WhisperJet

Not in the case of a non sole-source event. IOW if they goofed no one caught it and they fessed up then yes. This however was something they were observed doing by more than one source (ex tower)

nene

If you read the article, you'd see that they were willing to give a statement, they just didn't want to be recorded giving statements to later be cross examined with. BTW they pay a lot of dues for the union to help them in a situation like this, hopefully they are getting credible advice.

JayRalstonSmith

And yet they have a CVR and a flight data recorder that records everything they do. If I had nothing to hide, you can record me all day long.

GliderCFI

And if they were to forego a gate return and launch on a crossing, the CVR is overwritten 🤔😉

ImSoSuss

Except video. They don't need to see me scratching my ass or picking my nose, not necessarily in that order.

KyberCrystal

This was a class A runway incursion. The NTSB needs to record data for safety analysis and the FAA needs to do a short retraining event before sending the crew back to the line. Retraining would probably involve a sim session where they just taxi around and talk about good situational awareness techniques. Nobody destroys careers anymore for unintentional errors like this. There's a whole system in place to correct the behavior that led to the error and return the pilot to flying. This requires the pilot involved to be willing and able to be counseled or retrained. If they aren't willing, then the FAA has no choice to do an enforcement action on the pilots. If it gets to enforcement and a certificate suspension then the pilots refused to take retraining.

I feel like the pilots are getting bad advice if it's gone this far.

saxman66

What have past NTSB interviews with crew been like? Has it been not normal to record the interview? Can that recording be used against the ones involved later? I would hope not, just like you can't criminally charge pilots for a mistake unless it was willful (drugs/alcohol). I'm pretty confused here.

FAR121

Yes when the FAA is party to an NTSB investigation anything said during the interviews CANNOT be used for enforecement action. Here's the part of the interview transcript from that Atlas crash a while back explaining the FAA involvement.

'MR. LAWRENCE: Okay. Just wanted to make sure. Okay, and
let me clarify, too, Walt Theurer with the FAA, he's here. By
federal statute, FAA is a party to all our investigations. Now,
Walt's role here is no different than Bill's or mine or anybody
else at the table. We're just safety related. He's just
assisting us in trying to find out what happened so we can prevent
it from happening again. Anything that's said or heard in this
room or any part of the investigation cannot be used by the FAA
for certificate action. So, I want you to feel comfortable in
that role. His role is not certificate. His role is just safety
here.'

NTSB DCA19MA086 Atlas AIr Interviews pg 7

JulesWinfield

They haven't been recorded with audio, just a transcription written. APA is trying to avoid setting the precedent of recording them audibly.

Beech Dude

And the records are archived forever...if used, there needs to be a limit kept, then destroyed.