The National Transportation Safety Board announced the appointments of Darrell L. Fun and Alisa M. Tapia as administrative law judges for the agency.
Judge Fun previously served as an administrative law judge with the Social Security Administration. Before becoming a judge, he was in a private practice, an assistant U.S. attorney in Wyoming and an assistant district attorney. Judge Fun has more than 28 years of active duty and reserve service in the U.S. Air Force and the Air National Guard. He holds the military rank of colonel and is a graduate of Air War College. Judge Fun is a graduate of the University of Utah and earned his juris doctorate from Syracuse College of Law in New York. He is a licensed private aircraft pilot with an instrument rating.
Judge Tapia previously served as an administrative law judge with the Social Security Administration and with U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Appeals Division. She previously served as a state administrative law judge with the Illinois Commerce Commission and as an Illinois assistant state's attorney. Judge Tapia is a graduate of Mount St. Mary's University, a private women's college in Los Angeles, and earned her juris doctorate from Saint Louis University School of Law in Missouri.
Judge Fun will primarily be responsible for hearing cases in the Office of Administrative Law Judges' Circuit III which includes Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming. Judge Tapia will primarily be responsible for hearing cases in the Office of Administrative Law Judges' Circuit IV which includes Arkansas, Louisiana, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas and Wisconsin.
The administrative law judges conduct formal hearings and issue initial decisions on appeals filed with the NTSB relating to air safety enforcement actions by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) against pilots and other FAA certificate holders. The judge's oral or written initial decision can be appealed to the full Board of the NTSB. The Board conducts an appellate review of the judge's decision and can affirm, modify, reverse or remand the matter for further proceedings. If the judge's initial decision is not appealed to the full Board, the judge's initial decision becomes the final NTSB decision in the case.
To report an incident/accident or if you are a public safety agency, please call 1-844-373-9922 or 202-314-6290 to speak to a Watch Officer at the NTSB Response Operations Center (ROC) in Washington, DC (24/7).
