Wallaesa v. Fed. Aviation Admin.

• Decision Date: 10 June 2016
• Docket Number: No. 13–1222,13–1222
• Citation: 824 F.3d 1071
• Parties: Brian Allen Wallaesa, Petitioner v. Federal Aviation Administration, Respondent
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — District of Columbia Circuit

824 F.3d 1071

Brian Allen Wallaesa, Petitioner

v.Federal Aviation Administration, Respondent

No. 13–1222

United States Court of Appeals, District of Columbia Circuit.

Argued October 15, 2015

Decided June 10, 2016

Adam P. Feinberg, appointed by the court, argued the cause for petitioner. With him on the brief was Anthony F. Shelley, appointed by the court, and Aiysha S. Hussain, Washington, DC.

Brian A. Wallaesa, pro se, was on the brief for petitioner.

Lewis S. Yelin, Attorney, U.S. Department of Justice, argued the cause for respondent. With him on the brief were Benjamin C. Mizer, Acting Assistant Attorney General, Vincent H. Cohen, Jr., Acting U.S. Attorney, Sharon Swingle, Attorney, and John C. Stuart Jr., Attorney, Federal Aviation Administration.

Before: Brown and Wilkins, Circuit Judges, and Randolph, Senior Circuit Judge.

Brown

, Circuit Judge:

In the catalog of human endeavors, few activities are as fragile as flight. The air offers no mercy for mistakes and no second chances. Flight is, as Winston Churchill observed, “an extremely dangerous, jealous and exacting mistress,” demanding unfettered attention and respect. Winston S. Churchill, Thoughts and Adventures 128 (Leo Cooper pub., 1990). In that unforgiving environment, otherwise minor disruptions may threaten major damage.

In line with that reality, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA or Agency), charged with “promot[ing] safe flight of civil aircraft,” 49 U.S.C. § 44701(a)

, has long prohibited conduct aboard commercial flights that interferes with crewmember duties, see 14 C.F.R. § 121.580. In the determination now on review, the FAA Administrator assessed a civil penalty against Brian Wallaesa for violating that rule aboard a Southwest Airlines flight in 2009.

Aided by court-appointed amicus curiae, Wallaesa raises multiple challenges to the Administrator's determination. In particular, Wallaesa claims that the FAA lacks authority to proscribe non-violent, disruptive conduct and to initiate civil penalty proceedings against passengers. In view of the FAA's broad statutory authority over aviation safety, and mindful of the precariousness of human flight, we reject those contentions and deny the petition for review.

I

A

On November 6, 2009, Wallaesa, a passenger on Southwest Airlines flight 3049 from Baltimore to Las Vegas, struck up a conversation in the boarding line with a female passenger, Jaime T. Once onboard, Jaime sat in the third row aisle seat on the captain's side.¹ Wallaesa joined her, taking the window seat. After another passenger took the middle seat, Wallaesa switched seats with him. Before lifting off, the crew delivered the by-now familiar safety briefing, instructing passengers to keep their seatbelts fastened while the fasten seatbelt sign was illuminated and to follow crewmember instructions. See 14 C.F.R. § 121.571

(specifying requirements for pre-flight safety briefings).

What began as innocuous “plane chatter” between Wallaesa and Jaime fast became an annoyance. Amicus Curiae Appendix (A.A.) 143. Wallaesa asked questions, and Jaime “parried with polite attempts to end the conversation.” Id. at 7. Trying to tune him out, Jaime put on headphones and opened a book. Wallaesa did not take the hint. He tapped her on the shoulder and asked whether she would mind if he put his arm around her. She did mind, telling him “that is weird and uncomfortable,” and that she had a boyfriend. Id. at 144.

Not long after, Wallaesa again tapped Jaime's shoulder. He wanted to ask a “corny” question. Id. at 146. She told him not to ask, reminding him that she had a boyfriend. Wallaesa asked anyway, wanting to know whether he could “hold something beautiful today.” Id. Jaime told him he crossed the line. She got up and exchanged seats with a passenger across the aisle in the middle seat of row two. She also flagged down a flight attendant, Wendy Moorman, and relayed what happened.

Moorman brought Wallaesa to the back of the plane. She explained that his behavior made Jaime uncomfortable. Wallaesa expressed surprise. He told Moorman that he loved Jaime, “and that she was the one for him.” Id. at 194. Moorman told him to take his seat and not to talk to Jaime again. Wallaesa complied with the first instruction, returning to his seat. But a few minutes later, he was back up, walking across the aisle to speak to Jaime. Moorman brought him to the back of the plane a second time, again instructing him not to speak to her. Tearful and upset, Wallaesa returned to his seat. Soon, the same pattern repeated itself: Wallaesa left his seat to talk to Jaime, Moorman intercepted him, and brought him to the back. She reiterated her earlier instructions. Wallaesa appeared angry, his eyes wide with agitation. Moorman decided to reseat him, having him switch places with passengers in row eighteen.

