Originally Posted by
JamesNoBrakes
I'll take a crack at this too:
The FAA has something like a traffic-warning or slap-on-the-wrist, it's called a warning-letter, the idea is the same, that someone shouldn't have their certificate suspended just because they violated airspace or a rule (assuming like you said, there was no loss of separation or other aggravating factor). Of course, the FAA doesn't care how the view airlines this.
It's not a slap on the wrist, and it's often used punitively. It's often used when the FAA can't make their case; they put the warning letter in the file stating that the airman has been accused of the event, and though evidence may not be found, the airman has done wrong none the less. It's a de facto of placing something in the airman's record stating that while there's nothing to prove the airman is guilty, he's guilty. It's often worded in such a way to appear that the airman has been let off easily, but that the airman did do wrong, and it's often used in cases where the FAA has no case. It sits in one's record for two years. That's a big chunk of time to mess with a career, and mess with it it does. It's not a slap on the wrist.