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Surviving a ramp check

In my experience, FAA “ramp checks” are a bit of a mystery. We hear about them, but because there are so many airports and so many airmen, and not as many FAA inspectors, the chances of being ramp checked are not too big. Still, it can happen to you any time that you’re getting ready to take off or when you’ve just landed, so let’s look at the question, “What is a ramp inspection?”

The FAA defines a ramp inspection as “surveillance of an airman, operator, or air agency during actual operations at an airport or heliport,” and it is a routine function for an inspector in response to notification or observation of a possible violation of the federal aviation regulations or as part of random surveillance. It is the FAA’s policy not to conduct random ramp checks at organized aviation events, though the inspector can still do so if he or she observes something that raises a concern… To continue reading…

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Kathy Yodice is an aviation attorney for AOPA’s Pilot Protection Services and Legal Services Plan. She’s assisted AOPA members for more than 13 years and is a former FAA attorney. Kathy owns a Cherokee 180 and has been a pilot since 1994.