AOPA Pilot Magazine - December 2022 - 106

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LEGALLY SPEAKING /
Two possible outcomes
Demystifying 709 reexaminations
BY DANIEL J. HASSING
WHEN IT COMES to policing pilots, the
FAA has many arrows in its quiver. The
FAA often resolves unintentional deviations
through the Compliance Program, but
it can also hold pilots accountable through
administrative or legal enforcement actions.
Additionally, federal law authorizes the FAA
to reexamine an airman holding any certificate
or rating " at any time. " Colloquially
called 709 rides, these reexaminations often
resemble limited practical tests. While the
FAA claims that 709 rides are not punitive,
that is likely of little comfort to a pilot subject
to a reexamination.
Despite the broad " at any time " language,
the FAA must provide the airman
with a reasonable basis, described in detail,
for the request. Often, the FAA will request
a 709 ride after an accident or incident that
may have resulted from pilot error. But it
may request 709 rides in other circumstances.
For instance, if a designated pilot
examiner's (DPE) assessment of pilots
was inadequate, the FAA may require
pilots evaluated by the DPE to undergo
reexaminations.
The " reasonable basis " bar for requesting
a reexamination is low. In reviewing
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106
AOPA PILOT / December 2022
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such actions, the NTSB has said that it will
not " attempt to second guess [the FAA] as
to the actual necessity for another check of
a certificate holder's competence. " Rather,
the NTSB will look only to whether the
certificate holder has been involved in
a matter in which a lack of competence
could have been a factor. When there are
several potential causes for an accident or
incident, the FAA is not required to eliminate
causes other than pilot competency
before requesting a 709 reexamination.
The FAA typically requests the reexamination
by certified mail. The letter
should provide both the reason for the
examination as well as its scope. If a certificate
holder fails to submit to a request
for reexamination, the FAA may suspend
the certificate until the holder passes the
reexamination. In certain cases, however,
the FAA may immediately suspend a certificate
pending compliance with a request
for reexamination.
A 709 ride has two possible outcomes.
First, the airman performs satisfactorily,
in which case the airman receives a
letter to that effect. If the certificate was
suspended pending compliance with the
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reexamination, the FAA will end the
suspension.
The other possibility is that the airman
does not perform satisfactorily.
In this case, the inspector may give the
airman a second opportunity to pass.
Alternatively, when the inspector does
not believe that the airman will be able
to pass the reexamination, the FAA will
commence proceedings to revoke the certificate
in question. As with all revocation
proceedings, such an enforcement action
is appealable. Daniel J. Hassing is an
in-house attorney with the AOPA Legal
Services team.
AV I AT ION F INANCE
Adam answers /
BY ADAM MEREDITH
President, AOPA Finance
Q Can you finance the
purchase of a hangar and
the airplane?
A Unfortunately, we do
not currently have any
lending sources specifically
offering hangar financing.
This typically falls under
commercial real estate.
If the value of the aircraft
is substantially greater
than the purchase price,
however, there is the
possibility that our lenders
could include additional
funds to put toward the
hangar purchase. In this
case, they would finance up
to 80 or 85 percent of the
total value of the aircraft.
aopafinance.org
800-62-PLANE (75263)
AOPA Flight Training advantage
(AFTA) helps lower the cost and
time of training for your primary
certificate.
aopa.org/afta
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AOPA Pilot Magazine - December 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of AOPA Pilot Magazine - December 2022
