II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 755 

To amend the Pilot’s Bill of Rights to facilitate appeals, to limit the 

reexamination of airman certificates, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 29, 2017 

Mr. INHOFE introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To amend the Pilot’s Bill of Rights to facilitate appeals, 

to limit the reexamination of airman certificates, and 

for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Fairness for Pilots 

5 Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. EXPANSION OF PILOT’S BILL OF RIGHTS. 

7 (a) APPEALS OF SUSPENDED AND REVOKED AIRMAN

8 CERTIFICATES.—Section 2(d)(1) of the Pilot’s Bill of 

9 Rights (Public Law 112–153; 126 Stat. 1159; 49 U.S.C. 

10 44703 note) is amended by striking ‘‘or imposing a puniVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:57 Mar 31, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S755.IS S755

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1 tive civil action or an emergency order of revocation under 

2 subsections (d) and (e) of section 44709 of such title’’ and 

3 inserting ‘‘suspending or revoking an airman certificate 

4 under section 44709(d) of such title, or imposing an emer5 gency order of revocation under subsections (d) and (e) 

6 of section 44709 of such title’’. 

7 (b) DE NOVO REVIEW BY DISTRICT COURT; BURDEN

8 OF PROOF.—Section 2(e) of the Pilot’s Bill of Rights 

9 (Public Law 112–153; 126 Stat. 1159; 49 U.S.C. 44703 

10 note) is amended— 

11 (1) by amending paragraph (1) to read as fol12 lows: 

13 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In an appeal filed under 

14 subsection (d) in a United States district court with 

15 respect to a denial, suspension, or revocation of an 

16 airman certificate by the Administrator— 

17 ‘‘(A) the district court shall review the de18 nial, suspension, or revocation de novo, includ19 ing by— 

20 ‘‘(i) conducting a full independent re21 view of the complete administrative record 

22 of the denial, suspension, or revocation; 

23 ‘‘(ii) permitting additional discovery 

24 and the taking of additional evidence; and 


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1 ‘‘(iii) making the findings of fact and 

2 conclusions of law required by Rule 52 of 

3 the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure with4 out being bound to any findings of fact of 

5 the Administrator or the National Trans6 portation Safety Board.’’; 

7 (2) by redesignating paragraph (2) as para8 graph (3); and 

9 (3) by inserting after paragraph (1) the fol10 lowing: 

11 ‘‘(2) BURDEN OF PROOF.—In an appeal filed 

12 under subsection (d) in a United States district 

13 court after an exhaustion of administrative remedies, 

14 the burden of proof shall be as follows: 

15 ‘‘(A) In an appeal of the denial of an ap16 plication for the issuance or renewal of an air17 man certificate under section 44703 of title 49, 

18 United States Code, the burden of proof shall 

19 be upon the applicant denied an airman certifi20 cate by the Administrator. 

21 ‘‘(B) In an appeal of an order issued by 

22 the Administrator under section 44709 of title 

23 49, United States Code, the burden of proof 

24 shall be upon the Administrator.’’; and 

25 (4) by adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘(4) APPLICABILITY OF ADMINISTRATIVE PRO2 CEDURE ACT.—Notwithstanding paragraph (1)(A) of 

3 this subsection or subsection (a)(1) of section 554 of 

4 title 5, United States Code, section 554 of such title 

5 shall apply to adjudications of the Administrator 

6 and the National Transportation Safety Board to 

7 the same extent as that section applied to such adju8 dications before the date of enactment of the Fair9 ness for Pilots Act.’’. 

10 (c) NOTIFICATION OF INVESTIGATION.—Subsection 

11 (b) of section 2 of the Pilot’s Bill of Rights (Public Law 

12 112–153; 126 Stat. 1159; 49 U.S.C. 44703 note) is 

13 amended— 

14 (1) in paragraph (2)(A), by inserting ‘‘and the 

15 specific activity on which the investigation is based’’ 

16 after ‘‘nature of the investigation’’; 

17 (2) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘timely’’; and 

18 (3) in paragraph (5), by striking ‘‘section 

19 44709(c)(2)’’ and inserting ‘‘section 44709(e)(2)’’. 

