(a) Any person receiving official notice of violation of the terms of the Communications Act, any legislative act, executive order, treaty to which the United States is a party, terms of a station or operator license, or the rules and regulations of the Federal Communications Commission must within 10 days from such receipt, send a written answer, in duplicate, to the office of the Commission originating the official notice. If an answer cannot be sent or an acknowledgment made within such 10-day period by reason of illness or other unavoidable circumstances, acknowledgment and answer must be made at the earliest practicable date with a satisfactory explanation of the delay. The answer to each notice must be complete in itself and must not be abbreviated by references to other communications or answers to other notices. The answer must contain a full explanation of the incident involved and must set forth the action taken to prevent a continuation or recurrence. If the notice relates to lack of attention to or improper operation of the station or to log or watch discrepancies, the answer must give the name and license number of the licensed operator on duty.

(b) When an official notice of violation, impending violation, or discrepancy, pertaining to any provision of Part II of Title III of the Communications Act or the radio provisions of the Safety Convention, is served upon the master or person responsible for a vessel and any instructions appearing on such document issued by a representative of the Commission are at variance with the content of paragraph (a) of this section, the instructions issued by the Commission's representative supersede those set forth in paragraph (a) of this section.