Mountains Air 

Hon. J.E. Sullivan, Administrative Law Judge 

Office of Hearings, M-20 

U.S. Department of Transportation 

1200 New Jersey Avenue, S.E. (Ell-310) 

Washington, DC 20 5 90 

January 27, 2015 

RE: Endless Mountains Air, Inc. 

Docket No. FAA-2013-0848 

Case No. 20 12EA050008 

Dear Judge Sullivan, 

Seamans Airport 

65 Windsock Lane 

Factoryville/ PA 18419 

Phone: 570.945.5125 

Fax: 570.945.5953 

http:jjwww.seamansairportcom 

['-=~ r-_~,.!'F~ ~ ~"" if..~ \\~ '1 rm:..,-,., 

~'~~~r=~ ··tt,,~~--IE· D • 'i>'. e" .. =·~ \_I L~ N . 

FEB 0 2 2015 

HEARING DOCKET 

As per your instructions in the referenced case, the following is my list of witnesses along with 

my exhibits. 

WITNESSES 

1. William J. Dobitsch, Jr., Presiden1!0wner, Endless Mountains Air, Inc., 65 Windsock 

Lane, Factoryville, PA I 8419, 570-945-5125. Mr. Dobitsch will present a narrative as to 

why Endless Mountains Air believed fuat the flights listed in the complaint were in 

compliance with Federal Aviation Regulations; how this non-compliance with the letter 

of the regulations was solely a technicality; show how the FAA is also capable of making 

technical errors with regards to flight checks; how Endless Mountains Air and its pilot 

did not in any way compromise safety by making said flights; how fue proposed $46,200 

penalty is nnreasonahle and is impossible for Endless Mountains Air to pay and; how a 

January 18, 2012 meeting at the Allentown FSDO between Mr. Dobitsch, Mr. Palmer and 

FSDO representatives could have contributed to the FAA's strong sanctions and penalties 

against Endless Mountains Air. 

2. Randy Palmer, Pilot, 63 Covell Street, Wilkes-Barre, PA, 570-947-6417. Mr. Palmer 

will testify about his flight experience; his communications with the Allentown FSDO 

prior to the alleged violations; how he and Mr. Dobiisch believed that they were 

complying with FAA regulations regarding the alleged violations; talk about his 

experience during a previous check ride wifu FAA inspector Harry Soudas and his 

reasoning of the above mentioned January 18, 2012 meeting at the Allentown FSDO. 
If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact me anytime . . , 

' 

Sincerely, 
Index of Exhibits 

Exhibit A: FAA Form 8410-3, dated April18, 2011 

ExhibitB: FAA Form 8410-3, dated November 25,2013 

Exhibit C: FAA Form 8410-3, dated February 11,2011 

Exhibit D: FAA Safety Briefing, July/August 2012 issue 

Title: "Adventure, Commerce, and Service" 

Author: John Allen, Director, Flight Standards Service 
EXHIBIT A 

· I>MPLOY!ill BY . . AAPfll I!.T fCiw.St•,;,J . TYPE AIRI'LI>&E (v.akoffitodel} ._g /!. •,;;?. Q 

'r/i:tvd /.ei;.J · · /ll.f#ll.f, " 1/J'l 0 • • \..Y .a Am.-. J" '1}/A /J~;. r Simu-r/Tf•Jnfn!! £l& .... (Mef<e/lift>d.oJ) 

.: l<!AME oF cHECKAIRMA!o! sJo.<>F CHEcK AIRMAN . ·. FLIGHT TIME . 3 1 .. , n . · ·.· ... · · /. fV{q,j</<3,.-. 

. · · · FLIGHT MANEUVERS GRAOE ts~ S.lnf•cnw U-!Jn&Mi•foctowl 

. ~ji.OT :·. 

.. . .. Air· Smtu. T~ . 

Cf'Olift lator: .-oev. 

Air· 'Sin)u· T m!J. 

crC.:t leto'r Ow . . 

