Federal Charges Against Pilots - FAA Certificate

Welcome to Spodek Law Group. Our goal is to give you the reality of federal charges against pilots and their FAA certificates - not the sanitized version aviation attorneys present, not the bureaucratic fiction the FAA publishes, but the actual truth about what happens when federal prosecutors and the FAA both come after your career simultaneously.

Here is what nobody tells pilots facing federal charges: you are not fighting one battle. You are fighting two. And the two systems that appear separate are actually designed to feed each other information. What you say to defend yourself in one forum becomes evidence against you in the other. The strategy that saves you criminally might destroy your certificate. The cooperation that preserves your flying privileges might send you to prison.

This is the trap that destroys pilot careers - not the original charge, but the impossible position of fighting parallel proceedings that coordinate against you while you're forced to make decisions in one that affect outcomes in the other. The federal government has perfected a system where pilots cannot win by fighting one battle at a time. You either coordinate your defense across both fronts from day one, or you lose.

The Two-Front War You Didnt Know Youre Fighting

Most pilots who get arrested on federal charges think in sequences. First I'll fight the criminal case, then I'll deal with the FAA. Thats the instinct. And its completly wrong.

The moment federal charges become public - sometimes before you even know your being investigated - the FAA can and often does take action against your certificate. Under 49 USC 44710, certain convictions trigger mandatory revocation. But heres the kicker: the FAA doesnt have to wait for conviction. They can issue an Emergency Order based on their determination that your conduct poses a threat to safety. That order is effective immediatly. You stop flying before any hearing. Before any evidence is presented. Before any chance to defend yourself.

Consider what happened to Joseph Emerson, the Alaska Airlines pilot who attempted to shut down engines midflight in October 2023 while riding in the cockpit jump seat. He was experiencing a mental health crisis. The FAA grounded his certificate immediatly - Emergency Order, effective that day. No hearing. No opportunity to explain that he was suffering from effects of psilocybin mushrooms and wasnt in his right mind. His certificate was gone before any court heard a single word of his case.

The criminal case ran for two years. He faced 83 counts of attempted murder in state court plus federal interference charges. In November 2025, he finally resolved the criminal case with a plea deal that avoided prison time. But the certificate action? That was a seperate matter entirely. The FAA proceeding had its own timeline, its own procedures, its own outcome.

This is how the system works. The criminal case runs parallel to the FAA case. But information flows between them freely - and it flows in one direction: against you.

Look, the federal criminal justice system operates under rules that protect defendants. You have the right to remain silent. Statements obtained improperly can be suppressed. Prosecutors must prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. These protections are real and they matter.

But FAA administrative proceedings operate under different rules. The burden of proof is lower - preponderance of the evidence, meaning more likely then not. And heres were pilots destroy themselves: statements to NTSB investigators are explicitly NOT privileged. The agency has no authority to offer immunity. Everything you say trying to defend your certificate can flow directly to federal prosecutors building a criminal case against you.

Todd Spodek has seen this pattern destroy careers that should have been saveable. A pilot gets a Letter of Investigation from the FAA. Their instinct is to explain, to cooperate, to show theyre a good pilot who made a mistake. So they talk. They provide detailed explanations. They give the FAA everything they want becuase they beleive cooperation helps.

Six months later, those same statements show up as exhibits in a federal indictment. The pilot thought they were saving their certificate. They were building the governments criminal case.

What Happens in the First 48 Hours

Heres the reality of how fast this moves. When the FAA issues an Emergency Order of Revocation, you have exactly 48 hours to request a hearing before the NTSB on whether a true emergency exists. The NTSB then has 48 hours to hear arguments. Within five days total, they must decide whether the emergency designation was appropriate.

Thats your window. Five days from Emergency Order to decision on whether the emergency is real. Most pilots dont even have an attorney retained in that timeframe. Most dont understand theyre in a race against procedural deadlines that started the moment they received that letter. By the time they realize whats happening, the window has closed and theyre fighting uphill against a system designed to move faster then they can react.

This is critical to understand: an Emergency Order doesnt require the FAA to prove your guilty of anything. They only have to show that your condition, conduct, or continued operation poses a threat to public safety. Thats a subjective standard. An arrest for drug trafficking - even without conviction - can satisfy it. A DUI with aggravating factors can satisfy it. Even allegations of fraudulent log book entries can satisfy it.

The emergency nature of the order means you stop flying NOW. Today. The hearing on whether that was justified comes later. And by "later" I mean weeks or months - time during which you have no income from flying, no ability to maintain currency requirements, no way to build flight hours, and a growing legal bill across two different proceedings that each demand full attention.

The typical penalty under an FAA Emergency Order is revocation of all certificates. Not suspension - revocation. After revocation, you wait one full year before you can even apply to reexamine. And when you reexamine, you start as a student pilot. Every certificate, every rating, every type qualification you spent decades building - gone. You prove basic competency from scratch.

OK so what happens if you miss that 48-hour window? The Emergency Order stands unchallenged. Youve lost the only opportunity to contest the emergency designation. Now your sole option is fighting the underlying revocation through standard administrative procedures - a process that takes many months and occurs while your grounded, unemployed, and watching your career slip away.

