Opinion ID: 519601
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Propriety of Revocation

Text: 13 Although FAR Sec. 61.15(a) specifically authorizes either suspension or revocation of a pilot certificate when the holder is convicted of a state or federal crime relating to narcotics distribution, 14 C.F.R. Sec. 61.15(a) (1988), Kolek maintains that revocation was an excessive sanction. He relies upon a series of NTSB decisions that have reserved revocation under section 61.15(a) to drug violations involving the use of an aircraft by the certificate holder. See, e.g., Administrator v. Amos, 2 N.T.S.B. 1305 (1975). Because his conviction yielded no evidence that he used an aircraft in violating drug laws, Kolek contends that suspension rather than revocation was the appropriate penalty. 14 This court recently reversed an order of revocation affirmed by the NTSB because revocation grossly exceeded the sanctions imposed in other proceedings for violations of the particular FARs at issue. Essery, 857 F.2d at 1286. In Essery, the court noted that the NTSB has an explicit policy of uniformity in enforcement, which mandates that [s]imilar violations under similar circumstances should result in the same type of enforcement action and sanction. Id. at 1291 (quoting Department of Transp., Fed. Aviation Admin. Order No. 2150, p 203c.3) (emphasis deleted). The court reviewed several cases involving similar or more egregious conduct than Essery's behavior for which the NTSB ordered suspension rather than revocation. Id. at 1291-92. Because the FAA failed to show any justification for deviating from its established pattern and its policy of uniformity, the court concluded that the NTSB's affirmance of revocation was an abuse of discretion. Id. at 1292-93. 15 Although the NTSB has affirmed suspension in other cases where the violation of a narcotics law has not involved the certificate holder's use of an aircraft, we conclude that the NTSB's affirmance of revocation in this proceeding is not an arbitrary deviation from its policy of imposing similar sanctions for similar violations but a reasonable exercise of discretion. Unlike the situation in Essery, the section of FAR violated by Kolek expressly authorizes either revocation or suspension of the infractor's certificate. See 14 C.F.R. Sec. 61.15(a) (1988). This express approval of revocation as a sanction for narcotics violations involving no aircraft use performs two important functions: it helps to establish that revocation for such violations is consistent with the sanctioning policy of the FAA, and it puts all certificate holders on notice of that consistency. Moreover, although lack of aircraft use in a narcotics violation has frequently carried significant weight in NTSB decisions, Administrator v. Pekarcik, 3 N.T.S.B. 2903 (1980), use or nonuse of an aircraft has not uniformly trumped other factors in the analysis. In Administrator v. Smith, for example, revocation was affirmed against a pilot who was convicted of possessing marijuana and who had a history of violating other sections of FAR, even though his violation involved no aircraft use. Initial Decision of Judge Patrick G. Geraghty, 3 N.T.S.B. 283, aff'd, NTSB Order No. EA-990 (April 12, 1977). 16 Finally, the NTSB adequately justified its affirmance of revocation rather than suspension on the basis of the severity of Kolek's drug trafficking violation. Indeed, the NTSB described Kolek's involvement in narcotic's distribution with particularity: 17 [Kolek], who pleaded guilty to a violation of 21 U.S.C. Sec. 848 (continuing criminal enterprise), was described in the indictment as the head of a large-scale drug trafficking organization that secured and illegally distributed controlled substances throughout the world. The organization included 13 individuals other than [Kolek] who were involved in smuggling cocaine and multi-ton quantities of marijuana by vessels and in investing and concealing the illegal proceeds of such trafficking. 18 Engen v. Kolek, NTSB Order No. EA-2402, slip op. (Sept. 22, 1986) (LEXIS, Trans library, NTSB file). This is in contrast to the action in Essery, where we held that the revocation was not justified for violations of safety regulations where those violations were less severe than violations in other cases that resulted in mere suspension. 857 F.2d at 1292-93. Based on the severity of Kolek's offense, the NTSB could reasonably impose revocation, a sanction expressly authorized by the regulation that Kolek violated, even though suspension has been affirmed for some of the other infractors whose violations involved no use of an aircraft.