UNITED STATES OF AMERICA DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION OFFICE OF HEARINGS

IN THE MATTER OF: NORTHEASTERN AVIATION CORPORATION Respondent
Wednesday, February 10, 2016 FDMS No. FAA-2014-0812 1

The teleconference convened, pursuant to notice, at 10:00 a.m.
BEFORE: THE HONORABLE 

### J. E. SULLIVAN, Administrative Law Judge



# ORIGINAL

(202) 234-4433 

### 252.016

NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLANDAVE., NW. WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433

### APPEARANCES:
On Behalf of the Complainant: ZACHARY M. BERMAN, ESQ. of: Office of Regional Counsel, Eastern Region Federal Aviation Administration 1 Aviation Plaza Jamaica, New York 11434 718-553-3258 zachary.berman@faa.gov
On Behalf of the Respondent: EDWARD J. LONGOSZ, II, ESQ. of: Eckert Seamans Cherin 

### & Mellot, LLC 1717 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W. 12th Floor Washington D.C. 20006 202-659-6619 elongosz@eckertseamans.com Also Present: 2



### Cody L. Smith, FAA Attorney Adviser Rachel Brown, Judicial Staff Assistant

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1 

### P-R-0-C-E-E-D-I-N-G-S 2 

### (10:01 a.m.) 3 

### JUDGE SULLIVAN: We're on the record, 4 

### in the matter of Northeastern Aviation 5 

### Corporation. This is Docket Number 6 FAA-2014-0812. Today is Wednesday, February 10, 7 

### 2016, and the parties have convened for a 8 

### prehearing status conference. Both parties are 9 appearing, by telephone. 10 The Complainant is Federal Aviation 11 Administration, which I'll, hereinafter, refer to 12 as the FAA, is represented by its Attorney of 13 Record, Mr. Zachary M. Berman. 14 The Respondent, Northeastern Aviation 15 Corporation, is represented by its Attorney of 16 Record, Mr. Edward Longosz, II. Also present, at 17 the Office of Hearings, are two observers, Mr. 18 Cody L. Smith, an Attorney Advisor, and Ms. 19 Rachael Brown, a Judicial Staff Assistant. Good 20 morning, to you, all. 21 22

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### MR. BERMAN: Good morning. MR. LONGOSZ: Good morning, again,

NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLANDAVE., N.W. WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-44334 

### 1 Your Honor. 2 JUDGE SULLIVAN: I 

### will, simply, note 3 

### that the last ordered issued in this case was 4 

### issued August 4, 

### 2015. This was an order denying 5 

### the FAA's motion to compel, on the grounds of
6 

### mootness. 7 

### Since then, the parties have managed 8 

### the case on their own, without Court intervention 9 

### and, as a result, the case stands to be tried in 10 the New York area, on May 4, 

### 2016 and May 5, 11 2016. 12 Originally, according to the 13 

### previously issued litigation order, dated April 14 17, 

### 2015, the parties had set up today's 15 telephone conference, either for argument on 16 dispositive motions, or as a prehearing status 17 

### conference. As noted earlier, it appears this a 18 

### prehearing status conference, since no 19 dispositive motions were filed. 20 So, Mr. Berman, since you are the 21 Complainant's Counsel, why don't I turn to you, 22 first, and you tell me what the status of the

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### 1 case is. 2 

### MR. BERMAN: Yes, I believe we're very 3 close to reaching a settlement. We're just, I'm 4 not sure how much detail you want, but we're in 5 the

-- the Agency is in the process of putting 6 together a settlement proposal, and we discussed 7 it, in principle, with Northeastern and I, and 8 they seem to be okay with agreeing with the 9 principle, we just have to iron out the details, 10 so it's an excellent chance that we're going to 11 settle very soon. 12 

### JUDGE SULLIVAN: Okay. Mr. Longosz, 13 do you have anything you would like to add, or 14 correct, to that pre-status summary? 15 

### MR. LONGOSZ: No, Your Honor. And, as 16 one knows, the devil's in the details, but 17 definitely, in terms of in principle, we're in 18 accord, and I think within the next week or two 19 we can hammer out the details, we may have some 20 good news for the Court. 21 

### JUDGE SULLIVAN: Okay. And why don't 22 

### I turn back to you, Mr. Berman.

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### In looking at

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### 1 the litigation procedural order, which was dated 2 April 17, 2015, we had another date of March 3 22nd, 2016, for the exchange of witness list and 4 

### exhibits. This is on Page 3 

### of the five-page 5 order. 6 Do you want to set a second telephone 7 

### conference, prior to that date, just as a 8 

### bookend, for your settlement negotiations, so 9 that if something doesn't work out, we can 10 reconvene and you can tell me what, if anything, 11 the parties are going to be doing for trial? 12 MR. BERMAN: Okay. 13 

