Angel Base, Attorney at Law

08/03/2026

Drone activity is halting aerial support and hampering firefighting efforts in Spokane, Washington. Do not fly without training and FAA certification, where you will learn about the airspace rules you are required to know in order to fly legally. A huge swath of Spokane is subject to Temporary Flight Restrictions (TFR) aka "No Fly Zone." You may be subject to civil penalties and/or charged with a crime for flying an unauthorized drone into an area of First Response. Do not do this.

https://tfr.faa.gov/tfr3/?page=detail_6_0894

07/02/2026

During my travels this summer I found some new footwear for in between flights.

In related news, the Historic Wendover Airfield Museum located in Wendover, Utah, has to be the most preserved/restored historic WWII Army Air Base I've ever seen. The efforts have included a restoration of the base event hall, and visitors can also climb the (non-operating) control tower for better views of the field. The field is a stone's throw from the Bonneville Salt Flats (home of the world land-speed record runs) to the east and within eyesight of Nevada casinos in West Wendover to (you guessed it) the west. It's now a publicly owned uncontrolled General Aviation airport with a couple of great gift shops where I found these shoes and a (aviator's) 6-pack of coasters, while they also have a whole array of other aviation-related items and souvenirs for keeps or gifts. If you fly in and want to drive out to the Salt Flats, there's car rental locally or in Salt Lake City.

05/10/2026

"Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said Saturday the [trespasser] had breached airport security, deliberately scaled a perimeter fence and ran onto the runway."

This is the story that should be told. Not "Frontier plane strikes pedestrian" or description of the person on the runway as a victim or whatever malarkey is being so casually and irresponsibly tossed about.

These pilots are heros. They were cleared for takeoff and should have been able to rely on the takeoff clearance as true assurance that the runway was theirs and theirs alone. The controller likewise should have been able to rely on the runway status as clear. It was dark, with no reason to assume some crazy person would throw away their own life in the process of harming others. It is obvious from the first callout by Frontier after the strike that the situation was distressing enough to cause the flying pilot to make the immediate report without success. The less panicky nature of the second callout likely indicates the non-flying pilot resumed radio control to report the business end.

"The incident occurred shortly after 11:00 p.m. local time on Runway 17L, the airline said in a statement early Saturday. There were 224 passengers and 7 crew members on board, Frontier said."

No one else died, only the selfish soul who placed everyone else in danger. A few people onboard were hurt, but most were affected only by the trauma of the situation because all in control acted quickly.

The controller who was shaken was still professionally handling the other air traffic. We have an amazing air travel system that works because of professionals doing their job. May God be with the pilots and controller, and the rescue and ops and cleanup crew, and with their families and loved ones, as they all deal with the aftermath of the stress caused by this saboteur.

https://lnkd.in/gNPyMdPp

https://youtube.com/watch?v=JOBCsChHJes&si=aFZKGDCgloAvEhqS

Incident reported by ATC App. Get their iOS app and enjoy all their features. Use the Promo Code VAS1 or follow this link for a good discount! https://www.at...

05/06/2026

FAA's case against my ATP client is DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE, preserving important rights for a pursuit of partial recompense under the Equal Access to Justice Act. Too often, and even one time is too often, the government pursues a case without the full set of facts, without following its own rules, and even without giving an airman a meaningful opportunity to participate in assisting with an investigation into aviation activities the airman may have been involved in.

And it's even one thing for the FAA to screw up at the expense of someone else's livelihood. It's just another thing piled on top of that to have to hire an attorney and go to all the effort of proving to a judge all the ways that the FAA screwed up. They do both of those things much more than is warranted, and that needs to change.

This case was a wild roller coaster ride, as are all emergency revocation cases. And I've once again appreciated those in the aviation community who take my call and answer my questions to help educate me on the intricacies of each nuance of the case facts. The rest of you can be assured that the vast majority of pilots and those who support them are all doing our best to do our jobs with public safety always at the forefront.

And there are some good FAA Safety Inspectors who are likewise interested in promoting conversations for public safety rather than on getting a notch in their belt for personal promotion by dredging and taking down a good airman. But when the FAA allows their inspectors and their attorneys to get away with a case like this, it has a chilling effect on open communications with airmen and ultimately chills issue resolution at the expense of public safety. A win like this will hopefully send a message and become a training conversation for all FAA employees involved in airman enforcement actions.