The 709 Ride
by
Greg Reigel What happens if you are involved in an incident in which
your aircraft is damaged, but no one is injured, other than
perhaps you and your pride? For example, you forgot to put
the landing gear down and you landed your aircraft with the
gear up or you didn’t put in enough wind correction and you
and your aircraft ended up off the runway. Well, if the FAA
finds out, you will quite possibly receive a letter
demanding that you appear for the dreaded “709 ride”
(formerly known as the “609 ride” under the Federal Aviation
Act of 1958).
What Is The 709 Ride?
The 709 ride refers to the FAA’s authority to re-examine an
airman holding a certificate (pilot, flight instructor,
airframe and powerplant etc.) at any time pursuant to 49
U.S.C. 44709(a). The FAA issues a request for re-examination
to an airman after it discovers evidence that leads it to
question an airman’s qualifications to exercise the
privileges of the airman’s certificate. Incidents such as
the two examples above involve circumstances that very well
may lead the FAA to question an airman’s qualifications.
But what if the accident or incident was not the airman’s
fault. What if the accident or incident was caused by a
mechanical failure? Unfortunately, unless the mechanical
failure is obvious to the FAA as the sole cause of the
incident, a request for re-examination is likely to be
considered reasonable. Why? Because the FAA only has to show
that a lack of competence “could have been a factor” and, if
it was, the re-examination request is considered reasonable,
without regard to the likelihood that a lack of competence
had actually played a role in the event.
According to FAA Order 8700.1, Volume 2, Chapter 26,
“[t]here must be ample or probable cause for requesting the
reexamination” including reliable reports, personal
knowledge, or evidence obtained through an accident,
incident, or enforcement investigation. Thus, the “lack of
competence” has to be supported by the facts and
circumstances in the case. However, as long as a basis for
questioning an airman’s competence has been implicated,
rather than actually demonstrated, the request is considered
reasonable.
The Re-Examination Request
The procedures for the 709 ride are set out in Order 8700.1.
The Flight Standards District Office (“FSDO”) responsible
for the area within which the accident or incident occurred
will send the airman a letter requesting re-examination, via
certified mail, return receipt requested. The letter will
include (1) the reasons for the re-examination; (2) the
specific certificate and/or rating for which the
re-examination is necessary; (3) the type of re-examination;
(4) the category and class of aircraft required (if
applicable); (5) the location of the re-examination; and (6)
a time limit for accomplishing the re-examination.
After the airman receives the letter, the airman usually has
15 days within which to complete the re-examination,
although this is not always the case. If an airman was
injured in an accident and his or her physical condition
precludes completion of the re-examination or if the airman
needs more than 15 days within which to practice/prepare for
the ride, the re-examination may be postponed. Under these
circumstances the FAA will require that the airman surrender
his or her airman certificate and the FAA will issue a
30-day temporary certificate for the airman to operate under
until the re-examination.
If the FAA believes the airman will be operating
commercially while carrying passengers, the FAA may demand
that the re-examination occur within less than 15 days. In
this situation, if the airman is unable or refuses to submit
to the re-examination within the time specified, the airman
may surrender his or her certificate and obtain dual
instruction from a certificated flight instructor in
preparation for the ride or, if the airman finds it
necessary to conduct solo practice, the FAA may issue a
temporary airman certificate, valid for 30 days instead of
120 days bearing all ratings previously held by the airman.
However, in the latter situation, the ratings for which the
airman is to be re-examined will have the limitation "For
Student Pilot Purposes Only-Passenger Carrying Prohibited”.
It is important to note that an airman who wants to
surrender his or her certificate should not simply show up
at the FSDO and hand it over. If the certificate is to be
surrendered, it should be accompanied by a letter in which
the airman confirms that the certificate is only be
surrendered on a temporary basis and that the airman
reserves all privileges, rights and remedies with respect to
the certificate and any potential adverse action the FAA may
decide to take. An aviation attorney can help to draft this
letter and/or assist with the logistics of the surrender.
