Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.) says he won’t guarantee he’ll be more vigilant about checking NOTAMs after he landed on a closed runway occupied by maintenance workers 10 days ago in Texas, according to a report at AVweb.com, which notes that Inhofe told the Tulsa World: “People who fly a lot just don’t do it. I won’t make any commitments.” Inhofe added that while “technically” pilots should “probably” check NOTAMs, it would be impractical for him to do so on the many flights he makes to small airports in Oklahoma each year. Read the full AVweb report here.
FAA investigating Senator Inhofe’s closed runway landing
Janice Wood
Janice Wood is editor of General Aviation News.
Of course everyone flying general aviation should check notams, it is not only the law, but any responsible pilot should take a couple of minutes to do so. Just another example of the attitude of many of our lawmakers that make laws that only apply to ‘the rest of us’
Mr. Inhofe’s arrogance is breathtaking. Wonder what he thinks about TFRs, they probably don’t apply to him either. It is unfortunate that he is a spokesman for GA. If the FAA doesn’t at least revoke his pilot’s certificate for some period of time for ignoring FAR 91.103 and 91.13, then I’m sure the “Inhofe defense” will apply to all of us in the future.
It takes 30 seconds to check NOTAMs. You can even do it from a smartphone.
If you can’t spare 30 seconds to be a safe pilot, you don’t need to be in the sky.
After he landed on the closed runway, he took off on the taxiway! This elite member of society needs his ticket pulled! Dangerious attitude and actions, IMO.
Inhofe’s arrogance astounds me. As a professional pilot who “flies a lot,” I ALWAYS check NOTAMs. I’m sorry that it’s so out of his way for him to spend 2 minutes checking them, but this incident shows why it’s so important to take those 2 minutes. His negligence could have resulted in injuries or fatalities. I hope the FAA throws the book at him.