On March 17, the Professional Aviation Maintenance Association (PAMA) submitted comments opposing the TSA and the FAA's direct final rules establishing procedures for notifying FAA certificate holders of TSA's assessment that the certificate holder poses, or is suspected to pose, a security threat. The repercussions of such an assessment are immediate certificate suspension, a superficial opportunity for the certificate holder to refute charges that likely will not be disclosed, a two-tier internal TSA-only review of the charges and no independent appeals process.

"PAMA takes strong exception to these rules. They are an abrogation of a U.S. citizen's constitutionally guaranteed right to due process, including the right to know the charges of which one is accused and the right to an independent appeals process," said PAMA President Brian Finnegan. "While PAMA supports the TSA's actions to combat terrorism by removing known threats from operational access to aircraft, the inclusion of those 'suspected of posing' a terrorist threat opens the door for abuse that could ruin the careers of innocent men and women," he said.

"We are very concerned that such a rule would be enacted without comment from the aviation community, and we encourage PAMA members and the entire aviation community to submit comments opposing these rules as written by the March 24 deadline," said Mr. Finnegan (right).

PAMA's comments are a 16-page legal opinion on the TSA and FAA's final rules issued in the Federal Register on January 24, 2003. Included in PAMA's official comments are eight recommendations that acknowledge the TSA's efforts to prevent terrorist attacks within our aviation infrastructure but assure the sanctity of our constitutional rights.

PAMA recommends the following for amendment of the TSA final rule:

1. The rule should provide an explanation of the processes and rationale(s) that TSA employs to make or review threat determinations;
2. Threat determinations based on mere suspicion should be eliminated;
3. The rule should provided for a pre-deprivation appeal and review unless TSA makes specific findings and justifications in writing that such procedures are contrary to the interests of national security;
4. TSA should develop and publish procedures for determining if immediate action against an FAA certificate holder is justified;
5. If TSA determines that immediate action against an FAA certificate holder is justified, an appeal procedure related solely to that determination should be provided;
6. TSA should develop procedures to provide (at least) a summary of the evidence relied upon and the rationale for making any initial determination of a threat to security, and TSA should include this summary in the initial notification provided to the affected airman;
7. TSA should develop procedures (in connection with the FAA and NTSB) to provide an airman the maximum access possible to evidence or intelligence information that underlies the TSA determination of a security threat while safeguarding classified and sensitive security information (such access should be provided at a time and manner allowing the affected airman to make use of such information); and
8. TSA, FAA and NTSB should collaborate to develop an effective and timely appeal procedure for airmen whose certificates are suspended or revoked on the basis of a TSA threat assessment. Such an appeal procedure should, to the maximum extent possible, be based on the current procedures for appeals and review of FAA airman certificate actions.

"PAMA worked with the entire aviation community to help educate the largely non-aviation Transportation Security Administration," emphasized Mr. Finnegan. "We continue to offer our expertise and support for their goals which assure safety of the flying public while assuring the stability and integrity of our critical professional aviation maintenance workforce."

Comments on both the FAA and TSA rules should be made to the Department of Transportation's Docket Management System by registering at http://dmses.dot.gov/submit. Where indicated, you may submit your comments to the TSA using Docket ID number TSA-2002-13732 and to the FAA using Docket ID number FAA-2003-14293.

FMI: www.pama.org