The 709 ride does not necessarily have to be scheduled with
the FSDO that issues the request. If the accident or
incident occurred somewhere other than the airman’s home
area, the airman can request that the re-examination be
administered by the airman’s home FSDO. In this situation,
the airman’s home FSDO would contact the FSDO issuing the
letter requesting the re-examination and coordinate with
that FSDO on the tasks to be re-examined and if any further
enforcement action is necessary after the actual ride.
If the airman fails or refuses to submit to a reexamination
within a reasonable period of time, the FAA will initiate
emergency enforcement action to suspend the airman's
certificate. Although the airman has the ability to respond
to or appeal the emergency suspension, if the FAA has a
reasonable basis for the request and the airman has no other
defenses, the airman will likely end up with a suspension of
his or her airman certificate pending submission to and
successful completion of the re-examination.
What Happens During The 709
Ride?
The re-examination is similar to a check-ride, except that
the airman is not typically subject to examination on all of
the required tasks in the practical test standards (“PTS”)
for the certificate upon which the airman is being
re-examined. Rather, the re-examination involves the tasks
that were called into question by the occurrence of the
accident or incident and it is conducted in accordance with
the PTS for the certificate or rating involved. The tasks
may include components of the knowledge test, the skill or
flight test, or both.
The inspector can fail the airman for any maneuver,
procedure or knowledge deficiency in which the airman is
found to be unqualified. This includes any of the specific
task upon which the airman is being re-examined.
Additionally, if the inspector observes any deficient areas
other than those that are the subject of the re-examination
at any time during the re-examination, those deficiencies
could also be the basis for failure of the test.
If the airman successfully completes the re-examination, one
of two things will happen: (1) if the airman's certificate
was suspended pending completion of the re-examination, the
inspector will issue a letter of results and may issue a
temporary certificate that bears all ratings and limitations
from the original certificate; or (2) if the airman's
certificate was not suspended pending completion of the
re-examination, the inspector will simply issue a letter of
results and the airman may then continue to exercise the
privileges of his or her certificate and/or ratings.
If the airman fails to successfully complete the
re-examination, the inspector will inform the airman in
detail of each deficiency. Additionally, if the airman's
original certificate was surrendered in exchange for a
temporary certificate and the term of the temporary
certificate has time left on it, the inspector will decide
whether to suspend the certificate or to extend the
temporary certificate for an additional 30 days. In the
latter instance, if the inspector believes the airman could
successfully complete another re-examination if he or she
obtained additional instruction, another 30-day temporary
certificate will be issued with a limitation against
carrying passengers. The airman will then have to submit to
an additional re-examination within that 30-day period. In
the first instance, when the inspector determines the airman
is not qualified to hold the certificate or rating, the
airman can expect to be the subject of enforcement action
seeking revocation of his or her certificate and/or ratings.
Conclusion
If you are involved in an accident or incident in which
pilot error is a possible cause of the accident or incident
and the FAA finds out, don’t be surprised if you receive a
certified letter requesting that you submit to
re-examination. The first thing you need to do is review the
scope of the re-examination request and objectively
determine whether the FAA has a reasonable basis for making
the request. Often, it will.
Next, you need to decide how you want to respond. Although
the request for re-examination can be intimidating and
frustrating, especially if it follows an accident or
incident in which your aircraft and/or your pride has been
damaged, it is possible to treat it as a positive experience
and use it as an opportunity to improve your skills as an
aviator. This is especially true if you take the ride with
an inspector who approaches the situation from a similar
perspective.
However, if you find yourself facing a 709 ride with an
inspector who does not approach the ride from this
perspective or if you have questions regarding the basis for
the request or the procedures that should be followed, an
aviation attorney can certainly assist you in the process.
After all, you worked hard to obtain your certificate(s)
and/or rating(s). Make sure you protect your ability to
exercise those privileges and to fly safely. |
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