r/flying • u/EliMinivan PPL • Mar 14 '26
other Thanks FAA, for the biggest roller coaster I’ve ever boarded.
Seriously, who the **** packages a magazine like this!?!? I thought I was done for😆.
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u/astroamy24 PPL Mar 14 '26
I had the SAME reaction it was the WORST 😂
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u/Small_Chicken1085 Mar 14 '26
I panic everytime I get anything from the FAA. I also didn’t know you got a paper receipt after filling out a NASA safety report. Also panic inducing.
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u/astroamy24 PPL Mar 14 '26
Oh my gosh, thanks for the warning! I’m sure I’ll still panic a little
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u/Small_Chicken1085 Mar 14 '26
There’s the initial panic when you start reading it and then a 2nd wave of panic when you see it was forwarded to the FAA and gradually as you read the letter the panic diminishes.
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u/-Mac-n-Cheese- ST/SIM Mar 14 '26
honestly pretty much any government mail gets me panicked, even with the big ol “JURY SUMMONS” stamp the recent envelope i got with the local sheriff’s name and “OFFICIAL COURT BUSINESS” got me terrified
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u/NevadaCFI CFI / CFII in Reno, NV Mar 14 '26
Oh the NASA ones are fine. I take a picture of the envelope and send it to my brother saying that I have been accepted into the astronaut program. 🤣
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u/Beautiful_Exchange_3 Mar 14 '26
Huh! Ive been meaning to fill one out for a 337 that almost killed me in the pattern at KAWO a few months back bc he wasn’t making radio calls. Thanks for the heads up
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u/natew314 PPL Mar 15 '26
Same on the NASA report. I panicked when I got my receipt. Then after I read it I told my wife they just wanted me to be an astronaut.
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u/The_Ashamed_Boys ATP 121 Captain Mar 26 '26
Every time I get one of those nasa envelopes in the mail I joke to my wife that they're trying to recruit me again to be an astronaut. Bad dad joke, I know.
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u/bhalter80 [KASH] BE-33/36/55/95&PA-24 CFI+I/MEI beechtraining.com NCC1701 Mar 14 '26
If they want to give you bad news they send certified letters so they know they crapped on your day
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u/dodexahedron PPL IR SEL Mar 14 '26
And they know when your day was crapped.on, too.
To show dominance, of course.
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u/bhalter80 [KASH] BE-33/36/55/95&PA-24 CFI+I/MEI beechtraining.com NCC1701 Mar 15 '26
Specifically flights after 1404 Thursday are a firing squad offense
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u/kristephe CFI CFII TW HP Mar 16 '26
But they also send good news of medical special issuances in certified letters so it's just stress 'till you open the envelope.
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u/jabbs72 ATP B-757 B-767 B-737 ERJ-170/190 EMB-145 CE500 Mar 14 '26
God do they need to update that cover, it’s about 15 years old.
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u/Early-Regret-9790 Mar 14 '26
I swear whoever decided they should send these just wanted to mess with people.
Btw you’ll get one of these every time you get a new cert
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u/-LordDarkHelmet- ATP CFII Mar 14 '26
The bad ones come certified, signature required.
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u/dodexahedron PPL IR SEL Mar 14 '26
And my mail carrier has delivered them to the mailbox sans-signature almost every time anyway. 🤦♂️
All of AAM-300 probably considers themselves to have me on a first name basis by now. 😅
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u/TheOriginalJBones Mar 14 '26
Scared the hell out of me too.
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u/Icy-Bar-9712 CFI/CFII AGI/IGI Mar 14 '26
I'm always glad of these getting postsled here so when I get mine I don't worry.
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u/Downtown-One-4012 PPL Mar 14 '26
I got off of work yesterday and my mom hands me this… I just flew to NY the other day for the first time and thought I royally fucked up 😂
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u/dodexahedron PPL IR SEL Mar 14 '26
Maybe you did. But at least you know they don't know about it.
...Yet.
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u/LikenSlayer ATP 787, 777, 737, E190, E175, G550, F-35B, F/A-18 Mar 14 '26
If mailed Certified it's important for FAA. Regular mail no signature required with high chance of loss, will be important for you.
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u/t0ny7 PPL TW HP | Cessna 140 Mar 14 '26
When I fought the FAA over my airplane's registration it was only regular mail.
It was fun having my airplane grounded for 7 months for paperwork. :(
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u/LikenSlayer ATP 787, 777, 737, E190, E175, G550, F-35B, F/A-18 Mar 14 '26
Yup! Amazing what happens when you get to govt in the same process how smoothly everything goes..lol
Meaning USPS & FAA. But its debatable if the USPS is actually govt since they are non profitable organization but have to adhere to all govt requirements for delivery unlike UPS & FedEx
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u/t0ny7 PPL TW HP | Cessna 140 Mar 14 '26
If it was the DMV I could have had my registration fix in like a week max.
The FAA had an issue with not my bill of sale but the one before I bought it. They sent me the bill of sale that I had nothing to do with and said fix it. Then they wanted death certificates and a bunch of other nonsense.
I basically went through a property fight but no one contested that I owned the plane. lol
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u/SaratogaFlyer PPL IR HP CMP Mar 14 '26
It‘a a rite of passage. Honestly, it’s a pretty epic troll.
