Page 10 - Volume 11 Number 12

would still have gone on his record, which could have torpedoed his intended professional pilot career.
The “Opinion Letter” 19 Months Later
As a result of this case, this author submitted a request for an Opinion Letter from the FAA’s Office of Chief Counsel as to 91.103. The letter specifically asked three questions:
1) Is a preflight briefing in violation of FAR 91.103 if it did not include a phone call to Lockheed Martin Flight Service?
2) IfapilotobtainsapreflightbriefingfromtheFAA’s website: http://tfr.faa.gov/tfr_map_ims/html/index. html it contains a disclaimer at the bottom of the page: “For the Latest Information Call Your Local Flight Service Station at 1-800-WXBRIEF.” Is that disclaimer advisory or regulatory?
3) Does the FAA consider a briefing using only an electronic flight bag to be in violation of 91.103?
The request was submitted in November 2015, and a generic response suggested an Opinion Letter would be issued in about May 2016. Six months after that, still nothing. After several emails to senior FAA managers, we were told in January 2017 “it’s in final review.” Five months after that, the FAA’s letter (relabeled by them as a “request for compliance assistance”) was finally released.
The answers:
1) “A PIC’s failure to contact LMFS prior to a flight would not be a per se violation of FAR 91.103.”
2) “The statement at the bottom of the FAA’s TFR website (to call your local FSS) is advisory.”
3) “A PIC’s reliance on only an EFB would not be a per se violation of FAR 91.103.”
Should Pilots Still Call Flight Service?
Pilots should always obtain a weather and airspace briefing from a reliable source. Most EFBs are fine, but merely looking at a screen on a tablet isn’t good enough. If that screen was missing a TFR and you fly through it, don’t expect the FAA to believe that you saw what wasn’t there. To be safe, pilots should use EFBs that have a feature that will email you a copy of the full briefing. Keep those emails for at least six months. If that doesn’t work for you, make the phone call to Flight Service, which puts your briefing on the record. KA
Scott Williams, Esq. represents buyers and sellers
in aircraft transactions, and provides FAA certificate enforcement defense to all pilots. He is a panel attorney for AOPA’s Pilot Protection Services. He has owned his 2006 Cirrus SR20 since new, and is currently serving on the Cirrus Operators and Pilots Association Board of Directors as vice president.
8 • KING AIR MAGAZINE
DECEMBER 2017