·, 3. <>Xii"l! :, . · ,, ) ·3. NOfmlli&Cro,.windT.O.&Landklt!s 

. 7. C~iiid . . •.:.. .·. . ·. · , . . . • ,$ . 8. AutoromdOils {Singlo Engine/ 

''-' SEAPLANe OPERA110NS 

. _a. Step Tmd & TUtrl$ 

. · ,· 1( liomih:: .. · " · ... : • 

.· ..• ··.. 111 •. !'r.m:.r. n:s · · · . . .· .· · · 1G:~ind ' s· 

O'I'HER 

.,, GENERAl. 

· ··. 18. !I <I'""'"" 'L~n~illll :' · : . 7.J~t 

1S. F"'m Clt<;liri<!.Ap!"'<>o,oil;: . : ' · 

. 

·.· 

. 

' :_;.;...., 

.. VI 

I 

I 

~~ 
t: 

lLOCATION / 

i "" 

AIRMAN COMPETENCY/PROFICIENCY CHECK I DATE;;;;~ FAR 135 rMS-t!T h "" 13 NAM~ OF AIR!II!AN :/£first, middle/nit/ell jTYPE OF CHECK ' 

_ .C\ f ""f' 1 tu<JVJ H , FAR 135.293 f2f- FAR 135.297 S FAR 135.299 ~ 

P.~~o_ j Gnodo / ( 111,...., ""'tfL ,' "'L /),/a(- MEDICAL 11\lFORMATION: Dillte 01f Exam. S/2&/:zo 13 

CERTIFICATION 

INFORMATION: Numbor ~ 3'-/92-fl{ Oa:te of Birth a- > €cor>d - EMPLOYED BY BASED AT ICily, S"'rel 'I'VPE AIRPLANE /Make/Modo/} C i rrv s. st2-zo 

b/'Jilts51771$ IL--k Fc::rL fvrvv.lff'. flf Simulator/Trlining Device (Make/Mode~J 

NAME OF Cl:!~CK AIRMAi\1 SlG. OF CHECK AIRMAN FLIGHT T/. ,c;- I Nr;;;y cJ> 

fLIGHT MANEUVEI!S GRADE IS- S.di:f2<<ory U-UnsatiE~tl!lfY} 

PILOT Aiir· Simu- Trna. 

Air- Sift\u. Tmo. .mt ·- Dell. 

craft laU>r Dev, 

PREFLIGHT HELICOPTER 

1. Equipment Exuminatioo (Oral orwritt1ln) i<' 1. Grou¥\d and/o.r Ai:T Tui \ 

2. Prefl~t tnspection < 2. HlllvMin.g M:ai'JUWee& \ 

3. Tuiino 3, Na~a! & Crot~CWind' T.O. & Landing$ 

4. POWQtPJant ~ "•, 4. Hiito A-d• Tol<ootn S. L.OOI ... 

TAKEOf'FS 5. SHn. EnoM!O Fei!W'I! \ 

---· 5. Normd 6. Con.fEI:I\1ild A ...... Slopl!S1 & Pinnacl~ \ 

6. 1nstnament f 7. Rapid !Jin.i:oi...UOn (Qukk Sropf} 

7. C.C..Wifld ~ :8. Autot~~ {Single Engine) 

8. With Simulated POVcJerplant Faiture 

- -9. Ho1Ftfing Autarotatiens (Single Ei~giM) \ 

9. R-Tol<eoff s 10-. T$1 Romr Fai!unes (Ot"M) l 

INFUGHT MANEUVeRS 11. S:«:tlit'IQ WW. Pow!M {OraJ or Flight) \ 

10. StfHP Turns s SEAPLANE OI'ERATIONS 

'!'!. ~toSts!!s 5 1. "f<i!IX.iiGf. ~ifi~, Ootking- '-. 

1: ee:!lfic Fl~ Oh.antctaristies 5 2.. Stop.Taxi &- Tuntl . 

13. ~Failure } 3, Glsm.r/Rc~~ WatGJ' T ..OJlendings 

LANDINGS 4. I~l-t4two~ii~ ;·~oo.ff <& ltJ~ngs " '-. 

