Title 15, Section 15.16.110 of the King County
code states, "Except aircraft in control of authorized maintenance
shops, no aircraft engine should be started or run unless a pilot or
mechanic is attending the controls." One pilot found out the
consequences of this somewhat unique ordinance when, after starting
his aircraft, he was issued a criminal citation by a deputy sheriff.

Sounds rather straight forward that this is talking about leaving an
engine and prop running unattended (walking far away from it), not
about how one starts it and throttle proximity.

What was this sheriff doing there anyway? Sounds like he had a gripe
with aircraft, or maybe noise complaints from nearby residents, so he
looked for a code for the express purpose of finding someone to give
a ticket to. Was he like, right there standing next to the guy, daring
him not to start it up or else?

Yep, hand-propping outside the cockpit is definitely a "not-in-control"
and extremely dangerous situation. Says who? Right, it's left up to
the interpretation of uneducated law enforcement. Wise... very wise.

Hope the guy was exonerated for his "intolerable, stupid, and publicly
endangering act."





Dean A. Scott, mfa
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School of Visual Art and Design
southern adventist university
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http://www.southern.edu/~dascott