20 (d) RELEASE OF INVESTIGATIVE REPORTS.—Section 

21 2 of the Pilot’s Bill of Rights (Public Law 112–153; 126 

22 Stat. 1159; 49 U.S.C. 44703 note) is further amended by 

23 inserting after subsection (e) the following: 

24 ‘‘(f) RELEASE OF INVESTIGATIVE REPORTS.— 

25 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) EMERGENCY ORDERS.—In any pro2 ceeding conducted under part 821 of title 49, 

3 Code of Federal Regulations, relating to the 

4 amendment, modification, suspension, or rev5 ocation of an airman certificate, in which the 

6 Administrator issues an emergency order under 

7 subsections (d) and (e) of section 44709, sec8 tion 44710, or section 46105(c) of title 49, 

9 United States Code, or another order that takes 

10 effect immediately, the Administrator shall pro11 vide to the individual holding the airman certifi12 cate the releasable portion of the investigative 

13 report at the time the Administrator issues the 

14 order. If the complete Report of Investigation is 

15 not available at the time the Emergency Order 

16 is issued, the Administrator shall issue all por17 tions of the report that are available at the time 

18 and shall provide the full report within 5 days 

19 of its completion. 

20 ‘‘(B) OTHER ORDERS.—In any non-emer21 gency proceeding conducted under part 821 of 

22 title 49, Code of Federal Regulations, relating 

23 to the amendment, modification, suspension, or 

24 revocation of an airman certificate, in which the 

25 Administrator notifies the certificate holder of a 


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1 proposed certificate action under subsections 

2 (b) and (c) of section 44709 or section 44710 

3 of title 49, United States Code, the Adminis4 trator shall, upon the written request of the 

5 covered certificate holder and at any time after 

6 that notification, provide to the covered certifi7 cate holder the releasable portion of the inves8 tigative report. 

9 ‘‘(2) MOTION FOR DISMISSAL.—If the Adminis10 trator does not provide the releasable portions of the 

11 investigative report to the individual holding the air12 man certificate subject to the proceeding referred to 

13 in paragraph (1) by the time required by that para14 graph, the individual may move to dismiss the com15 plaint of the Administrator or for other relief and, 

16 unless the Administrator establishes good cause for 

17 the failure to provide the investigative report or for 

18 a lack of timeliness, the administrative law judge 

19 shall order such relief as the judge considers appro20 priate. 

21 ‘‘(3) RELEASABLE PORTION OF INVESTIGATIVE

22 REPORT.—For purposes of paragraph (1), the re23 leasable portion of an investigative report is all in24 formation in the report, except for the following: 

25 ‘‘(A) Information that is privileged. 


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1 ‘‘(B) Information that constitutes work 

2 product or reflects internal deliberative process. 

3 ‘‘(C) Information that would disclose the 

4 identity of a confidential source. 

5 ‘‘(D) Information the disclosure of which is 

6 prohibited by any other provision of law. 

7 ‘‘(E) Information that is not relevant to 

8 the subject matter of the proceeding. 

9 ‘‘(F) Information the Administrator can 

10 demonstrate is withheld for good cause. 

11 ‘‘(G) Sensitive security information, as de12 fined in section 15.5 of title 49, Code of Fed13 eral Regulations (or any corresponding similar 

14 ruling or regulation). 

15 ‘‘(4) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in 

16 this subsection shall be construed to prevent the Ad17 ministrator from releasing to an individual subject 

18 to an investigation described in subsection (b)(1)— 

19 ‘‘(A) information in addition to the infor20 mation included in the releasable portion of the 

21 investigative report; or 

22 ‘‘(B) a copy of the investigative report be23 fore the Administrator issues a complaint.’’. 


