Singh v. FAA, No. 18-35303, 2019 WL 5691983 (9th Cir. Nov. 4, 2019) (per curiam)

Singh v. FAA, No. 18-35303, 2019 WL 5691983 (9th Cir. Nov. 4, 2019) (per curiam)

Re:  Request for records concerning aircraft flown over particular address

Disposition:  Affirming district court's grant of government's motion for summary judgment

• Procedural Requirements, Searching for Responsive Records:  The Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit holds that the FAA "conducted a reasonable search for responsive records."  The court finds that "the FAA submitted affidavits from three employees explaining in detail the agency's response to [the requester's] request."  "The FAA narrowed its search down to the facility that was most likely to have responsive records."  "It then concluded that no FAA records were likely be responsive to the request because, as a categorical matter, the FAA typically did not collect information regarding an aircraft's location in relation to a residential address or neighborhood."  "At this point, the FAA reasonably ended its search because any additional efforts to look for relevant information would have likely proven futile."  Additionally, the court relates that the requester argues that "the affidavits demonstrate that the FAA acted in bad faith because the FAA acknowledges that its records contain geographic information, such as flight routes."  "[The requester] alleges the FAA could have used this geographic data to piece together information that was responsive to [the] request."  "However, FOIA does not require agencies to create new records."