14. Normal s; 5. CrossrNi-l'<lli T .0. & Landings 

15, ;:,.om 1m H...S _t """' 01"liHl. 

16-. CroS!illlliM s 6. S!kii f'la;H:~ Ofil!l. {when applieableJ I 

11. W"rth Simulatad PoW<trpbmds) Fai:lu~ "__..- GENERAL 

18. Rejected l.arn:Uir,!{i s 1. ~!?i~Umt I .S I I 

19. From CirdittQ Approaeh ;s 8. Cuttv Cmw-di'llilllt'ioii I 

EMERGEOOClES AIRMAN COMPETENCY INFORMATION: 

20. N!Grhta~i ~l!lld Abnormal Proll:8dure:s IS I I 

21i. E~efl\."'V Pr(lr4!.1Jidares LSI I 

lNS.TRUMENT PROCEDURES 

Oemo!r.:5tm~ C>~m$ot: Koowh~tl!~e FAR 136.293{e) 

• Mak&/M-1 ·~pii'<$ s B" -ll(J {12 months} ! O'f-N I 

22. A.r!&:s ~ll'tUflS' s t:;-~&n',.''.-Mt~$led c~rct.j:tM1i.-e~v .FALtt 1J.35.293tbl 

1 Olf-N 

23.Holding > Makedif>ill.M~ 2K~k~ SR. ._:2() l'l2 months) l 

24. A~ Arrivtal s ~-h1¢1f.:~{l>i{~l;f tie.M!.l>"i!:!i'Jnrted Une Cbadts ( /J)J,'-f- 25.1LS~,.. .:::. F'AR 135.2M Expir410 (12 months~ 

26. Otht.>l !~mont Approadles / Sati:s-Jt~~eWi~ -0-A~WlCI~ 11FR l?nlfit:ilincV )0 -j'-f 1 . ( 6 months) ( A~rOidt&»: M:>BIIWF __...-- FAR 136~257 £)1:p1r.ss 

-({ N ..W 1*"5 z_ -I s U.O c~ A-~ilo' li>l u.-<l Atltbo,.,..... f)'{ -1"/1 

u .. s ? 'f lff'5B s Wxpira< . (12 month$) ( 

Otb"' fSpec<'fvJ" LI?Y ~ I s - REI\i1ARKS 

V. Cte;::lif'l9- Aplpi'(!li!.!t:ha cA-ecl<rrc/e> :; ! 3S-: 29'7 sa f, 5 {;; cloy 

28. L\H~93d Appr~ID:.\''015$ s . 

29. C9rtnn./Hsv. P~l"fi " 

. 

'" s 

:!ll- --.... •.mr ;'3,\\a\!-G. Pi!ot s ' " 

- ~-·""" ' 

C!riEC'K A.l HU!Icolt!l~' S 0 s.tldaci<NV "~ ~YDF o u-""'o"' 'CHECK 0 Oidppro'Md 1 Pi FtFC-m~"Jo~UlCE. :'FP.A Only) 

REGION l DISTRICT ~FFICE FAA lNSPECTOR s.SiG~*':'1'0Ri':. 

£61.~0 ·VI "- H1--os- L /?;1/2. .<.. 

- - ' v 77110001 

r:.AA Form 8410..:3 (s-.81} 

U.S. G.P.O .. 1999 566-3 
EXHIBIT C 

~,o;;:EOF CHECK··--···~. 

l Zfllbo II 

lfAME 0-F A.iRMA.W (/art~ tim. middle initiaf} TYPIE OF CHECl~ 

PAlMER J?,.,Nn:Y A FAR!35.2$!0 FAR 131>.299 0 

Dtwl>f E<em, 5/13/20/0 

etas; se--~ ..,, a 

EMPLOYEOil.V 

. Edcu.E.ss: .ttlr.s A." · hlAME OF CHECK AIRMAli! 