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1 SEC. 3. LIMITATIONS ON REEXAMINATION OF CERTIFICATE 

2 HOLDERS. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 44709(a) of title 49, 

4 United States Code, is amended— 

5 (1) by striking ‘‘The Administrator’’ and insert6 ing the following: 

7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator’’; 

8 (2) by striking ‘‘reexamine’’ and inserting ‘‘, ex9 cept as provided in paragraph (2), reexamine’’; and 

10 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

11 ‘‘(2) LIMITATION ON THE REEXAMINATION OF

12 AIRMAN CERTIFICATES.— 

13 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator 

14 may not reexamine an airman holding a stu15 dent, sport, recreational, or private pilot certifi16 cate issued under section 44703 of this title if 

17 the reexamination is ordered as a result of an 

18 event involving the fault of the Federal Aviation 

19 Administration or its designee, unless the Ad20 ministrator has reasonable grounds— 

21 ‘‘(i) to establish that the airman may 

22 not be qualified to exercise the privileges of 

23 a particular certificate or rating, based 

24 upon an act or omission committed by the 

25 airman while exercising those privileges, 

26 after the certificate or rating was issued by 


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1 the Federal Aviation Administration or its 

2 designee; or 

3 ‘‘(ii) to demonstrate that the airman 

4 obtained the certificate or the rating 

5 through fraudulent means or through an 

6 examination that was substantially and de7 monstrably inadequate to establish the air8 man’s qualifications. 

9 ‘‘(B) NOTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS.—Be10 fore taking any action to reexamine an airman 

11 under subparagraph (A), the Administrator 

12 shall provide to the airman— 

13 ‘‘(i) a reasonable basis, described in 

14 detail, for requesting the reexamination; 

15 and 

16 ‘‘(ii) any information gathered by the 

17 Federal Aviation Administration, that the 

18 Administrator determines is appropriate to 

19 provide, such as the scope and nature of 

20 the requested reexamination, that formed 

21 the basis for that justification.’’. 

22 (b) AMENDMENT, MODIFICATION, SUSPENSION, OR

23 REVOCATION OF AIRMAN CERTIFICATES AFTER REEXAM24 INATION.—Section 44709(b) of title 49, United States 

25 Code, is amended— 


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1 (1) in paragraph (1), by redesignating subpara2 graphs (A) and (B) as clauses (i) and (ii), respec3 tively, and indenting appropriately; 

4 (2) by redesignating paragraphs (1) and (2) as 

5 subparagraphs (A) and (B), respectively, and indent6 ing appropriately; 

7 (3) in the matter preceding subparagraph (A), 

8 as redesignated, by striking ‘‘The Administrator’’ 

9 and inserting the following: 

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para11 graph (2), the Administrator’’; and 

12 (4) by adding at the end the following: 

13 ‘‘(2) AMENDMENTS, MODIFICATIONS, SUSPEN14 SIONS, AND REVOCATIONS OF AIRMAN CERTIFICATES

15 AFTER REEXAMINATION.— 

16 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator 

17 may not issue an order to amend, modify, sus18 pend, or revoke an airman certificate held by a 

19 student, sport, recreational, or private pilot and 

20 issued under section 44703 of this title after a 

21 reexamination of the airman holding the certifi22 cate unless the Administrator determines that 

23 the airman— 

24 ‘‘(i) lacks the technical skills and com25 petency, or care, judgment, and responsiVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:57 Mar 31, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S755.IS S755

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1 bility, necessary to hold and safely exercise 

2 the privileges of the certificate; or 

3 ‘‘(ii) materially contributed to the 

4 issuance of the certificate by fraudulent 

5 means. 

6 ‘‘(B) STANDARD OF REVIEW.—Any order 

7 of the Administrator under this paragraph shall 

8 be subject to the standard of review provided 

9 for under section 2 of the Pilot’s Bill of Rights 

10 (49 U.S.C. 44703 note).’’. 

11 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 

12 44709(d)(1) of title 49, United States Code, is amended— 

13 (1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘sub14 section (b)(1)(A)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsection 

15 (b)(1)(A)(i)’’; and 

16 (2) in subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘sub17 section (b)(1)(B)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsection 

18 (b)(1)(A)(ii)’’. 

