Peter wrote:
I don’t suppose many people fly there anyway, with the cost hike from ~€10 (2003) to ~€200 recently
We’ve been in Biarritz last year IFR, and costs where nowhere near that figure.
Indeed. The fees are here.
The reasons why Biarritz has earned the reputation of a terrible place are different (virtually no parking and those ramp checks).
I had a ramp check at Alghero LIEA two weeks ago. It lasted for 30 min and it was conducted by ENAC agent checking aircraft papers and my licenses. The majority of the time was spent in writing the names and addresses of various Swedish agencies (aircraft registry, radio licenses, ELT) and insurance.
Although it is unpopular, I think there is nothing bad about a ramp check. It should just be done in a different way:
Instead of a 30 min to 1 hr procedure that happens statistically every decade, they should do much more frequent, much more simple checks: Checking the pilots license takes less than a minute (and at many airports you have to show it anyways to use the pilot security). Same for medical, insurance doc or CoA, …
If every time one interacts with the GAT (or equivalent) they would randomly ask for one of these docs and check it, the time and effort for us pilots would be minimal to non existent and the risk that someone flies w/o it would even be much lower than today.
AdamFrisch wrote:
Ultimately, what is the point of asking for proof of insurance paper, radio certificates, and all that?
For the vast majority of people, the mental hurdle of flying with a medical or rating that “only just expired” is much lower than actively forging the respective document.
Malibuflyer wrote:
they should do much more frequent, much more simple checks: Checking the pilots license takes less than a minute (and at many airports you have to show it anyways to use the pilot security). Same for medical, insurance doc or CoA, …
So you’d like some policeman to randomly check your drivers license every time you pull up to a gas station or supermarket?
I could not disagree more !!
172driver wrote:
So you’d like some policeman to randomly check your drivers license every time you pull up to a gas station or supermarket?I could not disagree more !!
Exactly. And btw random pulling over and checking drivers licence is the practice that’s abandoned in Europe (if not forbidden).
Same here, I hope police, customs and NAA agents are everywhere in every airport to help and start ramp checking every takeoff & landing
It’s sad to fly most of the time without anyone caring about my papers, especially given the amount of money one need to pour to get those papers printed 
It should just be done in a different way
What problem does that solve? How many people are flying with expired ratings? And even if there are any, what are the effects? How many accident investigations revealed „expired rating“ as contributing?
The biggest inhibitor we face in flying is by far the insane bureaucracy (should be spelled bureaucrazy), followed far behind by high cost (though these two are interconnected).
I personally strongly prefer airports where the GAT personnel only pretend to know (and doesn’t care) what they are looking at to those who make a show out if it. The former, when I hand them my license, exercise the useless „looking at it“ procedure (mainly for CCTV cameras) while they swiftly get me on my way airside. The latter take a phone call, go to the back room, have a coffee break … while keeping me waiting while „first checking it in detail“. Both have no clue what they’re looking at. As we know licenses are not expiring anyway.
To really boast security, the airports could issue biometric access badges to the local ga community and offer a fast/easy way of communicating suspicious activities or anomalies (e.g. fence behind hangar 12 vandalized).
Instead, once in a while when walking to the plane a „rent a cop“ from security shows up and makes me watch them enter question answers („what license do you have, which plane are you flying) into their tablet (at a pace you’d think it’s the first time they’ve ever used an electronic device… S L O W). I think the primary goal of this is actually a secret fitness program for airport security to make them walk around for a day chasing pedestrians on the ramp. A much more important issue, safety, is handled by some airports by placing a rusty metal box in an invisible corner along with some faded paperforms to comply with SMS regs. How many safety reports (eg tiny metal debris on ramp / FOD) have been submitted the last 10 years? I’d guess zero. Great, so everything must be safe (pun).
All anecdotal off course and I’m sure some airports with a security airside area handle it better.
The EASA/SAFA ramp checks otoh are meaningful and those that I’ve experienced were courteous and quick, done by people who understand airplanes/flying. The idea behind them is gathering statistics mainly to get a feeling for the kind of precursors that are out there, and to counter steer before things get out of hand.
The worst would be if „normal“ police or god forbid customs are engaged in assessing licensing and airworthiness questions, along with rent-a-cop airport security… the less power to them the better – amen.
I can’t believe somebody wants more police / surveillance activity!
Good job pilots are not in charge of pilots. There would be a detention cell at each airport
Also it all has to be paid for somehow. We already have a situation where (especially all over France) the police want to do the absolute minimum, regardless of whether the airport stays in business, leading to the 24hr PN / 48hr PN disease.
The % of pilots flying with fake papers must be absolutely miniscule.
