
Jealousy envy rears it's head again
Is a DPE able to reapply for a DPE after being discharged of that position like a pilot can?
When unreasonable people can destroy the good work of reasonable men (Great guy here with the record to prove it) we need to act.
reminds me of when two FAA inspectors grounded Bob Hoover after an airshow without cause...
Drinking is not illegal as a pilot or examiner. It's not like he was then depicted getting into an airplane. 🤦♀️
Didnt realize DPEs had to abstain from alcohol
....in their private hours!
I'm confused. A CFI that was involved in the zoom meeting showed a video of himself water skiing his airplane? Did I hear that correctly and nothing happened? Please clarify that.
Looks like a Bob Hoover repeat.
Don't short-change those basic "stick 'n rudder skills"...! From a former retired CFI/CFII {Me} :)
Shoot... Alcohol and aviation have a long history together. I would argue that some aviators are as accomplished in their knowledge of alcohol as they are aviation. At the same time, the pilots I know are very careful about ensuring they're physically fit to fly. Legal may be 8 hours bottle to throttle but most pilots I know have bigger personal minimums when it comes to this.
I thought maybe he answered the phone and they let him go because god knows apparently no one at the FAA is allowed to answer the phone….They do however change the automated answering system messages at quitting time.
I’m sorry, but I’m trying to find the regulation that prohibits waterskiing an airplane.
there needs to be a written codex for DPE's to follow... what they can't do needs to be codified in an exhaustive list, with the rest being OK, and unpunishable except where it breaks the law... the fact that it is a decision of personal judgement in such a case is bad, I can see it being abused both ways... (that is, by the FSDO making arbitrary and wrong decisions, or alternatively by the instructors/DPE's etc using friends in high places, or just public opinion to lobby for what they want) this is not how we want the top of the top of our instruction and safety cultures to be managed.
Sounds like a case of professional jealousy. Happens in the FAA all the time.
The actions taken by this FSDO were without a doubt reminiscent of the agency’s subjective iron-handed processes in the early 1960s when I got my CFI. There obviously are still vestiges of that mindset in the new kinder gentler FAA.
Most organizations have to have a progressive discipline process to fire you with cause. Surprised the government does not or are DPE's contractors?
He didn't pay the right bureaucrat under the table.
Christian Morales himself has been n trouble for his heavy handedness.
Send details please.......
The FAA has as much blood on their hands as that FISDO.
If his lack of action got him canned then the FAA’s lack of put the blood on their hands as well.
They aren’t interested in community or furthering safety or they’d have done something about it.
This video spotlights the egregious bureaucracy of the FAA and all their departments. Such is government.
History repeats itself, remember the Bob Hoover debacle.
Something stinks here What a travesty
Boom! 💥 Ken in #1 That FSDO is ridiculous!
What’s BS is you have all of these UA-cam aviators that are doing insane crap in airplanes and posting videos of them doing said insane crap and the FAA does nothing. No one trusts the FAA and the older, wiser, and more experienced pilots aren’t going to continue to participate in any training that can possibly be filmed.
I'm all for a national standard and oversight instead of the petty office politics that occurred here...thanks for sharing Mr Wittekiend
I'm sure this has been said before, somewhere, about an investigation to all acquaintances of the FSDO Manager and Ops Manager to see who had a friend that needed a DPE job.
What's the background of the FSDO Manager? Blackballing someone in the corporate world isn't that uncommon. I hope he is able to litigate or settle with the FAA for lost income over the deal.
my only fear when flying,
the faa
I would say that this sounds like a case of " we dont like the guy and are going to get rid of him"..Thats pretty sad because this guy sounds like a stand up guy...Says a lot about the folks wanting to get rid of a stand up guy....
The FAA needs to have a citizens review board like many police departments that can review and make judgement about actions appropriate or inappropriate.
So basically don't go to an FAAST lectures because you might face consequences from other peoples action. This will do wonders to bridge the relationship between the FAA and the aviation community.
This is what I’ve been saying about the hardest. I respect the FAA as the agency, majority of the people that work for it, but not a blatant violation of the FAA’s own published Just Culture policy.
If the FAA wants to do what's right, then what happened to the Trevor Jacobs case?
He’s in prison right now
Feds Against Aviation…
I would go a step further and say this was total BS....
I think the whole "DPE's can't teach" is so asinine. They always say that a pilot is "always learning" and when performing a check-ride with a DPE, as long as the practical test standards are met during the check-ride and there's an extra nugget to be gleaned from the DPE, why is that wrong? These are items that go beyond the practical test standards and assist in the mission of having pilots that are "always learning". Anything that prevents a knowledge transfer is a negative in the long run. DPEs are a deep well of knowledge and the FAA shouldn't keep that knowledge from learning pilots.
I know this wrong but I believe the San Antonio FSDO Manger did this on purpose because either he didn’t this DPE or open spot for friend to be DPE
Ken Wittekiend needs to lawyer up and sue the FAA for wrongful termination.
He has no standing for a suit. He wasn’t fired as he wasn’t an employee. They simply revoked an authority which was within their purview. Doing so probably denied him monies but it’s not wrongful termination. This is a cautionary tale about the illogic and draconian ways of the government agencies and the public servants that,”Work,” there.
Consider that in first 17 days of SEPT, 22, in the US, there were 18 fatal GA accidents/35 fatalities. Most of those related to pilot errors or bad judgement.
Although I think they will fail, the FAA is, and will be, grasping at straws to change that rate favorably. This case is likely not the only such example.
The GA aviation insurance companies may be having some effect through higher premium rates. Tough to have effect, but the government and civil/commercial groups are unlikely to accomplish anything in spite of all the YT accident analysis.
