Regulations and Government
Behind the scenes of the FAA legal system
“The law isn’t justice.

“The law isn’t justice. It’s a very imperfect mechanism,” Sewell Endicott says in Raymond Chandler’s The Long Goodbye. “If you press exactly the right buttons and are also lucky, justice may show up in the answer. A mechanism is all the law was ever intended to be.” This statement certainly applies to FAA enforcement cases, especially for Part 145 repair shops.

While it is true that an FAA inspector does not have the power to issue a civil penalty, it is also true that he may recommend it to his regional headquarters. It is the FAA’s region counsel that determines if an actual violation has occurred and whether it should be pursued for prosecution. To some extent, that might work in your favor.

Loading…