Remember…the final call is up to the pilot

Who Is Your Passenger, Really?
By Erick McDaniel

As you’re driving to the airport to meet with your student, he calls your cell phone to ask, “Hey, can I bring a passenger on today’s flight?” You consider the weight and balance and agree. But have you ever thought to ask who that passenger is – or the legal ramifications of that person joining you?

Two weeks ago, I had a student in the Caribbean tell me he wanted to fly to the Dominican Republic. He had two passengers, one of whom we’d be doing a “big favor” for.

That one, a young lady, had at least 130 pounds of luggage, and with the four of us, plus gas, this wouldn’t work in the DA40 we were set to fly. I left them to negotiate the compromise on luggage, and when they did, we loaded the airplane and did a weight and balance to ensure everything worked out.

Then things got interesting. An international flight requires clearing customs, which seemed to jangle the nerves of the passengers.

As I collected passports from my student and his passengers, I couldn’t help but notice that the woman, a “U.S. citizen,” didn’t have a U.S. passport, only a Dominican passport that expired six years ago. When I started asking questions, it became apparent that this young lady was in the country illegally, and she had overstayed her rights by years.

I put on my investigator hat and made sure I understood every aspect of the situation before I made a go/no-go decision. The bottom line was that both gentlemen knew she was here illegally, and the flight was intended to return her to the Dominican Republic without conferring with customs. In their opinion, returning her without notification would save a significant amount of heartbreak and paperwork for everyone involved.

And maybe it would have – for everyone but me, the pilot in command.

Customs departments communicate about the majority of country-moving transactions on the Internet, through systems such as eAPIS and others.

Taking this young lady to the Dominican Republic would have caused the Dominicans to notify the U.S. government that she had left our country and was now permanently back in theirs. In turn, U.S. Customs and Border Protection would sit back, scratch their heads, and set about investigating exactly how she was able to leave the country.

When they make the connection that I, as the pilot in command, flew her out without proper notification, they could arrest me, seize the aircraft, and revoke my pilot certificates. No single flight is ever, ever worth taking that amount of risk. Doing things the right way with any governmental agency is simply the best practice – but that requires you to know the rules.

The flight was immediately canceled, and before I knew it, the young woman was gone. The gentleman accompanying her had her out the door like the building was on fire. I’ve since referred them to an immigration attorney, and they are taking steps to return her to her native country the right way.

The bottom line is, on every one of your flights, you’re the pilot in command, and whether you know what you’re doing is illegal or not, the buck stops at you.

Erick McDaniel is chief flight instructor for Bohlke International Airways in St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands. Share your thoughts or experiences on the business of instructing by submitting your own “Right Seat” to NAFI@eaa.org.