[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 14, Volume 1]
[Revised as of January 1, 2003]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 14CFR13.17]

[Page 37-38]
 
                     TITLE 14--AERONAUTICS AND SPACE
 
CHAPTER I--FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
 
PART 13--INVESTIGATIVE AND ENFORCEMENT PROCEDURES--Table of Contents
 
                  Subpart C--Legal Enforcement Actions
 
Sec. 13.17  Seizure of aircraft.

    (a) Under section 903 of the Federal Aviation Act of 1958 (49 U.S.C. 
1473), a State or Federal law enforcement officer, or a Federal Aviation 
Administration safety inspector, authorized in an order of seizure 
issued by the Regional Administrator of the region, or by the Chief 
Counsel, may summarily seize an aircraft that is involved in a violation 
for which a civil penalty may be imposed on its owner or operator.
    (b) Each person seizing an aircraft under this section shall place 
it in the nearest available and adequate public storage facility in the 
judicial district in which it was seized.
    (c) The Regional Administrator or Chief Counsel, without delay, 
sends a written notice and a copy of this section, to the registered 
owner of the seized aircraft, and to each other persons shown by FAA 
records to have an interest in it, stating the--
    (1) Time, date, and place of seizure;
    (2) Name and address of the custodian of the aircraft;
    (3) Reasons for the seizure, including the violations believed, or 
judicially determined, to have been committed; and
    (4) Amount that may be tendered as--
    (i) A compromise of a civil penalty for the alleged violation; or
    (ii) Payment for a civil penalty imposed by a Federal court for a 
proven violation.
    (d) The Chief Counsel, or the Regional Counsel or Assistant Chief 
Counsel for the region or area in which an aircraft is seized under this 
section, immediately sends a report to the United States District 
Attorney for the judicial district in which it was seized, requesting 
the District Attorney to institute proceedings to enforce a lien against 
the aircraft.
    (e) The Regional Administrator or Chief Counsel directs the release 
of a seized aircraft whenever--
    (1) The alleged violator pays a civil penalty or an amount agreed 
upon in compromise, and the costs of seizing, storing, and maintaining 
the aircraft;
    (2) The aircraft is seized under an order of a Federal Court in 
proceedings in rem to enforce a lien against the aircraft, or the United 
States District Attorney for the judicial district concerned notifies 
the FAA that the District Attorney refuses to institute those 
proceedings; or
    (3) A bond in the amount and with the sureties prescribed by the 
Chief Counsel, the Regional Counsel, or the Assistant Chief Counsel is 
deposited, conditioned on payment of the penalty, or the compromise 
amount, and the

[[Page 38]]

costs of seizing, storing, and maintaining the aircraft.

[Doc. No. 18884, 44 FR 63723, Nov. 5, 1979, as amended by Amdt. 13-19, 
54 FR 39290, Sept. 25, 1989; Amdt. 13-29, 62 FR 46865, Sept. 4, 1997]