Mendenhall
Mendenhall v. National Transportation Safety Board
Opinion
Lead Opinion
Scannlain, J.
We must decide whether the Federal Aviation Administration was substantially justified in filing a complaint before the National Transportation Safety Board against a commercial pilot who had successfully passed a reexamination.
I
Bonnie Lee Mendenhall is a commercial pilot. After failing numerous practical tests between September 1988 and November 1991, including reexaminations of her Airline Transport Pilot (“ATP”) status, she was notified that the Federal Aviation Administration (“FAA”) intended to reexamine her instrument rating.
On March 6, 1992, during a reexamination cheek in an aircraft simulator, FAA Aviation Safety Inspector Ray Evans spotted three maneuvers in Mendenhall’s performance that were below standard, prompting him to recommend that she “arrange ... for some additional training and schedule another reexamination check.” Ten days later, Flight Standards District Office (“FSDO”) Manager A1 Toll wrote to Mendenhall, notifying her of the deficiencies in her performance and asking that she “voluntarily surrender” her flight instructor certificate and the instrument rating portion of her commercial pilot certificate.