One of the primary responsibilities of the Tort attorneys is assisting the Department of Justice in defending wrongful death, personal injury, and property damage lawsuits that arise out of the alleged negligence or other tortious conduct of FAA employees. These type of lawsuits are controlled by the terms of the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA), 28 U.S.C. §§ 1346, 2671, et seq. Pursuant to the FTCA, before any such lawsuit can be filed, the claimant(s) must timely file an administrative tort claim with the FAA and otherwise comply with the regulations pertaining to such tort claims. The failure to do so can result in a claimant's potential lawsuit being forever barred. The links below are provided to assist claimants in complying with the administrative tort claim procedures to avoid this potentially harsh result.

To file an administrative tort claim with the FAA, or any other federal agency, you must file a written notification. You may use Standard Form 95 (SF-95) for submitting the written notification. The filing of administrative tort claims against federal agencies is governed by federal regulations 28 C.F.R. Part 14. For a copy of these regulations formatted in Adobe Acrobat, visit the Government Printing Office website.

Federal regulations 14 C.F.R. Part 15, which supplement 28 C.F.R. Part 14, are specifically directed to the filing of administrative tort claims with the FAA. For a copy of these regulations formatted in Adobe Acrobat, visit the Government Printing Office website.

In addition, our attorneys process requests for testimony of FAA employees in matters of private litigation (i.e., cases where the United States or the FAA is not a named party). All such requests should comport with the procedures set forth in federal regulations 49 C.F.R. Part 9. These regulations address how to request the testimony of Department of Transportation employees, and the limitations on the testimony that can be provided. Among other things, these regulations preclude FAA employees from testifying at trial; preclude litigants from attempting to secure the testimony of FAA employees through the use of a subpoena; and preclude FAA employees from offering opinion or expert testimony.