Greetings All,

When I was a new Part 121 FO 10+ years ago, a certain event happened on a flight. I was not disciplined by the company, but the Captain was investigated by the FAA. I was interviewed but it was made clear to me by the interviewer that I was NOT under investigation, only the Captain was. I'm wondering if I need to check the 'Yes' box for the addendum question that asks, "Were you ever a member of a crew that was under investigation or received a violation by the FAA or Military?" I was a member of the crew, but the entire crew was not investigated or violated. Thoughts?

It is best to answer the question as asked. You were indeed a member of a crew that was investigated. So I would answer yes if you were part of the crew investigated by the FAA. You can then explain the circumstances. If you say "No" and they find some paper-trail down the road, you are likely toast.

That's honestly a tough one. I'd contact Aero Crew or ECIC and run that by them. I'd also consider asking the airlines directly at a job far. My inclination would be to answer "no", but CaptYoda is right about the paper trail....

I would say that literally the answer is no, in the sense that only the CA was investigated, not the crew.

But that's taking some fed's word for it, and relying on the fact that there's not a paper trail which tells a different story.

Probably best to say yes and deal with it. If the incident was 100% CA's fault (ie hit something on the left side that the FO couldn't have seen, or showed up drunk) then you're clean.

But if it's any sort of thing where the FO or PM could have prevented it, an interviewer might feel that you were partly responsible...be careful blaming it all on the CA unless it was 100% his fault and there was nothing you could have done about it.

It sounds like you didn't get a formal letter of investigation (LOI), so I would say no. I agree that the question is worded oddly. What if someone is a former FA and the pilots were investigated for an altitude deviation.

In this context, "crew" clearly means flight crew. But it would be unusual for only one crewmember to get investigated by the FAA.

It sounds like the best thing to do is answer 'Yes'. I wonder how far this knocks an application down in the pile.

How much detail should I put in the explanation box?

As least detail as possible. Let them ask you if they want any further explanation.