19 SEC. 4. EXPEDITING UPDATES TO NOTAM PROGRAM. 

20 (a) IN GENERAL.— 

21 (1) Beginning on the date that is 180 days 

22 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Adminis23 trator of the Federal Aviation Administration may 

24 not take any enforcement action against any indi25 vidual for a violation of a NOTAM (as defined in 


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1 section 3 of the Pilot’s Bill of Rights (49 U.S.C. 

2 44701 note)) until the Administrator certifies to the 

3 appropriate congressional committees that the Ad4 ministrator has complied with the requirements of 

5 section 3 of the Pilot’s Bill of Rights, as amended 

6 by this section. 

7 (2) In this subsection, the term ‘‘appropriate 

8 congressional committees’’ means— 

9 (A) the Committee on Commerce, Science, 

10 and Transportation of the Senate; and 

11 (B) the Committee on Transportation and 

12 Infrastructure of the House of Representatives. 

13 (b) AMENDMENTS.—Section 3 of the Pilot’s Bill of 

14 Rights (Public Law 112–153; 126 Stat. 1162; 49 U.S.C. 

15 44701 note) is amended— 

16 (1) in subsection (a)(2)— 

17 (A) in the matter preceding subparagraph 

18 (A)— 

19 (i) by striking ‘‘this Act’’ and insert20 ing ‘‘the Fairness for Pilots Act’’; and 

21 (ii) by striking ‘‘begin’’ and inserting 

22 ‘‘complete the implementation of’’; 

23 (B) by amending subparagraph (B) to read 

24 as follows: 


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1 ‘‘(B) to continue developing and modern2 izing the NOTAM repository, in a public cen3 tral location, to maintain and archive all 

4 NOTAMs, including the original content and 

5 form of the notices, the original date of publica6 tion, and any amendments to such notices with 

7 the date of each amendment, in a manner that 

8 is Internet-accessible, machine-readable, and 

9 searchable;’’; 

10 (C) in subparagraph (C), by striking the 

11 period at the end and inserting a semicolon; 

12 and 

13 (D) by adding at the end the following: 

14 ‘‘(D) to specify the times during which 

15 temporary flight restrictions are in effect and 

16 the duration of a designation of special use air17 space in a specific area.’’; and 

18 (2) by amending subsection (d) to read as fol19 lows: 

20 ‘‘(d) DESIGNATION OF REPOSITORY AS SOLE

21 SOURCE FOR NOTAMS.— 

22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator— 

23 ‘‘(A) shall consider the repository for 

24 NOTAMs under subsection (a)(2)(B) to be the 


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1 sole location for airmen to check for NOTAMs; 

2 and 

3 ‘‘(B) may not consider a NOTAM to be 

4 announced or published until the NOTAM is in5 cluded in the repository for NOTAMs under 

6 subsection (a)(2)(B). 

7 ‘‘(2) PROHIBITION ON TAKING ACTION FOR VIO8 LATIONS OF NOTAMS NOT IN REPOSITORY.— 

9 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

10 subparagraph (B), beginning on the date that 

11 the repository under subsection (a)(2)(B) is 

12 final and published, the Administrator may not 

13 take any enforcement action against an airman 

14 for a violation of a NOTAM during a flight if— 

15 ‘‘(i) that NOTAM is not available 

16 through the repository before the com17 mencement of the flight; and 

18 ‘‘(ii) that NOTAM is not reasonably 

19 accessible and identifiable to the airman. 

20 ‘‘(B) EXCEPTION FOR NATIONAL SECU21 RITY.—Subparagraph (A) shall not apply in the 

22 case of an enforcement action for a violation of 

23 a NOTAM that directly relates to national se24 curity.’’. 


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1 SEC. 5. ACCESSIBILITY OF CERTAIN FLIGHT DATA. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter I of chapter 471 of 

3 title 49, United States Code, is amended by inserting after 

4 section 47124 the following: 

5 ‘‘§ 47124a. Accessibility of certain flight data 

6 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

7 ‘‘(1) ADMINISTRATION.—The term ‘Administra8 tion’ means the Federal Aviation Administration. 

