The Knucklehead of the Day award

Today's winner is Allan Schultz. He gets the award for the following.

With barely enough gas to fill a coffee cup, a 71-year-old who lost his pilot's license 10 years ago - and hadn't had his plane inspected in 22 years - crash-landed in a residential neighborhood.

And he probably won't face criminal charges for the Nov. 13 crash west of Lantana, investigators said.

"There is no criminal investigation whatsoever," Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen said. "We do not enforce criminal (violations). We do violations of air safety regulations: letters of warning up to fines to suspensions of a pilot certificate."

The National Transportation Safety Board simply investigated the cause of the crash and sent its findings to the FAA.

"The report is complete," said John Novell, who investigated for the NTSB. "What's there is there. I'm merely an accident investigator."

The Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office also responded to the incident, then turned the investigation over to the FAA, as required.

"We handle it on a rescue level," sheriff's spokeswoman Teri Barbera said. "Once they (federal investigators) come on scene, they take jurisdiction."

The deputy who took the report said he had not heard back from the FAA since the crash. In his report, the deputy wrote that the FAA showed up at the scene and immediately took over the investigation.

Despite knocking out power lines, taking off the tip of a roof and damaging a car on Pine Drive, pilot Allan Schultz, who walked away with a broken nose, is not likely to face criminal charges.

His wife, Glenda, answered the phone at their Palm Beach Gardens home Wednesday. She said he is recovering well and did not want to talk about the crash.

Bergen said criminal investigations into aircraft accidents are rare and that the FAA's role is to regulate air safety.

"It's not like driving a car," she said.

It certainly isn't like driving a car. I'm surprised no criminal charges can be filed. That may not be the FAA's department, but how about the state or federal government? What Mr. Schultz did was extremely reckless and could have killed someone.

Allan Schultz may never go to jail, but he is today's Knucklehead of the Day.

Note- I previously blogged about this crash here.

Linked to- Basil's Blog, Bright & Early, Cao's Blog, Jo's Cafe, Pursuing Holiness, Random Yak, Third World County, Outside the Beltway,