Aviation community largely self-policed when it comes to medical certifications

Show Caption Hide Caption Plane crash at Greenville Downtown Airport Emergency crews at the scene of a plane crash at the Greenville Downtown Airport Friday, August 3, 2018.

Before pilot Barry Edwin Emerson overshot the runway at Greenville Downtown Airport, there was little chance anyone would find out whether he was flying with an expired medical certification.

As a commercial pilot flying the Beechcraft BE58, Emerson was due for a medical check three months ago, according to federal records.

The Federal Aviation Administration, the nation's watchdog for civil aviation, maintains a central database that lists a pilot's last medical check, but it does not track expired pilot medical certifications.

Commercial pilots — that is, pilots who are paid to fly — must update their medical certificates annually, according to federal regulations. If caught with an expired medical certificate, pilots face fines or revocation of flying privileges, according to the FAA.

Emerson was paid to fly from Charleston to Greenville last week with Bill Hall, the owner of Halls Chophouse in downtown Greenville, Gregg Hoffman, Hall's spokesman, confirmed Thursday.

The Greenville News spoke with several pilots and asked the FAA how pilots get caught when their certifications expire.

The answer: There is no formal procedure for checking every pilot, and the FAA relies on pilots policing themselves and occasional random plane-side checks by agency officials.

"Every pilot can tell you to the second when their medical expires," said Joe Kildea, spokesman for the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association.

Physically fit

Medical certifications are tied to pilot licenses and are meant to assure the public that men and women are physically fit to sit in the pilot's seat, pilot Ethan Collins said.

"The examination is not super intense," he said. "They make sure you can be certifiably conscious for the flight."

Aviation medical examiners, certified by the Federal Aviation Administration, assess a pilot's fitness, checking for medical conditions that could disqualify him or her from flying.

Commercial pilots must go in for such checks more frequently, operating on a first- or second-class medical certificate that renews annually, according to federal regulations. If that expires, the medical certificate automatically downgrades to a third-class status, Collins said. These pilots can put off a fitness check for another year but cannot get paid to fly a plane during that time, he said.

"If Barry was getting paid for that flight, it would be illegal," Collins said. "It would be legal if he wasn't getting paid because, after one year, the second class (medical certification) becomes a third class."

Emerson could not be reached for comment.

Keeping those medical certifications up to date is the responsibility of the pilot, FAA spokeswoman Arlene Salac said in an email to The Greenville News.

"If the FAA determines a pilot's medical certification is not current, the agency can take enforcement action which would range from a warning letter to suspension or revocation of the pilot's certificate depending on the individual case," she wrote.

Letting a medical certification expire is rare, Kildea said.

"I would put that in the big no-no category," he said. "This is not a regulation that people fudge and sort of say, 'close enough.' People take their medicals very, very seriously."

Close-knit community

The aviation community is close-knit and pilots look out for each other, Collins said.

"Most pilots have spent a lot of money to get their certifications and don't want to do anything to jeopardize their career," Collins said.

FAA inspections of planes and pilot paperwork at airports, so-called "ramp checks," are one way a pilot might be caught, but those are rare, Collins added.

"I've never been ramp-checked, and I have been flying for five years," Collins said.

More: Pilot in downtown Greenville plane crash had invalid license, records show

Credentials are checked if a pilot shows up at a local airport wanting to rent a plane through a flight school, but not for itinerary pilots landing or taking off via their private aircraft, said Joe Frasher, the airport director at the Greenville Downtown Airport.

"We don't have the legal authority to do that. That's an FAA matter," Frasher said. "We, the airport commission and at any local airport, are not allowed to delve into what the FAA controls. That's totally in their purview."

Greenville pilot Scott Fowler said that like a drivers license, enforcement typically coincides with a problem.

"If you're letting it expire, until you get busted, there's really no policing action out there to inspect it," he said.

Private-sector enforcement

Pilots said that much of the enforcement comes through employers and insurance companies.

"Most employers will keep the medical certificates on record," Collins said. "They periodically check them and hold their pilots accountable."

Fowler said insurance companies typically lead the charge on making sure commercial pilots have a current medical certificate and proof of their commercial pilot license.

"The insurance companies are usually a hell of a lot more strict than the FAA," Fowler said. "Usually the insurance companies are beating down your door."

In the event of an accident, Fowler said, the blame goes to the pilot in command.

"From a big perspective, there is nothing you could do in America that is more regulated than fly, from private pilots to commercial airlines," Kildea said. "There's just enormous and endless regulatory hurdles to go through. This is one of them."

'Still have my medical'

Medical certifications are a point of pride for pilots, Kildea said. In one of his final interviews, astronaut and pilot John Glenn showed how seriously he took his, Kildea said.

"The report talks about how as he was leaving, John Glenn was yelling that he 'still has his medical,'" Kildea said.

More: Plane that crashed at Greenville Downtown Airport belongs to the owner of Halls Chophouse

Robert Katz, a flight instructor in Dallas, Texas, and longtime pilot, said pilots flying with expired medical certificates is more common than people realize.

"It's an honor system that's easy to abuse," Katz said. "It's purely negligence to not comply and a hazard to public safety."

Katz said he studies plane crashes around the U.S. to pinpoint safety issues, particularly with licensing and certifications.

"I'm interested in the human factor. It's always the weakest link in the chain of these incidents," Katz said. "I open Google every day and type two words. I click two words, 'plane crash.' Every day of the week somewhere in the country a small airplane crashes and pilots are doing foolish things."

'Off the runway'

No one was injured when the Beechcraft BE58 belonging to the owners of downtown restaurant Halls Chophouse went off the runway on landing.

Hall, who also owns restaurants in Charleston, hired Emerson to fly him and his attorney to Greenville for a meeting about Halls Chophouse on Friday, Hoffman said.

Reports of an aircraft in distress came in at 10:23 a.m. Friday, according to Tristan Johnson, a spokesman with the Greenville Fire Department. As firefighters responded they learned the plane crashed off the end of the runway down an embankment, he said.

Johnson said there were no injuries when the plane carrying the pilot and two others crashes off runway 28. It was raining that day, and Frasher initially speculated that slippery and hazy conditions may have been a factor.

The FAA does not comment on investigations until a report is issued.

"Usually people in aviation don't comment on incidents until the final report is issued," Kildea said. "That's because there are always surprises."

In air traffic communication recordings from Friday morning posted at www.LiveATC.net, there's discussion of the plane having to "come back around and land" after an initial approach to a larger runway failed. Later, word comes that there's been a crash.

“Just ran off the runway,” a man states over the radio.

The aircraft had taken about 10 flights within the past two weeks before the crash. Most recently, it had flown to Greenville Aug. 2, a day before the crash.