Richard Milford Watson v. National Transportation Safety Board and Federal Aviation Administration
Opinion
Opinion
Before ELY, CARTER and GOODWIN, Circuit Judges.
In 1965, the Federal Aviation Agency (FAA) promulgated a new aviation regulation requiring each person holding a flight engineer certificate issued before February 22, 1966, to exchange his certificate for a new certificate showing a rating for the particular class or classes of aircraft on which the individual was qualified for flight engineering performance. 30 Fed.Reg. 14560 (1965); 14 C.F.R. 63.45 (1974). The regulation provided that pre-1966 certificates would not be effective after a certain date in 1968 but that they could be exchanged for new certificates, upon a showing of compliance with specified requirements, at any time before a certain date in February, 1971.
Watson held a flight engineer’s certificate that had been issued in 1960. Subsequently, asserting that he was unaware of the new regulation described above, Watson failed to take any action to have his certificate converted to a new, class-rated certificate until 1973. Upon Watson’s inquiry, the FAA informed him that the five-year period for converting his old certificate had expired and that, consequently, the old certificate was no longer valid.