F.A.A- Investigation

durind

durind

Well-Known Member
I am writing because of a potential letter of investigation that I am expecting to be receiving shortly, alleging that I falsified records while working at a part 141 school. The allegations stem from flights that were supposedly entered in to our 141 tracking program, but were either assigned as the wrong instructor, or with the wrong date, and therefore don't match up with their logbook, or time of payment for the flight.

Also included in the allegation is that flights were incorrectly assigned to the wrong lesson in the syllabus when they were entered in to the computer system, and were done too much out of order. Initially, myself and the other flight instructors thought they were just investigating the school and were not happy with the school's record keeping, but now two of my colleagues have been given letters of investigation for falsifying records, and I am most likely going to be in the same boat.

Has anyone every heard of this occurring before? I am not even sure if I should respond to the investigation since it says any response can be used against you. Our POI (who is investigating us) is a former employee of the school so there could possibly be a conflict of interest there as well. The closest thing I could find to an enforcement action similar to this was a CFI who failed to keep solo record and had his certificate suspended for 90 days.

I am being purposefully vague in this thread, due to the sensitive nature of this topic, and would appreciate PM's with any advice you may have. I am already considering upgrading my AOPA membership to include legal services, so any input on their usefulness would be appreciated as well. Thanks in advance for any help in this difficult and nervous time :(
 
Get an Aviation Lawyer. Do the AOPA thing as well, they can find you a local aviation attorney. After it's all said and done it was probably a computer/software program glitch. Or something of the like, I'm not likely to believe that several instructors at the same school at the same time went out of their way to fudge documents. Doesn't make logical sense to me. I'm sure there is a good explanation, it just needs to be found. Meantime, don't say a "bleeping" word.
 
flyingbum said:
Get an Aviation Lawyer. Do the AOPA thing as well, they can find you a local aviation attorney. After it's all said and done it was probably a computer/software program glitch. Or something of the like, I'm not likely to believe that several instructors at the same school at the same time went out of their way to fudge documents. Doesn't make logical sense to me. I'm sure there is a good explanation, it just needs to be found. Meantime, don't say a "bleeping" word.
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This. No matter how much they "just want to clear things up", don't say a single bleeping thing to them. Treat this like the cops sitting you down because they think you killed someone. Get a lawyer.
 
z987k said:
This. No matter how much they "just want to clear things up", don't say a single bleeping thing to them. Treat this like the cops sitting you down because they think you killed someone. Get a lawyer.
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Even worse than that... Instead of the cops having to prove you killed someone, you have to prove to the cops that you DIDN'T kill someone! Guilty until proven innocent, gotta love it.
 
Don't say a word. When they send a letter of investigation, they'll typically give you a deadline to respond, so most pilots quickly write their own letter and send it back to the FAA. Don't. Hire an attorney who specializes in aviation law, give him the LOI, and have him take care of it. Attorneys aren't cheap, but a good one is worth his weight in gold, especially when your career and livelihood are at risk.
 
Good luck to you...I'm sure every CFI has made the same type of mistake, and any one of us could be under the same gun. Unfortunately, the FAA doesn't look for any sort of "reasonable" excuses. I remember reading a brief on a Chief FI at a school who took two students on a cross country (one flew out, the other back), and then accidentally swapped the times when filling out each student's logbook. They had his license suspended/revoked, despite it clearly being an accident, and only like 0.2 hours.

Lawyer up.
 
MidlifeFlyer said:
In general, if the FAA's claim is indeed "falsification," it means they are treating it very seriously and may be looking at revocation (and emergency revocation at that), not just suspensions.

Repeat: get an aviation lawyer.

New: stop talking about it on a public forum or, for that matter, with anyone other than the attorney.
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I was going to say, that last part is or should be obvious.

Incidentally, John Yodice has spoken at various times on how the enforcement process works. Here's one resource he's put out in conjunction with AOPA.
 
Be careful when you select an attorney. I believe administrative law courts are restrictive when it comes to lawyers appearing before the court. Make sure that your attorney can continue to represent you from start to finish.
 
Pilot Fighter said:
Be careful when you select an attorney. I believe administrative law courts are restrictive when it comes to lawyers appearing before the court. Make sure that your attorney can continue to represent you from start to finish.
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I'm just going to quote one of my learned colleagues here.

jtrain609 said:
With how much you've invested into training, I have to assume that the rest of your career is worth at least the price of a consultation with an attorney. Asking pilots for legal advice is like asking lawyers for flying advice; it's outside their specialty, and as the good Doctor has noted, the laymen usually get it wrong. While this is NOT legal advice, if you would like an accurate answer to a legal question, the best option is usually to call an attorney.
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Pilot Fighter said:
Be careful when you select an attorney. I believe administrative law courts are restrictive when it comes to lawyers appearing before the court. Make sure that your attorney can continue to represent you from start to finish.
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Where did you hear that? Not that one may not exist but I'm not aware of any administrative agencies that preclude representation by a licensed attorney. OTOH, there are a number of them that permit representation by non-attorney lay representatives. That includes the NTSB (emphasis is mine):
==============================
§ 821.6 Appearances and rights of witnesses.

(a) Any party to a proceeding may appear and be heard in person, or by an attorney or other representative designated by that party. Upon hearing, and for good cause shown, the Board may suspend or bar any person from practicing before it.

(b) Any person appearing in any proceeding governed by this part may be accompanied, represented and advised, and may be examined by, his or her own counsel or representative.

(c) Any person who submits data or evidence in a proceeding governed by this part may, by timely request, procure a copy of any document submitted by him or her, or a copy of any transcript made of his or her testimony, on payment of reasonable costs. Original documents, data or evidence may be retained by a party upon permission of the law judge or the Board, upon substitution of a copy thereof.

(d) Any party to a proceeding who is represented by an attorney or representative shall, in a separate written document, notify the Board of the name, address and telephone number of that attorney or representative. In the event of a change in representation or a withdrawal of representation, the party shall immediately, in a separate written document, notify the Board (in the manner provided in § 821.7) and the other parties to the proceeding (pursuant to § 821.8), before the new attorney or representative may participate in the proceeding in any way. Parties, and their attorneys and representatives, must notify the Board immediately of any changes in their contact information.
==============================
 
Autothrust Blue said:
Incidentally, John Yodice has spoken at various times on how the enforcement process works. Here's one resource he's put out in conjunction with AOPA.
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Excellent resource so long as one knows it's not a replacement for good representation and that it needs updating. Looks like it was last updated some time in 2011; before the loss of the FAA's violation expungement policy and before the Pilot's Bill of Rights legislation. Same problem as my presentation a few years ago (available but dated).
 
I fail to remember the details but my family faced a situation where our attorney could not represent us before the U.S. Tax Court as he wasn't admitted to practice in the federal court system and possibly other reasons. I'm not an attorney, but ensuring that your attorney is qualified to represent you is not the worst advice I've given.
 
Remember that the regulation on falsification says "intentional." If someone else made the error in their recordkeeping, then it's not on you. Even if you made an error and it wasn't intentional, there is considerable room there. Everyone has made unintentional errors.

Use caution when selecting an aviation attorney. Every lawyer with a private pilot certificate wants to call himself an "aviation attorney". Give extra weight towards those recommended by AOPA. Also, consider contacting any others who are in the same situation as you and explore the possibility of combining financial resources and going together to hire one attorney.
 
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