Robert Tur v. Federal Aviation Administration

I.

On September 27,1991, respondent James B. Busey (Administrator) issued an emergency order revoking petitioner Robert Albert Tur’s Commercial Pilot Certificate on the basis of a finding that petitioner lacked the qualifications required of a helicopter pilot. The order charged petitioner with five counts of violations of Federal Aviation Regulations. Tur appealed this order by notice dated October 10, 1991. Because the petitioner was appealing an emergency order, an expedited hearing was set before an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ), but petitioner was notified that the emergency procedures could be waived, allowing him more time to prepare for the hearing.

Following a hearing on October 30 & 31, 1991, the ALJ issued an initial oral decision and order, which found that although the allegations in Counts 1, 4 and 5 had not been established, those in Counts 2 and 3 had. In Count 2, Tur was charged with reckless operation of an aircraft and operation of an aircraft at an unsafe minimum altitude. See 14 C.F.R. §§ 91.13 , 91.111 (1992). It was alleged that Tur had operated his helicopter on May 27,1988, within 100 feet of a fire on the Redondo Beach Pier, Redondo Beach, California.…