9 ‘‘(2) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘Adminis10 trator’ means the Administrator of the Federal Avia11 tion Administration. 

12 ‘‘(3) APPLICABLE INDIVIDUAL.—The term ‘ap13 plicable individual’ means an individual who is the 

14 subject of an investigation initiated by the Adminis15 trator related to a covered flight record. 

16 ‘‘(4) CONTRACT TOWER.—The term ‘contract 

17 tower’ means an air traffic control tower providing 

18 air traffic control services pursuant to a contract 

19 with the Administration under the contract air traf20 fic control tower program under section 

21 47124(b)(3). 

22 ‘‘(5) COVERED FLIGHT RECORD.—The term 

23 ‘covered flight record’ means any air traffic data (as 

24 defined in section 2(b)(4)(B) of the Pilot’s Bill of 

25 Rights (49 U.S.C. 44703 note)), created, main26 tained, or controlled by any program of the AdminisVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:57 Mar 31, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00015 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S755.IS S755

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1 tration, including any program of the Administration 

2 carried out by employees or contractors of the Ad3 ministration, such as contract towers, flight service 

4 stations, and controller training programs. 

5 ‘‘(b) PROVISION OF COVERED FLIGHT RECORD TO

6 ADMINISTRATION.— 

7 ‘‘(1) REQUESTS.—Whenever the Administration 

8 receives a written request for a covered flight record 

9 from an applicable individual and the covered flight 

10 record is not in the possession of the Administration, 

11 the Administrator shall request the covered flight 

12 record from the contract tower or other contractor 

13 of the Administration in possession of the covered 

14 flight record. 

15 ‘‘(2) PROVISION OF RECORDS.—Any covered 

16 flight record created, maintained, or controlled by a 

17 contract tower or another contractor of the Adminis18 tration that maintains covered flight records shall be 

19 provided to the Administration if the Administration 

20 requests the record pursuant to paragraph (1). 

21 ‘‘(3) NOTICE OF PROPOSED CERTIFICATE AC22 TION.—If the Administrator has issued, or subse23 quently issues, a Notice of Proposed Certificate Ac24 tion relying on evidence contained in the covered 

25 flight record and the individual who is the subject of 


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1 an investigation has requested the record, the Ad2 ministrator shall promptly produce the record and 

3 extend the time the individual has to respond to the 

4 Notice of Proposed Certificate Action until the cov5 ered flight record is provided. 

6 ‘‘(c) IMPLEMENTATION.— 

7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 

8 after the date of enactment of the Fairness for Pi9 lots Act, the Administrator shall promulgate regula10 tions or guidance to ensure compliance with this sec11 tion. 

12 ‘‘(2) COMPLIANCE BY CONTRACTORS.— 

13 ‘‘(A) Compliance with this section by a 

14 contract tower or other contractor of the Ad15 ministration that maintains covered flight 

16 records shall be included as a material term in 

17 any contract between the Administration and 

18 the contract tower or contractor entered into or 

19 renewed on or after the date of enactment of 

20 the Fairness for Pilots Act. 

21 ‘‘(B) Subparagraph (A) shall not apply to 

22 any contract or agreement in effect on the date 

23 of enactment of the Fairness for Pilots Act un24 less the contract or agreement is renegotiated, 

25 renewed, or modified after that date.’’. 


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1 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

2 The table of contents for chapter 471 of title 49, United 

3 States Code, is amended by inserting after the item relat4 ing to section 47124 the following: 

‘‘47124a. Accessibility of certain flight data.’’. 

5 SEC. 6. AUTHORITY FOR LEGAL COUNSEL TO ISSUE CER6 TAIN NOTICES. 

7 Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment 

8 of this Act, the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Ad9 ministration shall revise section 13.11 of title 14, Code 

10 of Federal Regulations, to authorize legal counsel of the 

11 Federal Aviation Administration to close enforcement ac12 tions covered by that section with a warning notice, letter 

13 of correction, or other administrative action. 

Æ 


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