Friends of a Connecticut FAA safety inspector have launched a GoFundMe campaign to fight what they are saying is “weaponization” of ADS-B data by another FAA inspector at the same FSDO. The public document from the FAA lawyer states that a maintenance inspector, Michael Edreich, filed what the office says was an anonymous complaint. Using an ADS-B track as the sole basis for the complaint, Edreich (who is not a pilot) claims Kevin Godbout flew his Taylorcraft on floats recklessly low over the water in 2023 just by looking at the ADS-B data. Godbout has already spent over $18,000 in lawyer fees and is set for trial, which will double the fees just to try to get the reckless flying charges dropped. Godbout says he has a perfect flying record and the FAA would not offer him counseling or remedial training for whatever they thought he did wrong. The FAA is intent on pursuing the charges, and the case will go before an NTSB judge later this year.
Godbout said he was practicing touch and goes in his Taylorcraft on floats on an approved stretch of the Connecticut River with a seaplane instructor in 2023. Edreich extracted ADS-B flight tracks from FlightAware of his practice session and filed a Hotline complaint against him based on the altitude data showing him flying below 500 feet. Normal altitude limits are waived when aircraft are landing and taking off, and Godbout said he and the instructor broke no laws that day. He also noted that the latest FAA reauthorization expressly forbids anyone from filing a complaint based solely on ADS-B data, which Godbout says this complaint does. The FAA dismissed the appeal for this rule.
Godbout, who got approval from the FAA for a seaplane landing area on the Connecticut River in Massachusetts, said he’s stunned that the complaint is being allowed to proceed. The GoFundMe is looking to raise $38,000 for legal fees to get it dropped. If the NTSB judge rules in the FAA’s favor, Godbout faces certificate suspension and possibly fines, but he said the impact goes beyond that. If the complaint is upheld, he said it means that the normal operation of any floatplane or any airplane could result in similar action against its operator. It would mean that no one could land anywhere within 500 feet of any object.
“If the FAA wins the case against him, the case will set a precedent that airplanes, and seaplanes, will not have the right to land in any non-airport environment,” the description on the Go Fund Me says. “If the FAA wins the case, it means any person, or FAA inspector, can stalk and then file frivolous, exaggerated complaints against your flying without ever leaving their computer.”
Click here to see the GoFundMe.
I’ve always wondered what the office politics were like to cause a fellow worker to drop a dime on this guy. This would be bad for all of us if this isn’t stopped!
The worries and discussions surrounding “off airport” (not a certified seaplane base) operations and the potential claim to pursue pilots landing on lakes for careless and reckless operations is nothing new. Thats what our three and four letter advocacy groups are supposed to prevent. One would hope for some common sense to be restored before this case turns into a precendent for further action.
No lack of enemies in society…
None of this passes the smell test. From the anonymous complaint by an FAA inspector – who subsequently appears to have been outed, to the supposed substantiated allegations against the airman, the entire thing reeks of fishiness.