The Reporting Trap Most Pilots Walk Into

Federal charges are obvious. You know when your being prosecuted for drug trafficking or wire fraud or making false statements. But the FAA trap that catches more pilots starts much smaller - with incidents pilots assume are private matters.

Under FAR 61.15, every pilot certificate holder must report any drug or alcohol related motor vehicle action to the FAA within 60 calendar days. "Motor vehicle action" includes arrests, administrative license suspensions, and convictions. Each incident requires a seperate letter sent to the FAA Security and Hazardous Materials Safety Office in Oklahoma City. Miss the deadline by even one day, and youve created a completly independant violation - one that can cost your certificate even if the underlying DUI is dismissed, reduced, or thrown out entirely.

Read that again. Let that sink in. The failure to report becomes worse then the thing your reporting.

Spodek Law Group sees this pattern constanty. A pilot gets a DUI on personal time while off duty. Embarassed, they dont want anyone to know. They hire a DUI defense attorney who focuses exclusively on the criminal charges. Nobody mentions the FAA reporting requirement becuase the DUI lawyer doesnt handle aviation matters and doesnt know the rules exist. The criminal case drags on for months. Maybe it eventually gets dismissed on a technicality. The pilot thinks theyre in the clear, that the whole nightmare is behind them.

Then the FAA discovers the DUI through database cross-referencing - they do this routinely now through automated systems - and sends an enforcement letter. Not for the DUI itself. For failure to report within 60 days. The penalty for failure to report is typicaly a 30-day suspension minimum. But that suspension appears in FAA databases. The pilots airline runs periodic background checks. They discover the suspension. Termination follows - not because of DUI conviction, but because the pilot failed to file a letter.

It gets worse. Two alcohol or drug related motor vehicle actions within three years - regardless of how minor they seem - creates automatic grounds for certificate revocation. That means two DUI arrests in three years, even completely without convictions, can end your career permanantly. And if you failed to report both of them? Now you have four seperate violations: two underlying incidents and two reporting failures. The punishment compounds exponentialy.

Heres the part nobody talks about: the FAA medical application - Form 8500-8 - asks about convictions and alcohol related incidents. If you fail to disclose a prior DUI on your medical certificate application, youve now made a false statement on a federal form. That triggers potential 18 USC 1001 charges - a completly new federal crime carrying up to five years imprisonment. An old dismissed DUI that you thought was behind you becomes a federal false statement prosecution becuase you didnt disclose it on a form you probably forgot you even filled out.

This is how the cascade works: minor DUI → failure to report → certificate suspension → airline termination → but also → medical application falsification → federal criminal prosecution → conviction → mandatory revocation under 44710. A single incident that should have been a personal embarassment becomes a federal criminal case that ends your career permanantly.

Why Your Criminal Defense Can Destroy Your Certificate

The fundamental problem facing any pilot with federal charges is that optimal strategy in criminal court often conflicts directly with optimal strategy in FAA proceedings. What saves you in one forum destroys you in the other.

Criminal defense prioritizes silence. Dont talk to investigators. Dont explain yourself. Make the government prove every element beyond reasonable doubt. These are sound principles developed over centuries of criminal law. They work.

But FAA defense often requires proactive engagement. The informal conference process - where pilots can meet with FAA attorneys to present mitigating evidence and explain circumstances - is frequently the best opportunity to resolve enforcement actions favorably. A pilot who presents themselves well, shows remorse, demonstrates understanding of what went wrong, and articulates plans to prevent recurrence can sometimes negotiate outcomes far better then a formal hearing would produce. But that conference requires talking. Explaining. Presenting your side in detail.

And heres the hidden trap that destroys pilots who dont understand both systems: what you say at that informal conference is not protected by any privilege. If the criminal case is still pending - and federal cases often take years to resolve - anything you admit or explain to the FAA can be shared with prosecutors. Youve just given them free discovery. Youve conducted your own examination for the governments benefit.

Think about that carefully. You go to an informal conference hoping to save your certificate. You explain that yes, you made a mistake - you had the drugs in your bag but you didnt think it was a big deal. You admit certain facts to make yourself look like a responsible pilot who deserves another chance. You show contrition. The FAA attorney seems sympathetic.

That admission becomes Exhibit A in your criminal trial. The prosecutor plays the recording. The jury hears you confess.

The reverse problem exists too. If you exercise your right to remain silent in FAA proceedings - refusing to participate in informal conferences, declining to respond to Letters of Investigation, asserting Fifth Amendment protections - you may be making the tacticaly correct choice for your criminal case. But youve eliminated your best opportunities to resolve the FAA matter favorably. Youve forced a formal proceeding where the FAA has no reason to show mercy. Your silence is noted even if it cant be held against you directly.

At Spodek Law Group, we understand that fighting federal charges while protecting an FAA certificate requires coordination that most lawyers simply dont provide. A criminal defense attorney focused only on the federal prosecution doesnt think about certificate implications of each strategic choice. An aviation attorney focused only on the FAA matter doesnt recognize how cooperation creates criminal exposure that could mean years in prison.

