A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed by former United Arilines pilot Romullo Tadeu Melo Silva, who claimed the airline defamed him following a hard-landing incident that damaged a Boeing 767-300 aircraft in Houston.
On July 29, 2023, United Flight 702, operating from Newark, New Jersey, to Houston, experienced what the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) later classified as a “hard landing” at George Bush Intercontinental Airport (KIAH).
Silva, who was hired as a first officer just five months earlier in February 2023, was at the controls during the landing, with Captain Robert Goudon serving as the monitoring pilot.
According to the NTSB’s final report published on January 15, 2025, the incident occurred when Silva held back pressure on the control yoke after the main landing gear touched down to prevent the nosewheel from hitting the runway.
However, the nosewheel struck with “abnormal force,” causing what appeared to be a bounce. Silva then pulled back on the control yoke again, attempting to keep the nosewheel from making a second impact.
Flight data recordings revealed that control column inputs varied between 5 degrees nose high and 5 degrees nose low during the landing sequence. The data also showed that the speedbrakes deployed simultaneously with the thrust reversers, as the nosewheel bounced a second time before making a third contact with the runway. The aircraft then began decelerating normally after Goudon took control.
None of the 202 passengers and crew aboard were injured, but photographs included in the NTSB report showed damage to the fuselage of the aircraft, which had been buckled. The aircraft remained out of service for several months while repairs were made.
Post-Incident Developments
Following the incident, the airline immediately pulled Silva from flight duty. He remained grounded until September 30, 2023, then the carrier directed Silva to undergo simulator training focused specifically on landings.
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Silva was subsequently required to complete a “check ride”—a test flight supervised by a senior pilot to assess his readiness to return to passenger service. According to Silva’s legal complaint, the senior pilot who conducted his evaluation on Octber 2, 2023, was “hostile, degrading and intimidating.” Silva failed this evaluation, and United terminated his employment on October 12, 2023.
In December 2024, Silva filed a lawsuit against United in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey. The complaint accused the airline of defamation, alleging that the carrier falsely reported to the FAA that Silva was the pilot in command of the flight, when in fact Goudon held that designation.
In his lawsuit, Silva claimed that while he was indeed flying the aircraft during landing, Goudon was officially the pilot in command and had “failed to arm the speed brake on the aircraft”—a failure that contributed to the hard landing. Silva further maintained in his complaint that the touchdown “was not hard.”
Silva’s lawsuit alleged that, as a result of United’s report to the FAA, his “record with the FAA has been substantially tarnished,” leaving him unable to secure employment with any other air carrier, including private carriers operating under 14 CFR Part 135. According to the complaint, this employment barrier had cost him at least $100,000 in lost income.
Judge Dismisses Claim
On Thursday, U.S. District Judge William J. Martini granted the carrier’s motion to dismiss Silva’s complaint. In his written opinion, Martini found Silva’s defamation claim deficient on multiple grounds.
First, the court determined that Silva’s complaint lacked sufficient information about the alleged report to establish whether it could be considered defamatory. Martini wrote that the court had “no information regarding whether the FAA has disclosed or would disclose such a report to plaintiff’s would-be employers, or whether the contents of this unspecified report would render plaintiff ineligible for an in-flight employment position.”
Second, Martini found that communications made to government agencies like the FAA are generally subject to qualified privilege under New Jersey law. This privilege applies to communications made “bona fide upon any subject matter in which the party communicating has an interest, or in reference to which he has a duty.”
The court concluded that Silva had not adequately demonstrated that United acted with malice—knowing the statement was false or acting with reckless disregard for its truth. His only allegation on this point was that “United made this false report to the FAA intentionally and knowingly for the purpose of protecting Captain Goudon, despite the cost to Mr. Silva,” which the court deemed conclusory and insufficient.
The NTSB’s final report on the incident, released in January 2025, had already determined that Silva’s “improper control inputs after the airplane touched down” and the flight crew’s “lack of recognition that the speedbrakes were not armed” were the causes of the hard landing and subsequent aircraft damage.
Silva, who worked as a flight attendant at United before becoming a pilot, has not announced whether he plans to appeal the decision or file an amended complaint.
Editor’s note: This article first appeared on AirlineGeeks.
