Opinion ID: 597106
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The NTSB's Reliance Upon Bulletin 86-2

Text: 14 In the alternative, the NTSB argues that, whatever the FAA may have done, the NTSB did not rely upon Bulletin 86-2 in upholding the FAA's 60-day suspension of Smith's license. The Board is administratively independent of the FAA and it was not bound to follow the FAA Bulletin; thus, whatever procedural mistake the FAA may have made in assessing the initial sanction against the petitioner, we are told, it does not infect the NTSB's final decision affirming the FAA's suspension of the petitioner's license. 15 The procedural history of this case indicates, however, that the NTSB decision did effectively rely upon FAA Bulletin 86-2. Recall that the FAA's 60-day suspension order relied upon Bulletin 86-2, and that the ALJ reduced the period of Smith's suspension to 45 days because of certain extenuating circumstances. The NTSB then reinstated the original 60-day suspension solely, it appears, out of deference to the FAA's sanction policy. See NTSB Order and Opinion, supra, at 8 (in cases when all violations alleged by the Administrator are affirmed, it is incumbent on the law judge to offer 'clear and compelling reasons' supporting any reduction in sanctions). See also NTSB Supplementation of Record on Remand, No. EA-3469, at 2 (January 8, 1992) (noting that the NTSB has generally deferred to the FAA's imposition of a 60-day suspension for this class of offenses). 16 The NTSB decision does not itself refer to Bulletin 86-2, but it need not do so in order to depend upon it. By deferring to the FAA's sanction policy and reinstating the original suspension, the NTSB's decision ultimately rests upon the FAA's decision and upon the Bulletin that improperly underlay that decision. The Board cannot be upheld insofar as it adopted as its own the FAA's invalid basis, and having suggested no alternate basis for reinstating the FAA's chosen sanction, the Board cannot be upheld upon its own account.