(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 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]