In order to secure and defend commercial airliners from terrorist and criminal assaults, Federal Flight Deck Officers (FFDO's) are trained on the use of firearms, use of force, legal issues, defensive tactics, the psychology of survival and program standard operating procedures. Pursuant to APATA, Title XIV - your authorization to carry firearms and defend against an act of violence or piracy exposes you to the same personal and professional liabilities and vulnerabilities that exist for federal law enforcement officers. In lieu of these responsibilities and exposures, FFDO's are eligible for the same federal officer protections of the Federal Employee Defense Services (FEDS) professional liability program. For coverage effective today, buy now.

Through our relationships with such organizations as the Federal Flight Deck Officers Association (FFDOA) and the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association (FLEOA), we learned about the need for FFDOs to have liability insurance to cover them for acts, errors and omissions associated with their duties and responsibilities under the FFDO Program.

Coverage afforded to FFDOs under the FEDS program can be broken down into three categories:

(1) Pays up to a million dollars of liability damages for civil law suits;
(2) Pays for legal defense up to $200,000 for administrative matters and fines; and
(3) Pays for legal defense up to $100,000 for criminal defense.

Important Notice: An FFDO is only considered an “insured member” when the FFDO is performing the functions defined by Section 44921 of the APATA, which limits the authority of an FFDO to act as a federal law enforcement officer to the defense of the flight decks of an aircraft. An FFDO is not considered an “insured member” and coverage is not afforded for acts, errors or omissions that occur outside the scope of the FFDO Program.

Most commercial airline pilots are a member of a professional union, and as a union member may already receive valuable legal services for a variety of matters, to include employment-related actions. Liability insurance steps in when you are sued personally for any act error or omission which are committed or arise out of the scope of your FFDO duties and responsibilities, involved in administrative matter that arose out of your FFDO duties and responsibilities or are under a criminal investigation for an act, error or omission that arose out of your FFDO duties and responsibilities.

These are the very reasons that FFDO Association encourages its members and all FFDOs to protect themselves by purchasing professional liability insurance, especially given the difficult decisions that an FFDO may be required to make on any given day, the potential for complaints and lawsuits from members of the public, and the scope of administrative investigations into allegations of wrongdoing and professional misconduct.

"Every law enforcement officer understands the enormous amount of liability exposure that an officer is confronted with on a daily basis by virtue of his profession or avocation.  It is immaterial whether the officer’s time on duty or off duty is as a paid employee or as a volunteer such as a Federal Flight Deck Officer (FFDO).  In every case, the liability exposure is the same when an officer is confronted with the possibility of having to deploy lethal force.

A Professional Liability Insurance plan is a vital element in an officers strategy to protect himself and his family from financial harm.  To this end, the Federal Flight Deck Officers Association (FFDOA), and pilot associations ALPA, and CAPA jointly collaborated with FEDS to make available to all FFDO's this important insurance plan. 

If an FFDO is operating in accordance with the FFDO SOP, on or off Mission Status, he is covered under this plan and with or without TSA representation.  This plan is comparable to that purchased by thousands of other Federal Law Enforcement Officers and is a must for every FFDO." 

 --Paul W. Nelson, Secretary
Federal Flight Deck Officers Association

In addition to the $1,000,000 in civil liability protection, this program will pay for private legal defense if DOJ will not defend you in the civil lawsuit. If you suddenly find yourself facing a civil suit or criminal charges without DOJ representation, defending yourself can run $25,000 to well over $100,000 in legal fees.

Further, administrative defense benefit entitles an FFDO who is accused of some kind of wrongdoing in the course of rendering his or her FFDO duties to have his/her legal fees paid for in an administrative investigation (including an investigation by the FAA or TSA for regulatory or other statutory violations). Coverage is not afforded to matters covered by a collective bargaining agreement, such as arbitration or formal grievances; however, if the member elects to have private representation for an administrative investigation, FEDS will appoint counsel to represent the insured during the investigation phase.

Hopefully, this helps explain the professional liability question for you. Over the years we have covered thousands of federal supervisors, managers, law enforcement officials and executives in all types of investigations, disciplinary proceedings and even civil and criminal actions. We look forward to continuing our support of the federal law enforcement and national security community by extending our coverage to FFDOs. The FEDS liability insurance will provide FFDOs with the necessary liability protection to have peace of mind—you protect our Country—let us protect you.

You can find answers to many questions in Frequently Asked Questions. If your question is not answered here, please call us at 301.229.2481 or contact us online. FEDS founder is a former employee of a federal law enforcement agency and encourages all federal employees to be as informed as possible about the benefits of having PLI protection in place.

If you have decided to purchase professional liability insurance from FEDS buy now.   For FEDS APATA extension press release and other news items, click here.