Originally Posted by
rickair7777
Yeah I "surrender" my certs every time I get a line check. So far I always get them back after about three minutes.
You dare devil.
Originally Posted by
JamesNoBrakes
Correct, except the process of a suspension or revocation is legal action, not administrative, within the boundaries of civil law, unless exceptional circumstances push it to criminal (extremely rare). The FAA has no right to "take certificates" without due process. The administrator can, in an emergency order, suspend or revoke a certificate when there is a demonstrable imminent threat to public safety, but even that has several steps of due process and notifications that have to be met and can be overturned by the NTSB judge upon information from the other party, all before finalized.
Yeah, I was thinking of emergency revocation specifically.
Of course, the grounds for doing so are occasionally controversial and sometimes creative, and subject to some legal wrangling. The infamous revocation of Bob Hoover's medical for failure to taxi back to his starting point on the field after landing with both engines shut down is perhaps the zenith of overzealous stupidity.
My own high point was being called into the office of the head of a FSDO and told point blank that if I didn't immediately go buy the secretary at the front desk a dozen red roses, he'd find a reason to take certificate action against me. I kid not. Further proof of those in the Administration who wouldn't have made it in the private sector.