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- I am:
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- Edward A. Meyer FAA Air Traffic Control Specialist NY
FSDPS (NY Flight Service Data Processing System) Certified Pilot Weather
Briefer Facilities: NY Automated Flight Service Station La Guadia Air Traffic
Control Tower NY TRACON La Guardia Sector
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- Airline Transport Pilot Cerificate Commercial Pilot Certificate
Certified Flight Instructor 3000 Hours Total Flying Time 2000 as Flight
Instructor Six Students Recommended for Certification
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- As a specialist at the NY FSDPS:
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- I was asked (through intermediaries) by Jane Garvey,
FAA Administrator, to create a report of the weather conditions JFK Jr.
was flying in. I created such a report.
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- I have the following comments to make:
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- Nothing of what I heard on mainstream media makes any
sense to me.
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- JFK Jr. had 100 flying hours and was flying a Piper Saratoga
and previously owned a Cessna Skylane and was enroute from Northern NJ
to Martha's Vineyard.
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- The statement makes no sense whatsoever.
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- FAA requirements for Private Pilot Certification is 40
hours. Most pilots require twice that. Older students require even more
flying time.
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- No student I have ever heard of requested complex aircraft
time before certification.
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- If JFK Jr. certified in 80 hours, he would probably seek
ten hours of instruction in the Skylane (which is a complex aircraft).
He would also be interested in some post certification "flag pole
flying," getting used to his airplane and flying his friends around.
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- With as much money as he had, he could certainly afford
some instruction in his Saratoga which is a far, far different airplane
than a Cessna Skylane.
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- He would also like some flag pole flying in his Saratoga
to reduce the "fear factor."
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- (Flying an airplane you are not used to can instill great
fear, I assure you.)
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- The whole thing adds up to a lot more than 100 hours.
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- The weather along his flight was just fine. A little
haze over eastern Connecticut.
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- Flying over water at night will eliminate any difficulty
of restriction to visibility... that is, all a pilot is going to see is
pitch black outside his cockpit whether there is haze or clouds. A pilot
wouldn't know if there were any clouds unless he or she would turn the
landing light on.
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- Last but not least, JFK Jr. was certified (therefore
licensed) to fly the flight. Any mention of "daring" or "inexperience"
is absolute nonsense.
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- I don't know why the airplane crashed, but what I heard
on the media was nothing but garbage.
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- Ed Meyer ATCS ATP CFI-A
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