## SERVED: OCTOBER 11, 2012 lUll

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION OFFICE OF HEARINGS

WASHINGTON, DC
IN THE MATTER OF 

## MARITIME AIRCHARTERS, INC.

FAA DOCKET No. [TO BE ASSIGNED] (Civil Penalty Action) FDMS No. FAA-2012-0905 

## I2**~~** C{: 

## 2b

ORDER GRANTING MOTION TO DISMISS REQUEST FORHEARING AND ASSESSING CIVILPENALTY Complainant Federal Aviation Administration ("Complainant" or "FAA"), on September 18, 2012, filed under §13.218{f)(2)(i) ofthe Rules of Practice in FAA Civil Penalty Actions, 14 C.F.R. §13.201 

### etseq. ("the Rules of Practice"), a Motion to Dismiss Respondent's Untimely Request for Hearing ("Motion to Dismiss" or "Motion"). The Motion, filed in lieu ofa Complaint, seeks dismissal ofthe Request for Hearing (11Request") filed by Respondent Maritime Air Charters, Inc. ("Respondent"). Complainant asserts as grounds forthe relief it seeks that Respondent's Request was, at minimum, twenty-five days late; the Request, the argument continues, therefore must be dismissed as untimely. The Rules of Practice, §13.16(g)(2), require a person 1 charged with a violation who has requested a hearing, such as Respondent, to make that request "[n)ot laterthan 15 days after

1

### The term "person" is defined as, among otherthings, afmn, corporation, or company, so Respondent is considered a "person." 14 C.F.R. §1.1.

### 2 receipt ofthe final notice ofproposed civil penalty." Complainant has submitted copies of postal documents indicating that Respondent received the FAA's final notice of proposed civil penalty (11FNPCP") on July 18, 2012 (Exhibit 4 attached to the FAA's Motion). Fifteen days afterwards was August 2, 2012. August 2, then, became thedeadline underthe Rules bywhich Respondent needed to request a hearing orface consequences offailing to do so. Respondent's Request was made by letter dated August 27, 2012 (Exhibit 5). The date of Respondent's Request was forty days afterthe date ofthe Respondent's receipt ofthe FNPCP, and twenty-five days past the deadline. Respondent has not answered Complainant's Motion. The Motion is hereby GRANTED. The Rules of Practice are clear. Respondent was required to file a Request for Hearing no laterthan fifteen days following its receipt ofthe FNPCP. It received the FNPCP on July 18, 2012. Respondent, then, was required to mail its Request no laterthan fifteen days afterthat date, or by August 2. Its Request was dated August 27. Respondent's Request came in twenty-five days late. 2 Since Respondent's Request for Hearing was untimely, it must be dismissed, unless good cause is shown. Carl P. Langton, FAA Order No. 93-12 (March 25, 1993), p. 6. But Respondent did notanswer Complainant's Motion. It made no attemptto demonstrate good cause for its untimelyfiling. In these circumstances, I am compelled to grant Complainant's Motion. I will therefore dismiss Respondent's Request for Hearing. Further, a penalty of$15,000, the amount sought in the Complaint, will be assessed. This docket is closed. 3


### .WHEREFORE, it is ORDERED as follows: 1. Complainant's Motion to Dismiss Respondent's Untimely Request for a Hearing is hereby GRANTED; 2. Respondent's Request for Hearing is hereby DISMISSED;

2 I note also thatthe FNPCP, although notrequiredto, explicitly alerted Respondent to the 15-day requirement and warned ofthe consequences for failing to comply. Complainant's Exhibit4, p. 3. 3 This decision may be appealedto the Administrator ofthe FAA under section 13.218(f)(2)(i). The notice ofappeal must conform to sections 13.210, 13.211(e) and 13.233 ofthe Rules ofPractice, which require that a notice of appeal 1) be filed notlater than 10 days (plus an additional five days ifmailed) from the service date ofthis decision, and 2) be perfectedwith a written brieformemorandum not laterthan 50 days (plus an additional five, if mailed) from the service date ofthis decision. The notice ofappeal and brieformemorandum must either be a) mailed to the Federal Aviation Administration, 800 Independence Avenue, S.W., Washington, DC 20591, Attn: Hearing Docket Clerk, AGC-430, Wilbur Wright Building-Suite 2Wl000, orb) delivered personally or via expedited courier service to the Federal Aviation Administration, 600 Independence Avenue, S.W., Wilbur Wright Building-Suite2W1000, Washington, D.C. 20591, Attn: Hearing Docket Clerk, AGC-430. A copy ofthe notice of appeal andbrieformemorandum also mustbe sentto agency counsel. Service upon the presidingjudge is optional.

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3. Respondent is hereby assessed a civil penalty of$15,000; and 4. This docket is closed.

Attachment- Service List

### 4

SERVICE LIST ORIGINAL & 

### ONE COPY Federal Aviation**Admini~tration** 

### 800 Independence Avenue; S.W. Washington, DC 20591 Attention: Hearing Docket Clerk, AGC-430 Wilbur Wright Building-Suite 2W1000 1



### Lawrence R. Neu Agent for Service Maritime Air Charters, LLC, 

### Respondent 529 VillaDrive · Seabrook, TX77586 TEL: 832.,291-1131 DonBobertz, 

### Complainant's Counsel Attorney, Office ofRegional Counsel Western-Pacific Region, A WP-7.4 Federal Aviation Administration**P~O.** 

### Box92007 Los Angeles, CA90009-2007 TEL: 310-725-7100 FAX: 310-725-6816 

### ONE COPY

TheHonorable Richard C. Goodwin,

### Administrative LawJudge Office ofHearings, M-20 U.S. Department ofTransportation 1200 New Jersey Avenue, S.E. (E11-310) Washington, DC 20590 TEL: 202-366-2139 Attorney-Advisor 202-366-5121 StaffAssistant/Paralegal FAX: 202-366-7536 FDMS No. FAA-2012-0905 (Civil Penalty Action)

1 

### Service was by.U.S. Mail. For service inperson orby expedited courier, use the following address: Federal Aviation Administration, 600 Independence Avenue, S.W., Wilbur Wright Building-Suite 2Wl000, Washington,· DC 20591, Attention: Hearing Docket Clerk, AGC-430. 

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