Posted on 03/05/2003 6:08:18 AM PST by NewHampshireDuo
PRESQUE ISLE — The Federal Aviation Administration has revoked the license of a pilot who allegedly broke several aviation rules while taking off and landing a record 308 times in one day.
Walter Mosher, 30, of Blaine, was ordered to immediately surrender his commercial pilot's license for lacking the "care, judgment and responsibility required" of a pilot.
Mosher is appealing the FAA's decision. "It was my understanding that I wasn't doing anything wrong," he said Monday.
Last Nov. 23, Mosher set an unofficial world record when he made 308 takeoffs and landings in a Cessna 150 at the Northern Maine Regional Airport in Presque Isle.
The old record of 297 was set in Australia in October 1999. Mosher has yet to receive confirmation of the new record from the Guinness Book of World Records, he said Monday.
In a Feb. 25 letter, the FAA wrote that Mosher's record-setting flights broke several flying rules.
Mosher flew in conditions below minimum levels for cloud cover and visibility, the agency wrote, despite being advised the previous day that he would need to meet minimum visibility requirements.
Other alleged violations include flying too low to be able to make an emergency landing, flying too low over people and vehicles, making illegal right turns and illegally attaching a flare to the tail of the plane.
The FAA also alleges that Mosher, a pilot for more than six years, flew while other aircraft were taking off and landing from a nearby runway.
In his appeal letter to the FAA, Mosher wrote that "various facts are missing" from the list of alleged violations.
The pilot denies being in the air when other planes were taking off or landing nearby, and he disputes the claim that he was given advance advice on weather information.
"I am not a reckless pilot," he wrote. "Nothing I do is done without regard for safety."
A hearing on the matter is expected to be held in Bangor later this month.
Hmmm... seems he landed 300+ times ok, so I don't see how an Emergency Landing could have been out of the question...
Hell, I beat that record almost every time I land the Decathlon - and that's just after one approach!
Hell, I beat that record almost every time I land the Decathlon - and that's just after one approach!
Me too, only I used a Mooney.
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