AOPA Pilot Magazine - December 2014 - 24

PILOT COUNSEL

It could happen to you

BY JOHN S. YODICE

Remedial training for some airspace violations

JOHN S. YODICE

is partner in the
law firm that
manages the
AOPA Legal
Services plan
through AOPA's
Pilot Protection
Services.

IT COULD HAPPEN TO YOU. Flying into notam-established security airspace is one of the most prevalent
violations charged against general aviation pilots. It happens because of the bewildering complexity of many of
the FAA notams and rules, and because of the complexity of the airspace in which they apply. These airspace
intrusions are virtually never intentional, and, in retrospect, never were a serious safety or security threat.
Yet, for understandable reasons, following the terrorist
attacks of September 11, 2001, the FAA adopted a strict
enforcement policy requiring the grounding of offending pilots. According to the FAA, the lesser non-legal
"administrative action" in the form of a warning notice
or letter of correction would rarely be appropriate.
Rather, legal enforcement action in the form of a certificate suspension of 30 to 90 days would be required for
a single, first-time violation-and a certificate revocation
would be required when such violation is deliberate or
otherwise shows a disregard of or disdain for the FAR.
The FAA has now eased this policy, allowing administrative action (remedial training) and reexamination,
rather than grounding the pilot, when the airspace
intrusion is one mile or less and is quickly remedied, and
when correcting an erroneous transponder code. This
administrative action does not entail an official record
of violation that carries serious consequences, including the bar for five years from the benefit of the Aviation
Safety Reporting Program ("Pilot Counsel: Don't Wait
Too Long," August 2014 AOPA Pilot).
So, for violations of FARs 91.133 (restricted and prohibited airspace), 91.137 (disaster/hazard TFRs), 91.139
(emergency air traffic rules), 91.141 (presidential TFRs),
91.143 (space flight notams), 99.7 (ADIZ), and subpart
V of Part 93 (Washington Special Flight Rules Area),
the FAA has amended its Compliance and Enforcement
Bulletin, 2014-1 effective June 11, 2014, with this quoted
sanction guidance (italics are my emphasis):
1. Sanction a 30-day suspension for a single, firsttime, inadvertent violation except in the following
circumstances: a. Inadvertent, first-time violations
resulting from aircraft intruding one mile or less into the
security airspace and then turning and exiting directly
when there are no resulting complications for air traffic
control or other aircraft. b. Inadvertent, first time violations resulting from aircraft briefly (two minutes or less)
squawking a 1200 code or failing to squawk an assigned
discrete code, in security airspace that requires the aircraft

24 | AOPA PILOT December 2014

to squawk a discrete code, when there are no resulting
complications for ATC or other aircraft.
2. Sanction a 45- to 90-day suspension for having
a new inadvertent violation and a history of one prior
inadvertent violation occurring in security airspace.
Sanction a 90- to 150-day suspension for having a new
inadvertent violation and having a history of two prior
inadvertent violations occurring in security airspace.
Revocation is the sanction for having a new inadvertent
violation and having a history of three or more inadvertent violations occurring in security airspace. One of the
factors that may be considered, in selecting a sanction
within the appropriate range, is the period of time that
has elapsed between violations.
3. Use remedial training to address operations falling
under one of the circumstances identified in 1.a. and 1.b.
above when there are no prior related violations.
4. Reexamine the certificate holder's qualifications
to hold a certificate under 49 U.S.C. §44709 when a violation is subject to this special emphasis enforcement
program and calls into question the qualifications of the
certificate holder.
5. Revoke the certificate holder's qualifications to
hold a certificate for intentional violations occurring in
security airspace and for aggravated violations.
The Flight Standards inspector investigating the
violation will determine whether remedial training
is appropriate using this new sanction guidance. It is
in the letter notifying the pilot of the investigation of
the violation that the inspector will offer the airman an
opportunity for remedial training. The pilot will then
have the opportunity to meet with the FAA and agree on
a course of training. Once the training is agreed and then
completed, the pilot provides evidence (signed by the
training facility or the inspector, or for online courses
a computer-generated completion certificate) that the
training program has been successfully completed. The
inspector documents this corrective action by issuing
a letter of correction that will remain on the pilot's file
for two years, and then be expunged. The letter is not
an official finding of violation, and will not act as a bar
to future participation in the Aviation Safety Reporting
Program, or any of the other troublesome consequences
that result from a violation history. A small change, but
good news-thanks to the FAA.
AOPA
WEB

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http://www.aopa.org/pps

AOPA Pilot Magazine - December 2014

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