About an hour away from Las Vegas, the captain turned on the fasten seatbelt sign in anticipation of turbulence. He likewise instructed the flight attendants to take their seats. Moorman fastened her seatbelt in the front of the aircraft. Another flight attendant, Robert Dumond, took his seat in the back. A short time later, Wallaesa stood up and walked briskly to the front of the aircraft. Unfastening his seat belt, Dumond chased after him. Moorman did the same from the front. They caught up with him around aisle five. Dumond grabbed his arm, telling him he needed to sit down. “I want to talk to her,” Wallaesa replied. Id. at 246.

Taking him to the front, the flight attendants asked him multiple times to return to his seat, noting that everyone—crew included—had to remain seated with seatbelts fastened. Wallaesa refused each request. Dumond would later explain that the confrontation had become a “security situation.” Id. at 248. Flight attendants are trained to protect the cockpit, which was only steps away from the ongoing standoff. Those security protocols in mind, Dumond stood with his back to the cockpit door.

Moorman called the captain, who asked whether she needed to summon an FBI Special Agent onboard who had earlier identified himself to the crew. Moorman said she needed the help. She waved to FBI Agent James Mollica, who came forward to assist. Introducing himself as a law enforcement officer, Agent Mollica asked Wallaesa to follow the flight attendant's instructions to return to his seat. Unfazed, Wallaesa refused to go back until he could talk to Jaime.

Agent Mollica upped the ante, telling Wallaesa that he could do this the easy way or the hard way: the hard way, he said, would involve handcuffs. Wallaesa said he did not care: he simply had to speak with Jaime. Having chosen the hard way, Agent Mollica handcuffed him. The flight attendants cleared a row of seats, moving the occupants elsewhere. Meanwhile, Wallaesa began yelling that he loved Jaime, blaming the crew for keeping him from her.

Eventually he stopped yelling. Agent Mollica walked Wallaesa toward the cleared row of seats. But Wallaesa would not sit down, leaning back against Agent Mollica's body. Agent Mollica overpowered him, pushing his body onto the seats. By the time Wallaesa was finally subdued, roughly twenty-five minutes remained until touchdown. Once on the ground, law enforcement officials met the plane at the gate.

B

The FAA initiated civil penalty proceedings against Wallaesa in February 2010. In a Notice of Proposed Civil Penalty, the Agency sought a $5,500 penalty for interfering with crewmember duties in violation of 14 C.F.R. § 121.580

(Interference Rule). See A.A. 33. The charge covered only the last hour of the flight while the fasten seatbelt sign was illuminated.

After Wallaesa requested an informal conference, the FAA realized it had “inadvertently omitted” two other violations: one for failing to fasten a seatbelt while the fasten seatbelt sign was illuminated (14 C.F.R. § 121.317(f)

), and the other for failing to follow crewmember instructions to comply with the fasten-seatbelt rule (14 C.F.R. § 121.317(k) ).² A.A. 35. In April 2010, the FAA added those charges in an Amended Notice of Proposed Civil Penalty, leaving the proposed penalty amount and the factual allegations unchanged. Two months later, in June, the FAA issued a substantively identical Final Notice of Proposed Civil Penalty.

Wallaesa exercised his right to request a hearing. In response, the FAA issued a complaint reiterating the same charges and factual allegations. At a one-day hearing in May 2012, four witnesses testified for the FAA: Jaime (by video deposition), Moorman, Dumond and an FAA aviation safety inspector. Proceeding pro se, Wallaesa testified on his own behalf and called no other witnesses. Wallaesa advanced a theory that a medical emergency—perhaps caused by medications for anxiety and depression—caused his erratic behavior. See id. at 309–13.

At the close of the evidence, the Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) determined Wallaesa violated each of the charged regulations. The medical emergency defense was unpersuasive. The ALJ construed that argument as an affirmative defense, which Wallaesa bore the burden of proving. See id. at 10; 14 C.F.R. § 13.224(c)

. By offering no evidence of a medical emergency beyond his own testimony, Wallaesa failed to meet his burden. See A.A. 10. The ALJ imposed a penalty of $3,300 for violating the Interference Rule, accepting the FAA's contention that the other violations did not merit a penalty. Wallaesa appealed to the FAA Administrator, who affirmed the ALJ's findings and conclusions.

Wallaesa subsequently filed a petition for review. We have jurisdiction to consider his petition under 49 U.S.C. § 46301(g)

and 49 U.S.C. § 46110.³

II

The Administrative Procedure Act (APA) governs our review. See City of Santa Monica v. FAA , 631 F.3d 550, 554 (D.C. Cir. 2011)

. Agency findings of fact are conclusive when supported by substantial evidence. 49 U.S.C. § 46110(c). Nonfactual determinations will be overturned “only if they are ‘arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion, or otherwise not...