He needs to contact his Congressman & Senator; particularly if they oversee the FAA.--"Political" decisions deserve political pressure.
Of all the crook pay to play and practice checkride DPEs out there, this really is a smack in the face
Can he file a FOI request for documentation?
It was done. They got some info. But no smoking gun.
@@TakingOff Still working it more....long process.
WTF we are at a DPE shortage. We also have an unprecedented amount of candidates who need a checkride.
To add it seems that a dpe watching a video of a Red Bull stunt is just as egregious as a citizen not reporting a heinous crime. Wow that seems ridiculous.
You should have introduced yourself as Bryan with a "Y".
He obviously pissed someone off at some level and that was it. I'm not saying its right or ok what happened but it's curious he didn't put up a fight for being terminated. He hired a lawyer to make changes not to foght the termination....somewhere there are skeletons because if no, this is wildly out of order.
This, almost, makes me not want to get back into G. A. community and start flying again.
As a CFI this is one of the reasons I distrust the FAA. Look what those 2 flight standards guy did to Bob Hoover.
I have good friends in the FAA, but I don’t trust the ones I don’t know at all.
I wonder if anyone has attempted to obtain documents via a Freedom of Information Act request?
Yes, efforts have been made.
Even in 1883 Elsa Dutton got it and could foretell the future....... an illusion of order. And the fantasy of right and wrong.
You guys keep mentioning you may never know why the FAA has decided to stick to this decision. Could this not be revealed by a FOIA request under the premise of transparent standards.
FOIA’s have gone out yet our government has not been transparent.
This video fails to represent the FAA in a positive manner. I am speaking up as a someone watching since remaing quiet is frowned upon. Hopefully this affords me protection.
The reason he was given was his "failure to represent the FAA in a positive manner and to exhibit integrity."
Wonder if it was an age issue and they had to find a "legitimate excuse".
There’s plenty of DPEs that are older.
@@TakingOff Was not meant as a slight but an attempt to understand why someone who seems so popular, so approachable and knowledgeable could be deemed surplus to requirements and the victim of such a flimsy accusation. I am sure all us virtual pilots are rooting for him as well.
@@charliegreen5781 Oh I agree and didn't take it as a slight. Just that I dont believe age was their call. There's something else.
@@TakingOff Absolutely. perhaps he failed one in a checkride years ago! When the accusation has no merit it has to be personal.
the elephant in the room is the severe amount of "dirt" on the FAA with the history of Boeing oversight being too lax. In this case it sure smells as if the new Manager had "Something" to prove to his bosses..as an aside, Ken better hope all his tickets don't fun afoul of some little infraction, real or imagined.
I think most people will agree that the FSDO overreacted, but I suppose a big contributor to that reaction is the fact that the webinar in question was a FAASTeam event. Showing off patently unsafe practices in a FAA-sponsored safety seminar is probably a good way to get attention you don't want. The fact that Mr. Wittekiend got singled out suggests some personal/political undercurrent. Pretty uninspiring behavior by the FAA.
No one was showing off in the webinar. The FAA FAAST team was invited as a guest to the program that pre-existed. After this event and their very blatant disregard for adherence to their own written Just Culture policy - the FAA and the FAAST Team was abruptly expelled from from participating in any future Breaking The Chain programs.
@@AllAmericanAviation Maybe I misunderstood. I thought the issue cited by the FSDO was somebody waterskiing behind a seaplane or something. (And don't misunderstand me... I think it's clear something fishy was going on behind the scenes. Just hard to know what.)
Waterskiing is a technique used in Bush Flying and sometime is indeed N acceptable practices when applicable - like landing on a sand bar in the remote back country area where the tires touch the water as they roll up on a sandbar. The “sport” that derived from this taboo idea was people taking the cubs out and doing it for the heck of it for no practical reason out on an open lake. The discussion was an example of how the presenter - not the DPE - made the mistake of doing so years in the past and how the DPE went about correcting him from doing so again. That’s the purpose of Just Culture.
the way I can see this being reasonable (from the point of view of the FSDO organization) is, if they believe you(Ken Wittekiend) represents their opinion before the public...
whilst I can see you not being a host, or, in the position to comment under the circumstances, I do remember a video where this came up (have a feeling it was the exact one, not 100%, but) it was a video & conversation about a kitfox(?) crashing into a river, & how a pilot found the skills he gained landing partially on water when landing on sand bars helped him keep his water entry velocity to a minimum, resulting in the survivability of the crash... I do remember thinking that the people in the studio are all surprisingly accepting of this, and, that it includes an instructor DPE... (so that was a slight surprise to me, I did get the feeling of the acceptance of this action by the people there, and, if this was you, and you were in disagreement, I feel like i did not feel that, and would have preferred it was brought up in the conversation...)
again: not sure that was the video, and, I personally do not believe it is reason to terminate a contract, maybe, to require a person to publicly state/clarify his opinion in a video... yes, then, (if it is or is not in line with his job as an instructor trainer) go from there accordingly...
I definitely think the FAA had a reason to look into it further (but not to pass judgement without a hearing). It is not professional not to speak up, but it may well have been only a slice of the picture. He should have spoken up before the video was published on UA-cam though, or at least informed the FAA that he was uncomfortable with the contents of the video conference if he knew it would be put out to the public. If he knew.
What was there to speak up on? It was clearly established that Waterskiing was admonished. Case closed. Arbitrary, capricious, and a blatant violation of Just Culture policy.
Probably grounded some influential guy's plane for a short while costing that individual time and money
A DPE cannot ground anyone’s plane.
He probably not woke enough for the current administration.
So what was the red liquid? Communion? Cherry Coke?
It doesn't matter. That's the whole point.
Big Red, the original red cream soda
Cranberry Juice
@@1dgram loved at Bbqs