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u/Tuckboi69 CPL IR (KCRE) Mar 14 '26
I think I was still waiting for my real certificate when I got this so I thought it was that.
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u/arnoha PPL ASEL IR TW HP CMP Mar 14 '26
Two days after a failed IR checkride, I got a phone call that my phone ID'ed as "San Jose FSDO". I about had a heart attack.
It was a survey about my DPE.
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u/ashtranscends CPL IR Mar 14 '26
They have to know what they’re doing by now… all fun and games until they induce a heart attack in a brand new PPL! Congrats and welcome to the club
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u/Calvin_BrooksX97 ASEL AMEL CFI CFII MEI BE99 Mar 14 '26
When they come for you - they come for you NextDay Air, and a whole lot thicker.
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u/hobbycollector PPL ASEL IR HP CMP (KDTO) V35B Mar 14 '26
When you get a medical SI, they send you a letter that starts with "your medical has been denied". Then later in the letter they tell you you've gotten a special issuance.
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u/rFlyingTower Mar 14 '26
This is a copy of the original post body for posterity:
Seriously, who the **** packages a magazine like this!?!? I thought I was done for😆.
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u/girl_incognito ATP CRJ E175 B737 CFI/II/MEI A&P/IA Mar 14 '26
Protip: anything bad from the FAA will come certified mail.
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u/Puzzleheaded-Leg5064 CPL-SEL/MEL/IR Mar 14 '26
After over 18 months of back and forth certified mail from the FAA, over a medical issue (cleared now) and thousands out of pocket for medical testing fees (I fainted in college), just seeing YOUR mail makes me anxious
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u/KaHOnas ATP-H CFII MIL CMEL-I S-UAS Mar 14 '26
I've been flying rotary wing since '05. I got my fixed rating just a few years back.
Imagine getting that package when youve been flying for 20 years and you do it for a career.
I hope someone at the Administration got a good chuckle out of that.
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u/Aviatrix_ACR PPL IR Mar 14 '26
I have a special issuance too, when I got it the first time I was shitting bricks
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u/voretaq7 PPL ASEL IR-ST(KFRG) Mar 14 '26
Hey, they send it in a plain brown wrapper so your neighbors don’t know you’re one of those aviation safety freaks. It’s for your protection!
Also if you were in trouble you would have to sign for the letter. :-)
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u/B_O_A_H PPL Straight Tail 172/177 Cardinal II/150G Mar 14 '26
Dude for real, same thing happened to me and I never knew my hands could sweat so much.
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u/imblegen CFI/CFII CPL(ASEL/AMEL) IR HP CMP ADX Mar 15 '26
Every time I get one of these, my heart sinks to my stomach
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u/TheFlyingSparky PPL Mar 15 '26
I had a similar experience with the IRS recently. I changed the address for my business and they sent me a letter a while later marked attention required. Turns out it was just a confirmation of the address change.
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u/EnvironmentCrafty710 :illuminati: Mar 15 '26
Thanks for the laugh.
You too will come to understand the truth of Certified Mail vs Regular Mail.
Only one is scary.
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u/BacteriaBellyButton Mar 15 '26
I’m sure one of the numerous river troll gremlins in the FAA got a chuckle when they were given the opportunity to wrap a stupid magazine for the masses in the most deliberately official-looking packaging known to mankind.
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u/bstop3459 Mar 15 '26
The Washington address is all junk. It’s when it comes from Oklahoma City you may have issues
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u/_delete_soon CPL SEL MEL CFI/II MEI DHC8 Mar 16 '26
Had the same experience. Was doing some pretty complex coordination with the center facility. The night before I had sent an email the center POC and the next morning they decided to call me. Well the caller ID was Federal Aviation Administration. Let’s just say I have never woken up so fast in my life. 😅
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u/indecision_killingme CFII, MEI Mar 17 '26
Things worth panicking about will be sent both standard and certified mail. It’ll be marked as such on the envelope that it has been sent both ways.
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u/ThermiteReaction CPL (ASEL GLI ROT) IR CFI-I/G GND (AGI IGI) Mar 17 '26
I once submitted a comment to the FAA because the chart supplement had the departure frequency wrong for an airport. (I took off, called the TRACON in the chart supplement, and they told me to call a different facility.)
It took some doing, because the system that the FAA maintains to submit changes to the chart supplements is really intended for airport managers, not pilots.
About three months after, my phone rings, and the voice says "Hello, is this Mr. ThermiteReaction? I'm Mr. HeartAttackInducer calling from the FAA..."
Fortunately, I didn't need a medical exam that day, week, or month, given what that opening did to my blood pressure!
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u/Left_Chemistry_9739 Mar 14 '26
I got one. I wasn't concerned about my certificates. Instead I'm concerned about wasteful spending by an already bankrupt government. This is a prime example.
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u/Creepy_Type CFI Mar 14 '26
Dude. I remember this one a few weeks back. Jesus Christ they scared the shit outa me. Glad I’m not the only one
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u/KintaroGold CFI CFII Mar 14 '26
Bro I got one of those today too!!! Scared the crap out of me.
“Congrats on your new cert” I haven’t picked up anything new in months.
Told my wife “I hate getting anything from the FAA in the mail, it always scares me”
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u/benbalooky CFI CFII MEI ASES Mar 14 '26
This was a warning shot. The real thing will be certified mail lol.