•jEPARTMEMTOf- ^ 

IRANSPORWION ^ 

..'V:i;^TnPFRAT!ONS UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

IN THE MATTER OF: 

SUNSTATE PROPELLER, INC., 

Respondent. 

201! NOV lU P 2^ CI 

No.: CPFAA-2011-0780 

Conference Room 

Heritage Reporting Corporation 

1220 L Street, N.W., Suite 600 

Washington, D.C. 

Tuesday, 

October 4, 2011 

The parties met, pursuant to the notice, at 

2:30 p.m. 

BEFORE: HONORABLE J.E. SULLIVAN 

Administrative Law Judge 

APPEARANCES: (Via Telephone) 

For the Respondent: 

MICHAEL A. HANSON, Esquire • 

Hanson Law Office 

2501 North Orient Road, Suite D 

Tampa, Florida 33619 

(813) 626-7304 

For the FAA: 

EDDIE THOMAS, Esquire 

Federal Aviation Administration 

Office of the Regional Counsel 

Southern Region 

P.O. Box 20636 

Atlanta, Georgia 30320 

(404) 305-5200 RECEIVED 

NOV-') 20« 

HEAR/NG DOCKET 

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2 

1 PROCEEDING S 

2 (2:30 p.m.) 

3 JUDGE SULLIVAN: We're on the record on 

4 October 4, 2011, in the case of Sunstate Propeller. 

5 Inc•, Docket No. CPFAA-2011-0780. We have convened 

6 for a litigation scheduling conference by telephone. 

7 The Respondent, Sunstate Propeller, Inc., is 

8 represented by Michael A. Hanson. The FAA is 

9 represented. The attorney of record is Andrea 

10 Michelle Harper. She's not present today, but 

11 standing in for her is Eddie Thomas. 

12 Mr. Thomas, could you identify what position 

13 you have in Ms. Harper's office? 

14 MR. THOMAS: I am the Regional Counsel, 

15 Southern Region, FAA. 

16 JUDGE SULLIVAN: Okay. 

17 MR. THOMAS: Michelle Harper works under my 

18 supervisor. 

19 JUDGE SULLIVAN: Thank you for appearing 

2 0 this afternoon. It's my understanding that Ms. Harper 

21 is not available today. 

22 MR. THOMAS: That's correct. She's not 

23 available. She had some illness in her family. Her 

24 stepfather is in the intensive care unit, and she's 

25 there to be with her mother and him. 

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1 JUDGE SULLIVAN: Okay. Do you have access 

2 to her calendar? Are you prepared to sub in for her, 

3 or do you have a motion for the Court? 

4 MR. THOMAS: I do not have a motion for the 

5 Court at this point simply because I just received the 

6 file. 

7 JUDGE SULLIVAN: So are you prepared to sub 

8 in for her today and calendar things on her docket? 

9 MR. THOMAS: No, I wasn't, but if for some 

10 reason it's necessary I guess I'll do what I have to 

11 do. 

12 JUDGE SULLIVAN: Well, that's what I'm 

13 asking you, Mr. Thomas. Do you have a motion to make 

14 to this Court, or are you prepared to go forward in 

15 her place? 

16 MR. THOMAS: I'd like to move to continue 

17 this until I know exactly what is happening with Ms. 

18 Harper. 

19 JUDGE SULLIVAN: Okay. And how long of a 

20 period of time are you making the motion for? Are you 

21 looking for one week? Two weeks? What timeframe are 

22 you looking at? 

23 MR. THOMAS: I'm looking for a minimum time 

24 of about a week until I can have an opportunity to 

25 talk to her and see what her situation is with her and 

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1 her family. 

2 JUDGE SULLIVAN: Okay. Mr. Hanson, do you 

3 have any objection to that motion? 

4 MR. HANSON: I don't. Judge. However, I 

5 think I can probably save everybody a lot of time. 

6 Ms. Harper had filed a motion to have the 

7 Court just consider the financial fine in lieu of a 

8 hearing, and we are in agreement with doing that. 

9 JUDGE SULLIVAN: And do you know when that 

10 was filed? 

11 MR. HTU^SON: I got it about two weeks ago. 

12 JUDGE SULLIVAN: Okay. And just so you 

13 know, this office just finished a physical move in 

14 location and I don't have that in my file. 

15 The last thing I have in my file is the 

16 notice of litigation scheduling conference that was 

17 served on September 15, 2011. 

18 MR. HANSON: Okay. 

19 JUDGE SULLIVAN: If there is an agreement 

20 for a narrowing of the issues, it would be helpful if 

21 I have the actual motion that Ms. Harper filed. And 

22 then as I understand it, you're agreeing on the' record 

23 to that motion? 

24 MR. HANSON: Yes, we are. 

2 5 JUDGE SULLIVAN: Okay. 

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1 MR. HANSON: I've got the motion in my hand. 

2 JUDGE SULLIVAN: Would you do me the 

3 kindness of faxing it to my office? 

4 MR. HANSON; Sure. Let me set this phone 

5 down first here. They used about 10 staples on this, 

6 so it's going to take me a minute to get it apart. 

