SERVED: OCTOBER 11, 2012 lUll 

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

OFFICE OF HEARINGS 

WASHINGTON, DC 

IN THE MATTER OF 

MARITIME AIR CHARTERS, INC. 

FAA DOCKET No. [TO BE ASSIGNED] 

(Civil Penalty Action) 

FDMS No. FAA-2012-0905 

I 2 ~~ C{: 2b 

ORDER GRANTING MOTION TO DISMISS REQUEST FOR HEARING 

AND ASSESSING CIVIL PENALTY 

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 et seq. ("the Rules of Practice"), a Motion to Dismiss Respondent's Untimely 

Request for Hearing ("Motion to Dismiss" or "Motion"). The Motion, filed in lieu of a 

Complaint, seeks dismissal of the Request for Hearing (

11Request") filed by Respondent 

Maritime Air Charters, Inc. ("Respondent"). Complainant asserts as grounds for the 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 person1 charged with a violation who has 

requested a hearing, such as Respondent, to make that request "[n)ot later than 15 days after 

1 The term "person" is defined as, among other things, a fmn, corporation, or company, so Respondent is considered 

a "person." 14 C.F.R. §1.1. 
2 

receipt of the final notice of proposed 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 the deadline under the Rules by which 

Respondent needed to request a hearing or face consequences of failing 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 after the date of the Respondent's receipt of the 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 later than fifteen days following its receipt ofthe 

FNPCP. It received the FNPCP on July 18, 2012. Respondent, then, was required to mail its 

Request no later than fifteen days after that 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 not answer Complainant's Motion. It made no attempt to demonstrate good cause for its 

untimely filing. 

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 that the FNPCP, although not required to, explicitly alerted Respondent to the 15-day requirement and 

warned of the consequences for failing to comply. Complainant's Exhibit 4, p. 3. 3 This decision may be appealed to the Administrator of the FAA under section 13.218(f)(2)(i). The notice of appeal 

must conform to sections 13.210, 13.211(e) and 13.233 ofthe Rules of Practice, which require that a notice of 

appeal 1) be filed not later than 10 days (plus an additional five days if mailed) from the service date of this 

decision, and 2) be perfected with a written brief or memorandum not later than 50 days (plus an additional five, if 

mailed) from the service date of this decision. The notice of appeal and brief or memorandum 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 2Wl 000, orb) delivered personally or via 

expedited courier service to the Federal Aviation Administration, 600 Independence Avenue, S.W., Wilbur Wright 

Building-Suite 2W1000, Washington, D.C. 20591, Attn: Hearing Docket Clerk, AGC-430. A copy of the notice of 

appeal and brief or memorandum also must be sent to agency counsel. Service upon the presiding judge is optional. 
3 

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 2W10001 

Lawrence R. Neu 

Agent for Service 

Maritime Air Charters, LLC, Respondent 

529 Villa Drive · 

Seabrook, TX 77586 

TEL: 832.,291-1131 

Don Bobertz, Complainant's Counsel 

Attorney, Office ofRegional Counsel 

Western-Pacific Region, A WP-7.4 

Federal Aviation Administration 

P~O. Box 92007 

Los Angeles, CA 90009-2007 

TEL: 310-725-7100 

FAX: 310-725-6816 

ONE COPY 

The Honorable Richard C. Goodwin, Administrative Law Judge 

Office of Hearings, 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 Staff Assistant/Paralegal 

FAX: 202-366-7536 

FDMS No. FAA-2012-0905 

(Civil Penalty Action) 

1 Service was by. U.S. Mail. For service in person or by 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. 

-2-'