Originally Posted by
jmcg3326
- 2011 I was finally ready to get back in the saddle. Go and take my medical. Confirmed prior with my attorney since 'expunged' no need to list/disclose. Within 60days or so I get an emergency order of revocation, for 'lying' on the medical. Essentially their position was we are federal and not bound by the states rules, and because it appeared on their check, regardless of documentation - I was guilty. They issued a 1 year revocation as penalty.
THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT! Two big takeaways...
1. This is not just "their position", this is very well established constitutional law! In some cases the Fed may honor a state expungement, but they don't have to. It's pretty dangerous to assume they will. Federal law and processes are different and separate from state laws and processes... there's never any assumed connection, unless specified in a law.
When filling out a federal form, ALWAYS read and answer the question LITERALLY. If you think you have an alibi on that, talk to a lawyer, but not just any lawyer....
2. Lawyers who lack specific expertise in aviation employment can give bad advice! Not the first time I've heard of this...
For the OP... do a FOIA request to obtain your entire FAA record. I'm not sure what records are retained relative to a revocation, but you'll want to see what they have.
The bad news: You got a DUI.
The good news: It was expunged, and it was a while ago. That will help.
While a revocation is bad, and will delay your getting an interview call at a major simply because you checked the box, the good news is that it sounds like you made an honest mistake, ie a lawyer gave you bad info. If you have a document showing that lawyer's opinion, or at least a bill for his services during the right time frame, that might help to overcome the revocation issue. A reasonable person would conclude that if a lawyer told you not to check the box, that you had good faith basis for doing what you did. Bear in mind the lawyer was wrong, and the what FAA did was entirely within established precedent. The fastest way for you to flunk an interview is to tell them that you were wronged because the FAA is wrong and your strip-mall lawyer is right.
Also... in addition to reporting a DUI arrest on your medical, you were supposed to report any DUI conviction/admin action to FAA security within 60 days. Did you do that? If not, you were clearly in violation.
Worth noting... the FAA medical form asks about non-traffic convictions. For that, they only want convictions. But the part that asks about DUI asks if you were ever ARRESTED. So for that, they clearly want to know if you ever had any issues associated with vehicles and substances, regardless of whether charges were filed, dropped, convicted, expunged, etc. You can get caught in this trap by having two beers with dinner, cop smells your breath, and drags you downtown. Even if you blow a 0.02 you still have to report it on your medical.
Bottom line, you should be able to get a regional job. Shoot for one with AA flow. Getting called by a major will probably be delayed (because you checked the DUI and revocation boxes). You might never get called by a good major (hence the flow recommendation). And you had better accept responsibility for your mistakes at any interview, although you can say that you got bad advice and should have selected a different type of lawyer. Again, it would help if you can document the bad advice you got.