7 JUDGE SULLIVAN: While you're doing that, 

8 may I ask you a question in terms of the civil penalty 

9 itself? 

10 MR. HANSON: Yes. 

11 JUDGE SULLIVAN: Are you saying that that 

12 could be addressed by written motion only? 

13 MR. HANSON: We would agree to that. We 

14 provided the FAA with all the documentation for 

15 mitigating the amount of the fine. I believe it was 

16 $8,500, if I remember. 

17 JUDGE SULLIVAN; You're correct. 

18 MR. HANSON: And we were just asking that 

19 the Court consider reducing that in light of the 

2 0 company, Sunstate Propeller's, financial condition. 

21 JUDGE SULLIVAN: Okay. Why don't we do 

22 this, folks? I think this might work out best for 

23 everyone. 

24 Let's continue this to a second conference 

25 time about two weeks from now. That will give me 

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1 enough time to look at all the material that Mr. 

2 Hanson is planning to courtesy fax to me this 

3 afternoon. 

4 And then if I have any other questions for 

5 counsel, I can address that either with you, Mr. 

6 Thomas, or with Ms. Harper, assuming that she's back 

7 in the office at that time. Would that work for 

8 everybody? 

9 MR. HANSON; That's fine. Judge. 

10 MR. THOMAS; That would work for us. I'm 

11 pretty sure that she'll be in the office by that time. 

12 In fact, I'm looking to hear from her probably 

13 tomorrow sometime. 

14 JUDGE SULLIVAN: Okay. Well, today is the 

15 4th of October. What about two weeks from today? If 

16 we set this for Tuesday, October 18, say at 2:30 in 

17 the afternoon, would that work for both of you? I'll 

18 start with you, Mr. Hanson. 

19 MR. HANSON: That's fine, Judge. 

2 0 JUDGE SULLIVAN: And, Mr. Thomas, would that 

21 time be available on Ms. Harper's calendar, to your 

22 knowledge? 

23 MR. THOMAS: To my knowledge it would be, 

24 Your Honor. 

25 JUDGE SULLIVAN: Okay. And just to make 

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1 doubly sure, do you have that time available on your 

2. calendar if for some reason she is unavailable? 

3 MR. THOMAS: If for some reason she's 

4 unavailable, 10-18-11 is okay. And you said what time 

5 in the afternoon? 

6 JUDGE SULLIVAN: This would be October 18, 

7 2011, at 2:30 p.m., the same time that we met this 

8 afternoon. 

9 MR. THOMAS: Yes. I could be available if 

10 she's not available. 

11 JUDGE SULLIVAN; Okay. I'll simply note 

12 that I'll either plan to meet with Ms. Harper on the 

13 telephone or if she's not available with you, Mr. 

14 Thomas. 

15 And then, Mr. Hanson, thank you for taking 

16 on the responsibility for apprising the Court of 

17 what's not in the file. I'll make sure I take a good 

18 look at it. 

19 If I have any questions to help the parties 

2 0 resolve any remaining matters we can take that up on 

21 Tuesday, October 18, 2011, at 2:30 Eastern time. 

22 MR. HANSON: That's fine. Judge. What is 

23 the fax number to send this to? Or an email. Either 

24 one. 

2 5 JUDGE SULLIVAN; I'll give you a fax number. 

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1 The fax number is (202) 366-7536. 

2 MR. HANSON: Okay. I'll get it right out to 

3 you, Judge. 

4 JUDGE SULLIVAN; Okay. And, Mr. Hanson, 

5 starting with you, is there anything else that we can 

6 address for your client today? 

7 MR. HANSON; No. I think that will do it. 

8 JUDGE SULLIVAN; Okay. And, Mr. Thomas, 

9 anything that we can address for your client? 

10 MR. THOMAS; I don't have anything else, 

11 Your Honor. I just want to say I appreciate your 

12 patience. 

13 JUDGE SULLIVAN: Thank you very much, sir, 

14 for standing in for Ms. Harper. 

15 It appears our business is complete. I'll 

16 thank you both, counsel, for your presence today. We 

17 can go off the record. Thank you all. 

18 ALL; Thank you. 

19 (Whereupon, at 2:37 p.m., the hearing in the 

20 above-entitled matter was concluded.} 

21 // 

22 // 

23 // 

24 // 

25 // 

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REPORTER'S CERTIFICATE 

DOCKET NO. ; C?rA ^ ' Z^// " Olf O 

CASE TITLE: Ju^sf^i ^ ?r.f>^U^^' JT^c^^ 

HEARING DATE: /O-^--/! 

LOCATION: H^n^^-cJ-^ /^^ ^ ^ ^^ - ^ ^ 

I hereby certify that the proceedings and 

evidence are contained fully and accurately on the 

tapes and notes reported by me at the hearing in the 

above case before MOI i Fn n 

Date: h-H-l i 

Official Reporter 

Heritage Reporting Corporation 

Suite 600 

1220 L Street, N.W. 

Washington, D.C. 20005-4018 

Heritage Reporting Corporation 

(202) 628-4888