FAA investigates local pilot
By TRAVIS PURSER
Express Staff Writer
The P-51 Mustang pilot who allegedly buzzed the city of Hailey and the
Hailey airport on Aug. 28 is under investigation by the Federal Aviation
Administration’s Regional Counsel Office, according to FAA officials.
The Regional Counsel Office, located in Renton, Wash., is assessing a
four-page narrative report from the Boise Flight Standards District Office (FSDO) that
charges pilot Bill Rheinschild with illegal low-altitude flying.
The consequences for Rheinschild, according to FSDO, could be the loss
of his pilot’s license for six months to a year.
In addition to the narrative, FSDO sent six written witness statements
from Hailey residents; a gas receipt with the Mustang’s tail number; the date of the
receipt and Rheinschild’s signature on it; and a copy of Title 14, part 91-119A and B
of the Federal Code of Regulations, which they say Rheinschild’s flight violated.
FSDO also sent Rheinschild a letter of investigation on Aug 29
informing him of the charges. FSDO officials believe that Rheinschild forwarded the letter
to his attorneys and that they are gearing up for a legal battle concerning the matter.
Should that happen, there will probably be a trial with a National
Transportation Safety Board law judge in charge sometime in the next several months,
officials said.
Rheinschild denied during an interview for a previous Idaho Mountain
Express story that he was at the airport on the day of the incident. If the matter
finds its way to court, it will be the FAA’s job to prove that he was at the airport
and that he was piloting the aircraft.
The Federal Code of Regulations permits low flight over a populated
area if the pilot is landing or taking off. However, FSDO officials contend that
Rheinschild didn’t maintain a reasonable flight path after take-off.
The investigation of Rheinschild is apparently not the first time
Hailey residents have banded together in response to problems with pilots and aircraft in
the area.
Dave Stelling is a one-time glider pilot and a long-time Hailey
resident. He said the pilot of a stage 2 jet—the loudest jets allowed to fly into the
airport—was fired 10 years ago after residents became irate over his running the
plane’s auxiliary power unit excessively during the night.
"Interestingly enough," airport manager Rick Baird said,
"the airport is not the one that usually begins these things. All the airport does in
a case like this is make sure the witnesses know who to call."
