Wed, Nov 05, 2003
The Good Guys Win Again... For Now
AOPA tells ANN that
their recent efforts to aid a pilot, in getting the due process
that all pilots are entitled to in an FAA enforcement action, seems
to have borne some fruit. The DC Court of Appeals reversed a
decision of the National Transportation Safety Board, saying the
safety board allowed the FAA to proceed with enforcement action
against a pilot in violation of a procedural "stale
complaint rule."
Such a rule is intended to ensure that the FAA pursues cases
with reasonable diligence so that evidence is not lost and so a
threat of an enforcement action is not indefinitely hanging over a
pilot's head. In this case, the FAA had evidence of a pilot's
possible violation of the FARs for nine months
before the matter was investigated and determined by the FAA to
constitute a regulatory violation.
The delay was apparently caused by FAA staff and resource
shuffling, and the evidence languished until an inspector
investigated the matter. The court noted that "if diligence is
required, then it should begin as soon as the ball is in the FAA's
court."
AOPA Rolled Out The Big
Guns
"This is good news for AOPA members," said Kathy Yodice, counsel
to AOPA.
"The court is holding the NTSB, and by default the FAA, to the
applicable procedures. The rules exist to protect the rights of the
participants and the integrity of the process, and the rules must
be applied uniformly."
AOPA counsel participated in this case as a "friend of the
court," emphasizing the "importance of fairness in the process and
upholding due-process protections in the rules" for all pilots. The
pilot is a subscriber to the 20-year-old AOPA Legal Services Plan,
which is available exclusively to AOPA members.
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