A seaplane suffered a cracked wingtip fairing.

Attributes
ACN	272518
Time
Date	199404
Day	Sat
Local Time Of Day	1201 To 1800
Place
Locale Reference	airport : s10
State Reference	WA
Altitude	agl bound lower : 0 agl bound upper : 0
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Controlling Facilities	tracon : lax
Operator	general aviation : personal
Make Model Name	Any Unknown or Unlisted Aircraft Manufacturer
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 91
Flight Phase	ground : parked ground other : taxi
Flight Plan	VFR
Person 1
Affiliation	Other
Function	flight crew : single pilot
Qualification	pilot : flight engineer pilot : instrument pilot : commercial pilot : cfi pilot : atp
Experience	flight time last 90 days : 150 flight time total : 3000 flight time type : 300
ASRS Report	272518
Person 2
Affiliation	company : air carrier
Function	observation : air carrier inspector
Qualification	other other : other
Events
Anomaly	aircraft equipment problem : less severe inflight encounter other other anomaly other anomaly other
Independent Detector	other flight crewa other other : unspecified
Resolutory Action	none taken : anomaly accepted
Consequence	faa : investigated other
Supplementary
Air Traffic Incident	other

Narrative:

Seaplane blown back by wind into piling. Wingtip plastic fairing bent and formed crack. Declared unairworthy by FAA, by spokane flight standard district office, but no violation action taken. Decided to takeoff with crack after careful observation and long taxi run. Knew by reading magazine and periodicals in the past that a bent fairing does not affect the airworthiness of an airplane in the real world operational sense. FAA claims fairing must be repaired to conform to original type certificate, even though its a known reality that a cracked fairing will not affect airworthiness of airplane and certainly not affect the safety of the flight.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A SEAPLANE SUFFERED A CRACKED WINGTIP FAIRING.

Narrative: SEAPLANE BLOWN BACK BY WIND INTO PILING. WINGTIP PLASTIC FAIRING BENT AND FORMED CRACK. DECLARED UNAIRWORTHY BY FAA, BY SPOKANE FLT STANDARD DISTRICT OFFICE, BUT NO VIOLATION ACTION TAKEN. DECIDED TO TKOF WITH CRACK AFTER CAREFUL OBSERVATION AND LONG TAXI RUN. KNEW BY READING MAGAZINE AND PERIODICALS IN THE PAST THAT A BENT FAIRING DOES NOT AFFECT THE AIRWORTHINESS OF AN AIRPLANE IN THE REAL WORLD OPERATIONAL SENSE. FAA CLAIMS FAIRING MUST BE REPAIRED TO CONFORM TO ORIGINAL TYPE CERTIFICATE, EVEN THOUGH ITS A KNOWN REALITY THAT A CRACKED FAIRING WILL NOT AFFECT AIRWORTHINESS OF AIRPLANE AND CERTAINLY NOT AFFECT THE SAFETY OF THE FLT.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2007 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.