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Introduction
The Federal Aviation Administration publishes quarterly a compilation of
enforcement actions against regulated aviation entities that are closed with a
civil penalty or issuance of a certificate suspension or revocation. The
compilation is based on data from the agency's Enforcement Information System
(EIS). For purposes of these compilations, a regulated aviation entity holds
a certificate issued by the FAA, e.g., air carrier operating certificate,
repair station certificate, pilot school certificate, airport operating
certificate, or is a foreign air carrier or other aviation entity regulated
under Part 129 of the Federal Aviation Regulations, 14 CFR part 129. The Transportation Security Administration
is now the record owner for all enforcement actions ever taken against
regulated aviation entities for violations of chapter 449 of Title 49 United
States code or a regulation prescribed or an order issued thereunder. The FAA, therefore, will no longer include
within the quarterly compilations closed enforcement actions against entities
for violations of such requirements.
The FAA has removed such security enforcement actions from all
quarterly compilations presently posted on the FAA web site. Information about such enforcement actions
must be sought from the TSA.
Civil Penalties
For violations of certain
aviation laws and regulations occurring before December 12, 2003, the FAA has authority to issue
orders assessing a civil penalty of up to $50,000. For violations of certain laws and
regulations occurring after such date, the FAA has authority to issue orders
assessing a civil penalty of up to $400,000 against persons other than
individuals and small business concerns and against individuals and small
business concerns the authority to issue orders assessing a civil penalty of
up to $50,000.
An air carrier is subject to a penalty of up to $11,000
for a single violation of the aviation law or an FAA regulation occurring
before December 12, 2003. Other entities are subject to a penalty of
up to $1,100 for such violations. For
a single violation of the aviation law or an FAA regulation occurring on or
after December 12, 2003,
entities that are not small business concerns are subject to a penalty up to
$25,000 and small business concerns are subject to a penalty up to
$10,000. There is no dollar limitation
on assessments for violations of the Hazardous Materials Transportation
Safety Act or the Hazardous Materials Transportation Regulations, and the
penalty for each violation of these requirements ranges from $250 to $30,000.
Before a penalty is assessed, an entity may appeal the notice proposing a
civil penalty. A hearing before one of the Department of Transportation's
administrative law judges (ALJ) is available. Any decision by an ALJ may be
appealed to the FAA Administrator.
For civil penalties in excess of the dollar limitation on FAA’s assessment
authority (for other than hazardous materials violations), the FAA has
authority to compromise a penalty.
This type of action is initiated when the FAA sends a civil penalty
letter to an entity. The letter advises that the FAA believes the entity has
violated a statute or regulation. The letter also states that the FAA is
willing to accept a penalty of a specified amount in resolution of the
matter. An entity may pay this amount or another agreed-upon amount,
including an amount less than $50,000 and no adjudicated finding of violation
is made a part of the entity's enforcement record. If an entity does not
agree to the compromise, the case is referred to a United States Attorney for
prosecution in United States
district court. There a penalty is assessed, if appropriate, and findings of
violation, which serve as part of a certificate holder's enforcement record,
can be made.
Final decisions by the Administrator or the district court may be appealed to
a United States
court of appeals.
Certificate Actions
Certificate suspensions of a fixed number of days are issued to
discipline an alleged violator and to deter others similarly situated.
Suspensions of indefinite duration are issued to prevent a certificate holder
from exercising the privileges of a certificate pending demonstration that
the certificate holder meets the standards required to hold its certificate.
Certificate revocations are issued when the FAA determines that a certificate
holder is no longer qualified to hold a certificate. Orders of suspension and
revocation issued by the FAA may be appealed to the National Transportation
Safety Board, and the Board's decisions may be reviewed by a United
States court of appeals.
Informal Procedures and Settlements
There is an opportunity at the beginning of most enforcement cases for
informal procedures, including an informal conference with an FAA attorney,
to give the alleged violator a chance to bring to the FAA's attention
information favorable to it, e.g., exculpatory or mitigating evidence. During
these informal procedures an enforcement action can sometimes be resolved to
the mutual satisfaction of the parties.
Either during the informal procedures or later in the process, cases are
often settled without resort to the full litigation process. Such settlements
often result after consideration of the risks and expense of litigation.
Settlements may reflect a lower civil penalty amount, sometimes due to
charges being dropped, or the payment of a civil penalty without a violation
established as a matter of record. In the latter case, the FAA may issue a
compromise order. In some situations, multiple cases are resolved at one
time, a situation when a consent order, signed by the FAA and the regulated
entity, may be issued. Finally, sometimes cases initiated as certificate
actions, i.e., suspensions or revocations, are resolved by payment of a civil
penalty.
Understanding the Report
At the end of each quarter of the calendar year, the FAA compiles a data
run for all enforcement actions against aviation entities that involve safety
issues and are closed with a civil penalty or issuance of an order of
certificate suspension or revocation. For purposes of this report, cases are
considered to be closed after an order has been issued that is no longer
appealable or when a civil penalty is compromised. For other record-keeping
purposes in the Enforcement Information System, a case is considered closed
only after some other event, e.g., payment of a civil penalty or a
determination that the penalty is not collectable or, in the case of
suspension or revocation, surrender of the certificate.
