Huerta v. Ducote

Jody Ducote co-piloted a passenger-carrying flight round-trip between the United States and the Bahamas but he was not qualified to pilot or co-pilot the flight. Ducote admitted both that he improperly piloted the Bahamas flights and that there was a material discrepancy between his personal flight log and the one he gave to the FAA. The FAA issued an emergency order revoking Ducote's pilot license, but the NTSB dismissed the Administration's complaint for failure to plead with sufficient factual specificity the seriousness of the violations. The court concluded that the Board’s interpretation and application of its stale complaint rule to dismiss Count 4 of the Administrator’s complaint marks an unexplained departure from prior precedent that is unsustainable under the plain text of the Board’s regulation; the Board relied on a finding never made by the ALJ to dismiss Count 3, rendering its reasoning entirely bankrupt; and therefore, the court vacated those portions of the Board’s decision, and remanded to the Board for further proceedings. Accordingly, the court granted the Administrator’s petition for review. View "Huerta v. Ducote" on Justia Law