Story ID: 
NTSB Orders FAA To Reimburse Wronged Pilots
By: Jennifer Harrington
Caption: The NTSB’s chief administrative law judge on September 3 ordered the FAA to pay $12,475 in attorney fees and expenses to two pilots, whom the Agency had ac
Word Count: 111
The NTSB’s chief administrative law judge on September 3 ordered the FAA to pay $12,475 in attorney fees and expenses to two pilots, whom the Agency had accused of operating an unairworthy Learjet 60, and the FAA subsequently withdrew its suspension of the pilots’ airline transport pilot certificates. The FAA, which had initiated an enforcement action in March, based its determination of the airplane’s unairworthiness on the removal of a divan and installation of a non-operational ELT. The divan removal had been approved by an Albuquerque, N.M. FAA inspector. Despite that approval, Teterboro, N.J. FAA inspectors decided that the removal required a supplemental type certificate, not just a log entry.