FAA grounds Atlanta Tech maintenance technician program

Certificates issued after curriculum rescinded in 2014, agency says.

The Federal Aviation Administration has suspended Atlanta Technical College’s maintenance technician school certificate.

Atlanta Technical College is part of the Technical College System of Georgia. The college has not enrolled any students or conducted any courses in its aviation maintenance program since May 2014, according to the FAA, which said it rescinded approval of the curriculum in June 2014.

However, the FAA alleged the college continued to administer exit exams and issue certificates of completion to former students “when it knew it was not authorized to do so.”

The college also did not hand over copies of certificates of completion issued since June 2014 or explain how the students received the certificates without FAA-approved curriculum when asked by the FAA, the agency said.

The FAA issued an emergency order of suspension, saying in a Nov. 29 letter that “safety in air commerce or air transportation and the public interest require the suspension of the above mentioned certificate(s) until you are recertified and your qualifications can be established.”

Students who receive certificates must apply to the FAA for authorization to take exams for an airframe or powerplant license, and the agency said it has not accepted applications from students who completed the Atlanta Tech curriculum since May 2014.

Many transferred to other schools to finish the curriculum before applying to the FAA to take exams, the agency said.

In the letter, the agency said Atlanta Tech instructors failed to maintain required records on grades, attendance and make-up reports for students in several aviation maintenance courses. The FAA said several students who had not made up absences were still allowed to move on to the next block of instruction.

This week, the college said in a written statement that it is “on track to become in full compliance with the FAA’s requirements and anticipates the restoration of its Air Agency certificate.”

“We look forward to future inspection of our program by the FAA,” the college’s statement said. “We will accept students again in the aviation maintenance program once the certificate is reinstated.”