Following is an explanation of the terminology used in the report:
Case Number
Beginning with the reports for calendar year 1999, the case number
for each enforcement action will be listed in this column. The case number is
the number of the enforcement investigative report for that enforcement
action.
Name
The name of the aviation entity is listed in this column. The entity
ordinarily holds an FAA-issued certificate and, in those cases, the name in
the column is the name of the certificate holder recorded in the FAA's
official records.
Entity Type
The following are explanations of the abbreviations that are used in this
column of the report:
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A/C or COMM OPER
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An air carrier or a commercial operator is an entity
that engages in the carriage by aircraft of persons or property for
compensation or hire.
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FOREIGN AIR CAR
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Foreign air carrier
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AGRI OPR
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Agricultural Operator
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APPROVD REPAIR STA
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Approved Repair Station
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CERTIFICATE SCHOOL
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Certificated School
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AIRPORT OPERATOR
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Airport Operator
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AIRCRAFT PROD
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Aircraft Production
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TRAVEL CLUB
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Travel club
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EXT LOAD
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External Load Rotorcraft
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COMP PROD
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Component Production
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Date Known
The date a violation became known to the FAA is listed in this
column.
Action
The type of legal enforcement action taken is listed in this column. The
following are explanations of the abbreviations used in this column of the
report:
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CIVIL PENALTY
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Civil Penalty Letter
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ORD ASSESS CIVIL PENALTY
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Order Assessing Civil Penalty
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ORD ASSESS CP HMT
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Order Assessing Civil Penalty for a violation of the
Hazardous Materials Transportation Act or regulations
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CP COMPROMIS NO FINDING
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Civil Penalty Compromise Order, No Findings of Violation
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CERTIFICATE REVOCATION
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Certificate revocation under 49 U.S.C. § 44709
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CERTIFICATE SUSPENSION
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Certificate Suspension under 49 U.S.C. § 44709
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CONSENT ORDER
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Consent Order
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Sanction Amount
This column contains the amount of dollars of a civil penalty or
the number of days for a certificate suspension. The column is blank in the
case of a certificate revocation or a certificate suspension of indefinite
duration.
Sanction
The final sanction is either "dollars," which indicates that
the number in the Final Amount column reflects a civil penalty, or
"days," which indicates that the number in the Final Amount column
reflects a certificate suspension for the specified number of days.
"Indefinite duration" is an entry that reflects that a certificate
has been suspended indefinitely pending demonstration that the certificate
holder meets the standards required to hold its certificate.
"Revocation" is also an entry under the Sanction Type heading, indicating
certificate revocation. "Consolidated Case" is another entry in
this column. It indicates that the case is one of a number of cases that were
closed together. The sanction attributable to the case is part of the
sanction amount listed with another, "master" case of the same
certificate holder that was closed on the same date. The "master"
case is listed above the case(s) labeled as consolidated.
"Sanction waived" indicates that the FAA has agreed not to
impose against the aviation entity the corresponding number of days or
dollars in the Sanction Amount Column. The FAA's agreement usually is based
on the aviation entity's agreement to take steps beyond minimum regulatory
requirements to enhance the safety of its operation. If the aviation entity does
not carry through on its commitment, the FAA will impose the amount of
sanction that was to have been waived. In cases where some sanction is
waived, the total amount of sanction against the aviation entity equals the
amount of sanction waived plus the amount of sanction listed directly above
it.
Case Type
This column lists a category of violation or apparent violation that
was primarily involved in the case. Following are explanations of the
violation categories used in the report:
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FLT OPNS
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Flight operations
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MAINTENANCE
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Maintenance
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RECORDS/RPTS
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Records and reports
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TRNG-FLT CREW
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Training, Flight Crew
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TRNG-OTHER
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Training, other than flight crew
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HAZ MAT
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Hazardous Materials
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ARPT SURF/SAFE
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Airport Surfaces/Safety Areas
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OBSTRUCT/LGTNG
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Obstructions/Lighting
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CRASH/FIRE/RES
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Crash, Fire, and Rescue
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ARPT OPN/INSP
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Airport Operations/Self inspection
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QUAL CONTROL
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Quality control
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TYPE DESGN DATA
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Type Design Data
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TSO
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Technical Standard Order
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AIRCRAFT ALTR
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Aircraft Alterations
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NEAR MID-AIR
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Near Mid-air
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HAZ AIR NAV
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Hazard to Air Navigation
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HAZ PER/PROP
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Hazardous to persons or property on the surface
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INTFR CREW
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Interference with Crewmember
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NOISE
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Noise
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MEDICAL
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Medical
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DRUG TESTING
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Drug Testing
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OTHER
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Other
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The category "Other" could include violations such as a
certificate holder's failure to surrender a certificate or an air carrier's allowing
a person who appears to be intoxicated to board its aircraft. The field
inspector has the discretion to determine the case type or category of the
violation.
Closed Date
This column contains the date on which an order was issued or, if
a case went through the full appeals process, the decision was issued. The
cases are listed in chronological order based on closing date from the
beginning to end of a quarter.
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AGC
Enforcement Action Database
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