
US Court of Appeals Takes on Ridesharing in Aviation - voska
http://blog.flytenow.com/us-court-of-appeals-takes-on-ridesharing-in-aviation
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throwaway859876
It's an interesting link, and very interesting that these regulations are
being litigated after decades of acceptance.

The big picture is that the FAA doesn't want the public to confuse the safety
record of an airline with somebody flying a puddle-jumper (daily crashes in
USA). The flying public just expects to get there without doing a risk
evaluation, and puddle-jumpers are far riskier than airlines.

When you rideshare with Uber, there is a question of insurance.

When you rideshare a single-engine piston plane, there is a question of your
life.

~~~
SomeCallMeTim
> (daily crashes in USA)

I'm sorry, but a quick Google finds less than a dozen in the US this year. I
couldn't find a definitive list, but searching "small plane crash 2015" found
mostly the same events.

A puddle-jumper being flown by a certified commercial pilot shouldn't be a
whole lot more dangerous than a commercial flight.

But yes, a small aircraft flown by someone who just got their license? You're
taking your life into your hands, especially if there's a chance of poor
weather.

~~~
mikeyouse
The NTSB maintains a database of all airline accidents that are recorded every
year.. I did a basic search with the following parameters:

USA, 2014, Airplanes only, Fatal accidents only -- This returned 147 results
of fatal accidents, the majority of which were Pipers / Cessnas / Beechcraft..

Expanding the list to include non-fatal accidents returns 310 results.. So not
quite 1 per day, but still a _lot_ of plane crashes.

[http://www.ntsb.gov/_layouts/ntsb.aviation/index.aspx](http://www.ntsb.gov/_layouts/ntsb.aviation/index.aspx)

~~~
japhyr
Is that 147 accidents with at least 1 fatality, or 147 fatalities?

I did a quick search, but there's more information there than I could sort
through quickly.

~~~
mikeyouse
The former, 147 with at least 1 fatality.

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smcg
Could someone give a quick summary of flightsharing and how this ruling
affects it?

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lisper
This isn't a ruling, it was a hearing that will eventually lead to a ruling.

What this is about is that the FARs prohibit private pilots from flying
passengers "for hire" but allow them to "share expenses." There are a number
of tests to determine whether a private pilot who takes money from passengers
is flying "for hire" or merely "sharing expenses" and one of them is the so-
called "holding-out" rule: if you advertise your willingness to take
passengers, then you are presumed to be flying for hire and you need (at
least) a commercial license. Advertising on Flightshare is considered "holding
out" by the FAA.

(I'm a private pilot.)

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bro-stick
This sucks.

However, in a few places like Alaska, I think the anti-government sentiment is
strong enough that they really don't care what the FAA says. Good luck
regulating fur trappers near the Arctic and helpful neighbors with planes.

~~~
thelambentonion
This does NOT suck.

General aviation is a fairly risky activity, and usually the pilot (and
friends of the pilot) accept that risk when flying. With a service like
Flytenow it's possible (in my opinion probable) that 'enthusiasts' don't fully
appreciate how much greater the risks are of a short trip in someone's Cessna
172 versus a commercial flight on a 737.

I don't believe that the FAA wants, or should be able, to regulate pilots'
abilities to share flights with their friends. In my mind, they see Flytenow's
business model as one that encourages people to take risks they normally
wouldn't and don't completely understand.

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lifeisstillgood
This is fascinating - it's like Pornography and erotica. I can tell the
difference between a ride share and an airline when I see it, but writing it
down ... No.

I mean, if Uber drivers were forced to state where they were travelling from
and to at a certain time, and only if users entered that route was the ride
share matched, their model would collapse (ie I see pornography)

But do that for aircraft, and ... It's totally indistinguishable from an
airline schedule.

But yeah. It's not a rideshare, you are floating the rules, get wrists
slapped.

~~~
rm_-rf_slash
If you feel uncomfortable with your Uber diver, you can tell them to stop, and
you can get out of the car.

What happens in the sky?

~~~
WalterBright
What I do is watch the pilot do the preflight. If he doesn't do it by the
book, I won't fly with him.

For example, checking if there's gas in the tank. Bob Denver forgot to do
that, ran out of fuel, crashed and died.

Make sure he warms up the engine all the way before takeoff, and does the
magneto check at full power. Not doing this causes engine failure shortly
after takeoff - a common fatal mistake.

If the weather looks dodgy, don't fly no matter what the pilot says. JFK jr
flew into haze without being instrument rated, and died.

Failing last 3 are the most common causes of general aviation crashes.

~~~
toomuchtodo
And few, if any, commercial aviation customers understand anything remotely
close to why a preflight is necessary, what happens when your single pilot is
incapacitated, or why GA doesn't fly when commercials still can.

Ridesharing for GA aviation is a terrible idea, yet again "disrupting" by
breaking the law and ignoring higher than normal risks.

