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"v" PBGC 

--- Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation 

1200 K Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20005-4026 

www.pbgc.gov 

November 18, 2005 

Re: Appeal Number I I Case 140378 

Pan American world Airways. Inc. (~Pan AmW) 

Defined Benefit Plan for Flight Engineers (the ·Plan-) 

Dear~ __________ ~ 

We are responding to your October 10, 2004 appeal of PBGC's 

determination of your benefit. As is explained below: {I} your 

appeal is untimely; and (2) you have not provided sufficient 

grounds, as required under PBGC's regulation. for the Appeals Board 

to accept your untimely appeal. 

Copy of PBGC's 1997 Determcination 

You state you do not recall receiving PBGC's benefit 

determination letter. We have enclosed a copy of PBGC's 

February 28, 1997 determination letter and benefit calculation 

statement. Please see Enclosure 1. 

Your Appeal is Untimely 

You state: ~I understand there ha~ been a policy change from 

my initial pension determination letter when the PBGC took over the 

administration of my pension plan on July 31, 1991. I therefore 

appeal and request a recomputation of my pension and adjustment 

based on the PBGC policy change. n 

PBGC's -Rules for Administrative Review of Agency Decisions 

(-Rules-) allow 45 days after the date of a benefit determination 

to appeal. See 29 Code of Federal Regulations (ftCFR-) §§ 4003.4, 

4003.52.. PBGC -explained the 45-day appeal period in your 

February 28, 1997 determination letter and in an enclosed pamphlet, 

·Your Administrative Appeal Rights.'" See Enclosure 3. Since your 

October 10, 2004 appeal is dated more than 7 years after PBGC's 

February 28. 1997 determination, your appeal is untimely. 

For your information. the policy change you have referred to 

is found under PBGC's Policy Bulletin 00-3, "Adjusting the Maximum 

Guaranteed Benefit for Ages Greater than 65.· This policy, 

however. does DOC apply to benefits that became final before its 

March 6, 2000 effective date. Therefore, since your benefit 

determination had already become final once your 45-day appeal 

period ended on April 14, 1997. you do not fall within the scope of 
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the Policy Bulletin 00-3. Additionally, your filing of this 

untimely appeal does not change this result and make the Policy 

apply to your benefits. 

Your Request for Review of Your Untimely Appeal 

You state that you "do not recall receiving a Letter of 

Initial Determination.· 

The Rules, at 29 C.F.R. § 4003.5, allow the Appeals Board to 

process your non-timely request for review if the following 

conditions are met: 

• You demonstrate in your request for review that you did not 

file a timely appeal because you neither knew, nor with 

reasonable diligence could have known, of PBGC's initial 

determination; and 

• Your appeal is filed within 45 days after .the date that you, 

exercising due diligence at all relevant times, firsrlearned 

of the initial determination. 

Your statement that you "do not recall- receiving PBGC's 

determination is insufficient to meet the above requirements. 

First, while your statement raises the possibility that you never 

received the February 28, 1997 determination letter, there is 

nothing in PBGC's records indicating that t~iS occurred. We note 

that PBGC sent the 1997 letter to the same _ I address 

you used at least until 1998. Please Enclosure 2. 

Additionally, you did not offer any explariation or information 

concerning the second requirement under the Rules: that you, 

despite exercising due diligence at all times, did not learn of 

PBGC's determination until 45 days before you filed your appeal 

{i.e., before August 26, 2004}. 

The Board agreed, however, to provide you with a further 

opportunity to demonstrate that you meet the criteria under the 

Rules for the review of your untimely appeal. Accordingly, the 

Board decided that it may further consider a request to review an 

untimely appeal from you, but only if: 

• After examining PBGe's February 28, 1997 benefit determination 

letter (Enclosure I), you conclude that you did not receive it 

before August 26, 2004; AND 

• You sign the Declaration in Enclosure 4 before a Notary Public 

and submit it to the Appeals Board. Please note that making 

false, fictitious or fraudulent statements to the Pension 

Benefit Guaranty Corporation is a 't:rime punishable under Title 

18, Section 1001, United States Code;, AND 
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• You submit an additional, specific explanation with any 

supporting evidence to demonstrate that: (1) you have 

exercised due diligence at all times, and (2) despite such due 

diligence, you neither knew nor should have known of of PBGe's 

determination before-August 26, 2004 . 

If you believe, based on the Rules, that you are entitled to 

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have the Board review your appeal, you may submit the Declaration, 

the additional explanation with any supporting evidence, and your 

appeal by January 3, 2006, which is the first business day after 

the federal holiday 45 days from the date of this letter. Your 

appeal must specifically explain why your PBGe determination is 

wrong and the result you are seeking. For an explanation of how to 

file an appeal, please see PBGe's brochure ·Your Right to Appeal,n 

Enclosure 3. You may file these documents, either in person, by 

fax, or by the U.S. Postal Service, at the address at the top of 

this letter, Attention: Appeals Board, Suite 480. 

Decision 

The Appeals Board in unable to review your october 10, 2004 

appeal because it is untimely. The Board. however, will further 

consider a request for review if you submit a notarized Declaration 

and the other information discussed above no later than January 3, 

2006. 

Thank you for your patience while we carefully reviewed your 

October 10, 2004 letter. Please direct any questions about your 

benefit to: 

PBGe Authorized plan Representative 

PO Box 151750 

Alexandria VA 22315-1750 

You may also contact PBGC's Authorized Representative at 800-400-

7242 extension 2000. 

Sincerely, 

tJ~J. Ii 

William D. Ellis 

Appeals Board Member 

Enclosures: 

1) Copy of PBGC's February 28, 1997 benefit determination 

letter and calculation statement (4 pages) 

2) Your April 30, 1998 Direct Deposit Sign-up Form showing 

you were still at the Flagler Beach address 

3) PBGe's brochure Your Right to Appeal 

4) Declaration to facts, which you must sign before. a Notary Public. . .