BASED AT (Citv. Stcte) TYPE A!RPLA.NE (Make/Model) < J'l? 7f"l 

. fl~'"''""'.l A-<Pc.-< r 

SIG, OF CHEC~ AIRMAN Fl !G!!T TIME I 

FLIGHT ~IAMEUVERS GRADE (S-Ii•tirfecmnr IJ-Vn&atisfscO>~} 

PILOT 

A.k~ Sirou- Tmg. 

crdt · lrtclr Oev. 

AI:~ Simu 'f~. 

orld't hotoi' Oev. 

PREFLIGHT H£1,.!COPTER I 

TAI~eoFFS: 5-. S!m. C:nviM:::,.F:.;•::i:!l"~"':.;' ------------4--iHf---!----! l-::5-. -;Wo:-::...,:::-::.,;-------==:::::c.:.::-----,-5~· -,,--,--+l-:6'-. -;c="c"n:;fi:nod:~Anias. Slap&. & Pinnac;les: 

I 

9'. R:t.jt':ted'tt.ke~ff . ~ ::10. TaiiRotorFe.irurer(Ora/1 

~ II.! FLIGHT I<W\IEUVERS ' !, 11. Settlin.1 Wlild'oWllt (Drnl or FUghrl 

it. J!'.!fliP.JU~toSt&lls ;5 'i. "f«Xik~. &!1~. Oochi~ 

~< ,!. S~-:!Ulc !=Ug_!ltChar~~irti~ _5 .tt. St<~p 'f~d f,1 Tu~ 

1 :t Pcw&.:r.knt FaihnEc / 1 3:, GiswtiKo~h Watt>!!' T .0./L&.~in;s 

.c Norma~ Tlikooff & L.andtnw 

t~ .• Wormal 

15. From an U.S . 

GENERAL 

1_/l 

-l 

2( .• A.ru Atriv£;1 _st' SetJ®.~;o;e:t"'r11\' C"tlrnonstratd tioo Chl'd:~ 

~z. I!.~ App""""'"' -.'L ~ 7 7 AU'/> .if: -·~FA!l 135.:!!1S £,;piN' 
\1\le live in a complex world, and there's nTc 

much we can do to change that reality. But when it 

comes to such basic things as our mission statem_ent, 

short, sweet, and simple is the only way to go. That's 

why I pushed for adoption of a new Flight Standards 

Service mission statement_, one that explains the 

what, the why, andthewho ofwhatwe do in away 

that everyone can easily remember. Our Il.lissio-n is: 

To assure the safety, while ""'"'bling the adven· 

t~ :re, tom.r:"':.erce and seruice cf aviation~ 

For llie-, awJ I hop12: fDr you,, t-iils s-l,:n:nple ~tG.·re-­

ment ca,.otures the essence and the heart o.f wl-1at 

the FAA Flight Standards Service is charged to do. 

llutlet me take a moment to talk about the individual elements. 

Advelltlllree Aviation is very much about adventure, 

and about having fuu -the focus of this issue of FAA 

Safety Bri'!fing magazine. Much of what the FAA does 

is necessarily associated with comrnerdal aviation, 

so I put ''';aclve:nrure" right at the beg1n.nll1g of ILhe 

n:ilBslon:. E>t:ll.tement. l want to be sur-e ·we remember 

that t~T;~ablmgtlie fun, ad~Jem'.1rre1 and passlon. of 

perso-nal flying is .ali.s;o an important part of tl1.e 'Eii.!is 

a>iation safety mlsston. 

Comme:rrre: TI1e FAR's mission with_ respect t-o commereta! aviation is better known, and under."iandably 

so, Civil aviation contributes $1.3 trillion to mrr 

economy and _gerJ.erates mm .. e- th.an 10 million jobs in 

the United States alone. Millions of people travel by 

air each day, -and. theworkwe do contributes to making our aviation system the envy of fue vmrM. 

s~rviu:::.r.c;;},.:";)"iillons2riives not onl-y our nationJs 

eemwrrLy, 'but also-the J'\n1erican &-p.irit -of :Serr;ice and 

vohmte-erism. Our safety work enables and facilitates 

til£ kind of service performed through programs like 

BANs Young fiagies, Grace Flight, Pilots 'u Paws, and 

nu:ro.erous. o"irhers. 