### JUDGE SULLIVAN: Because, obviously, 14 if you reach a settlement and file the paperwork, 15 I'll cancel whatever's on the calendar, including 16 another conference time. 17 MR. BERMAN: Okay. 18 

### JUDGE SULLIVAN: Would that work for 19 you? 20 MR. BERMAN: Yes it would. 21 JUDGE SULLIVAN: In terms of when you 22 think this potential settlement

--

(202) 234-4433 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W. WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-44337
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### MR. BERMAN: Yes. 2 

### JUDGE SULLIVAN: could be 3 completed, what are you looking for, in terms of 4 time, one week, two weeks, three weeks, what's 5 your preference? 6 

### MR. BERMAN: I'd say, realistically, 7 

### just to stay on the safe side, for the end of 8 

### February. 9 

### JUDGE SULLIVAN: Okay. And

-- 10 MR. BERMAN: Just another 19, 19 days. 11 

### JUDGE SULLIVAN: Okay. 12 MR. BERMAN: All right. 13 

### JUDGE SULLIVAN: Mr. Longosz, would 14 setting another conference in early March 2016 15 work for your client, as well? 16 MR. LONGOSZ: Yes it would, Your 17 

### Honor. I think it's a good idea. 18 

### JUDGE SULLIVAN: Okay. Then let's 19 take a look at our calendars for the week of, 20 either, the week of March 1st, 2016, or even the 21 following week. Mr. Berman, starting with you, 22 do you have a preferred date or time within that

(202) 234-4433 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLANDAVE.• N.W. WASHINGTON. D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-44338 1 two-week time period? 2 MR. BERMAN: I'm free that entire time 3 period. 4 JUDGE SULLIVAN: Okay. Mr. Longosz, 5 same question to you, sir. 6 MR. LONGOSZ: On the week of March 7 1st, I'm not available that Monday the 29th, nor 8 Friday, the 4th, but March 1, 2, or 3, is 9 available. And then, would you like me to go 10 into the next week, or does 11 JUDGE SULLIVAN: No, I think that's 12 good enough. I think, since we have a March, 13 we're meeting together on February 10, 2016, 14 let's just keep with the February, I'm sorry, a 15 Wednesday time period and meet on Wednesday, 16 March 2nd, 2016, again, at 10:00 a.m., Eastern 17 Time. 18 And, obviously, this particular 19 conference would be a second prehearing status 20 conference and it would be cancelled, if the 21 parties reach a settlement and file settlement 22 papers, prior to March 2nd, 2016.

(202) 234·4433 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS ANDTRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLANDAVE., N.W. WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005·3701 Mr. Berman,

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### 1 would that work for your client? 2 MR. BERMAN: Yes, it would. 3 

### JUDGE SULLIVAN: Okay. And, Mr. 4 Longosz, same question. 5 

### MR. LONGOSZ: Yes, Your Honor. 6 

### JUDGE SULLIVAN: Okay. Mr. Berman, 7 starting with you, is there anything else that we 8 need to address for your client today? 9 

### MR. BERMAN: No, Your Honor. 10 

### JUDGE SULLIVAN: Mr. Longosz, same 11 question. 12 

### MR. LONGOSZ: Nothing, Your Honor. 13 Shall we use the same call-in number that we used 14 today? 15 

### JUDGE SULLIVAN: Yes, and I will be 16 sending out an order, in writing, codifying that 17 a new conference has been set and also giving you 18 the same conference number, so that you have it, 19 as an easy reference. 20 

### MR. LONGOSZ: Thank you. 21 

### JUDGE SULLIVAN: You're welcome. Well 22 then, with that, I will wish you, both, success

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### 1 2 3 4 

### 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 

### 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 ' 

### 20 II 

### 21 22 10 in your private settlement negotiations. It appears, our business today is complete. We can go off the record and I wish you all a good day. Thank you. MR. BERMAN: Thank you, too. Thank you, Your Honor. MR. LONGOSZ: Thank you.

(Whereupon, the hearing in the aboveentitled matter was concluded at 10:08 a.m.)

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### 12

www.nealrgross.com13 C E R T I F I C A T E

This is to certify that the foregoing transcript

In the matter of: Northeastern Aviation Corp, Inc.

Before: DOT/OH

Date: 02-10-16

Place: teleconference

was duly recorded and accurately transcribed under my direction; further, that said transcript is a true and accurate record of the proceedings.

Court Reporter

NEAL R. GROSS
(202) 234-4433 COURT REPORTERS ANO TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLANDAVE., NW WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 WWN.nealrgross.com