The Automatic Revocation Nobody Tells You About

Under 49 USC 44710, the FAA Administrator "shall issue an order revoking" a pilots certificate after conviction for certain controlled substance offenses. Not "may revoke." Not "can consider revocation." Shall. Mandatory.

This is automatic. If your convicted under federal or state law for a drug offense punishable by more then one year imprisonment - anything beyond simple possession - and you served as an airman or were on the aircraft in connection with that offense, revocation is mandatory. The FAA has zero discretion. The Administrator is required by the explicit language of the statute to revoke. No hearing on whether you deserve to fly. No consideration of your perfect safety record. No weighing of mitigating factors. The law says "shall" and the FAA follows the law.

Think about what this means in practice. You fight your federal drug trafficking case for two years. Your attorney negotiates skillfully. You accept a plea to a lesser included charge - still drug related, still technically a felony, but with drasticaly reduced sentencing exposure. You get probation instead of ten years in federal prison. Victory, right? Your attorney celebrates. Your family celebrates.

Then the mandatory revocation letter arrives. All certificates revoked. Career over. Your brilliant plea negotiation that avoided prison triggered automatic certificate loss becuase nobody on your legal team understood 44710.

The only statutory exception: if your subsequently acquitted of all charges related to the controlled substance, or if the conviction is reversed on appeal, the FAA shall reissue your certificate. But plea deals arent acquittals. Reduced charges arent reversals. Probationary sentences arent dismissals. The strategic victory in criminal court - the outcome your defense attorney fought hard to achieve - triggers the automatic, no-discretion loss in the FAA forum.

Notice the pattern? This is precisely why coordinating defense across both proceedings matters more then most pilots realize. A criminal defense attorney who doesnt understand 44710 might negotiate a plea that sounds fantastic - dramatically reduced charges, minimal prison exposure, everyone happy - without recognizing it triggers mandatory certificate revocation. A win in court becomes a career-ending loss in the FAA administrative system.

What It Really Takes to Fly Again

Heres the uncomfortable truth about FAA revocation that aviation lawyers dont always explain clearly: even after the mandatory revocation period ends, you dont simply get your certificate back. Nobody hands you your old credentials and welcomes you back to the cockpit.

After revocation, you wait a full year before you can even apply to start over. And "start over" means exactly that - you retest as a student pilot and work your way back through every certificate and rating you previously held. Commercial pilot? Start as student. ATP with 20,000 hours? Start as student. Type ratings in 737, A320, 777? Gone. You demonstrate basic competency from scratch, as if your decades of experience never happened.

The financial reality is devastating. A year completely without flying income while legal bills mount. Then months or years rebuilding ratings at your own expense. Training costs. Examiner fees. Check ride after check ride. Lost seniority at airlines that measure everything by hire date. Pilots in their 50s or 60s simply cannot rebuild in time - the timeline exceeds their remaining career window. For them, revocation means permanent retirement, regardless of what the regulations technically allow.

And thats assuming no federal conviction creating permanent collateral consequences. A felony conviction affects background checks forever. Security clearances become difficult or impossible. Airline hiring departments see the conviction in every database search. Some carriers simply wont touch applicants with felony records regardless of what certificates they eventually manage to obtain. The regulatory path back to flying exists on paper. The practical path back may be permanently closed in reality.

Sound familiar? This is why fighting both fronts from day one matters so much. Saving your certificate isnt just about avoiding revocation today - its about positioning for recovery if revocation occurs. Minimizing the underlying criminal outcome affects how long you wait, what restrictions apply, and whether any airline will consider hiring you afterward.

The Defense You Actually Need

What Todd Spodek tells every pilot facing federal charges is this: you need representation that understands both systems working as one coordinated defense, not one attorney handling criminal matters and a seperate attorney handling FAA matters while neither communicates with the other.

The decisions you make in week one - what to say to investigators, whether to respond to that Letter of Investigation, how to handle the informal conference opportunity if it arises, what position to take on the emergency designation - these choices affect outcomes months or years later in both forums. You cant undo statements already made. You cant un-cooperate after youve cooperated. The coordination must happen from the very start.

Heres what coordinated defense actually looks like: before any statement to any agency, we evaluate how it affects both proceedings. Before any plea negotiation begins, we map every certificate implication of every possible outcome. Before any informal conference, we understand precisely what criminal exposure exists. The two cases are treated as one integrated problem because thats exactly what they are.

The clock started when you learned about these charges. Every day that passes is a day where the FAA might issue an Emergency Order, where prosecutors might file additional charges based on statements youve already made elsewhere, where the 48-hour challenge window might open and close without you even realizing the opportunity existed.

The federal conviction rate exceeds 90%. The FAA revokes certificates routinely and without hesitation. These are not systems designed to give pilots the benefit of the doubt. They are systems designed to remove pilots first and ask questions second, to err on the side of grounding rather then flying, to protect the government from liability rather then protect careers from destruction.

Call Spodek Law Group at 212-300-5196. The next 48 hours might determine whether you ever fly professionally again.

They had months to build their case against you. You have days to mount your defense. Use them.