~ty: AssurLng safety might seem to be the most 

ob~i..o-lE- c DnlprQnent of ou:r mission srt.?tement, hut 

! ·want to spend a !Jttle more fu--ue explah"rlng the 

mllirrces of our safety role. 

EXHIBIT D 

Tile Fligl:o;: StiDlfl.aYds- Service has three mair.t 

safety functions: setiillg the certification standards 

for airmen and operators; issuing certification based 

on those standards; and conducting oversight and 

surveillance of certificate holders to assure contin· 

ued operational safety. 

Though the FAA clearly has a sigrlificant role 

in assm:ing continued operational safuty, everyone 

bears that responsibility. TI1e FAA cannot "inspect 

safetyi::"ltJ tb."e EWGtei!ll:1 I tis the dutyofeachindividu.s1 &U·d f:a.ch mtsanizadon that we certificate to operate in acc!Jrd.ancewith tl1e established standards. 

The agency's role is to verify that (',ertificate holders 

continue to meet starrdards. 

Tl.1e FAA has a wide range of tools to perform 

the functions associated with continued operational 

safety. Because E';nforcement is the most obvious 

tool, itis often the first to be used. My message to the 

FMs h~spector workforce) though, is that enforce~ 

ment may not be the most effective means of achlev~ 

ing cmnpti:0.nee and. more importantly, it may not be 

·~lil ~best 'way tv .af~-hi1~ve our goal (J..f promoting safety~ 

ln fuet1 I bel-i.eve that :m enforcement-only approach 

is counterp:rodnctive" It obscures t...'he goal of acblev~ 

L'lg safety c.ompliance.!tmlsses opportunities to 

educate. It undern:lines efforts to develop a strong 

safety cultrne. It 'irmstes FA..o\ and industry resources. 

And it dilutes our ability to focus on real risk. 

My staff is working on updated guidance for 

our inSpectors that outlhws a more thoughtful 

approaCh. The key question .is what best serves 

ou:c safety ~:wmotion goaL Enforcement :s;hallid be 

res1r;:._r;;_red f<C1r events crn.d illcident.s where imtentional 

0is:regerd, flagrant B:afetyviolations:1 :dangerous 

complf:u..:e:ncy, or ou.lxight stupidity pose a systemic 

threat to contii:.,.ued operational safety in aviation. 

For an u_njntentionai infraction, :V: want inspectors 

to first seek resolution via positiv~ corrective action 

that most likely would include additional education 

and skills training. 

'Th-.ank you fur th-e passion you have for aviation 

safety, and for helping to keep the adventure, commer~e, -.md. service of aviation al:ii:ve and "\li!t'l:U. 
SERVICE LIST- BY U.S. MAIL 

ORIGINAL & ONE COPY 

Federal Aviation Administration 

800 Independence Avenue, S.W. 

Washington, DC 20591 

Attention: Hearing Docket Clerk, AGC-430 

Wilbur Wright Building- Suite 2Wl0001 

Mr. Zachary M. Berman 

Complainant's Counsel 

ONE COPY 

Office of Regional Counsel, Eastern Region 

Federal Aviation Administration 

1 Aviation Plaza 

Jamaica, NY 11434 

TEL: 718-553-3258 

FAX: 718-995-5699 

Mr. William J. Dobitsch, Jr. 

Endless Mountains Air, Inc. 

Respondent 

Sean1ans Airport 

65 Windsock Lane 

Factoryville, PA 18419 

TEL: 570-945-5125 

FAX: 570-945-5953 

Judge J.E. Sullivan 

U.S. Administrative Law Judge 

Office of Hearings, M-20 

U.S. Department of Transportation 

1200 New Jersey Avenue, S.E. (Ell-310) 

Washington,DC 20590 

TEL: 202-366-6941 

FAX: 202-366-7536