Landing Lights at NAPA

Do you know this for a fact? IE, a first hand account of such an incident?

I've heard the above passed along many times, but I've always wondered
if it's stuff that gets passed along and repeated until it's believed,
or not.

-jav

That's a good question. There's a bunch of silly stuff that ends up
being turned into fact floating around the industry. This overly long
diatribe is not directed to you in particular, but the group in
general

I've been an expert witness a number of times, admittedly for
transport category aircraft. In one case I represented an insurance
carrier. The aircraft, a Hawker 800, crashed through no fault of the
aircraft systems. It was determined that several components on the
aircraft were not correct because the dash numbers of the parts were
not for that particular model, but an earlier one. These were PMA'd
parts, but not listed in the parts manual for that model Hawker. The
attorneys for the insurance company won their case based on the
aircraft being un-airworthy and showed a pattern of poor maintenance.
They didn't pay for the loss. There may have been appeals, but I am
not aware of any.

I wasn't party to it, but my guess is the life insurance on the
passenger and crew went the same way. It is my understanding the DOM
was fined and had certificate action taken against him, but again I
don't have first hand knowledge of that.

Just because a part number matches doesn't count. It has to have the
paper trail and/or PMA or TSO stamp to be legal. My guess is an
insurance company wouldn't waste much effort on a Cessna loss unless
the dead pilot or passenger has a large life insurance policy. I've
seen insurance company attorneys sifting through wreckage looking for
any reason they can to minimize their loss. Do they check part
numbers against the parts book? You bet! That's how they earn their
keep.

We all have to make our own judgment on these kinds of things and what
our tolerance for risk is. I've been a pilot, A&P, and IA for over 30
years. Am I a small plane expert? Nope. Have I been classified by a
Federal Court as an Aircraft Maintenance Expert Witness? Yes. Do I
have the background to know the part is exactly the same and built
with the same level of quality control? Nope. Would I continue to
use a maintainer that would willingly install bogus parts? Nope. Is
it worth risking my life to save $25. NOPE.

Check out http://aea.faa.gov/aea200/ea01/airworthiness/sups.htm and
http://www.faasafety.gov/hottopics.aspx?id=21 for some FAA guidance
material and links.

If you are happy with the risks for you and your family and want to
save a few bucks, have at it. It may help my business. I may be the
guy on the witness stand testifying for the insurance company. You
may be the guy that killed the next guy that bought your aircraft,
sitting behind the other table, getting ready to answer the tough
questions about your expertise in determining a part's airworthiness
you picked up at NAPA.