[Code of Federal Regulations]

[Title 14, Volume 1]

[Revised as of January 1, 2006]

From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access

[CITE: 14CFR13.17]



[Page 39-40]

 

                     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--



[[Page 40]]



    (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 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]