I 

108TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5250

To amend title 49, United States Code, to make modifications to the Federal 

flight deck officer program. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OCTOBER 7, 2004

Mr. DEFAZIO (for himself and Mr. MICA) introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure 

A BILL

To amend title 49, United States Code, to make 

modifications to the Federal flight deck officer program.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Represen2 tatives of the United States of America in Congress assem3 bled,

4 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

5 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Federal Flight Deck 

6 Officer Improvement Act of 2004’’. 
2

•HR 5250 IH 

1 SEC. 2. FEDERAL FLIGHT DECK OFFICER TRAINING AND 

2 REQUALIFICATION TRAINING. 

3 (a) TRAINING, SUPERVISION, AND EQUIPMENT.—

4 Section 44921(c) of title 49, United States Code, is 

5 amended by adding at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘(3) LOCATION OF TRAINING.—

7 ‘‘(A) STUDY.—The Secretary shall conduct 

8 a study of the feasibility of conducting Federal 

9 flight deck officer initial training at facilities lo10 cated throughout the United States, including 

11 an analysis of any associated programmatic im12 pacts to the Federal flight deck officer pro13 gram. 

14 ‘‘(B) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days 

15 after the date of enactment of this paragraph, 

16 the Secretary shall transmit to the Committee 

17 on Transportation and Infrastructure of the 

18 House of Representatives and the Committee 

19 on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of 

20 the Senate a report on the results of the study. 

21 ‘‘(4) DATES OF TRAINING.—The Secretary shall 

22 ensure that a pilot who is eligible to receive Federal 

23 flight deck officer training is offered a choice of 

24 training dates and is provided at least 30 days ad25 vance notice of the dates. 
3

•HR 5250 IH 

1 ‘‘(5) TRAVEL TO TRAINING FACILITIES.—The 

2 Secretary shall establish a program to improve travel 

3 access to Federal flight deck officer training facili4 ties through the use of charter flights or improved 

5 scheduled air carrier service. 

6 ‘‘(6) REQUALIFICATION AND RECURRENT

7 TRAINING.—

8 ‘‘(A) STANDARDS.—The Secretary shall es9 tablish qualification standards for facilities 

10 where Federal flight deck officers can receive 

11 requalification and recurrent training. 

12 ‘‘(B) LOCATIONS.—The Secretary shall 

13 provide for requalification and recurrent train14 ing at geographically diverse facilities, including 

15 military facilities, Federal, State, and local law 

16 enforcement facilities, and private training fa17 cilities that meet the qualification standards es18 tablished under subparagraph (A). 

19 ‘‘(7) COSTS OF TRAINING.—

20 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 

21 provide Federal flight deck officer training, re22 qualification training, and recurrent training to 

23 eligible pilots at no cost to the pilots or the air 

24 carriers that employ the pilots. 
4

•HR 5250 IH 

1 ‘‘(B) TRANSPORTATION AND EXPENSES.—

2 The Secretary may provide travel expenses to a 

3 pilot receiving Federal flight deck officer train4 ing, requalification training, or recurrent train5 ing. 

6 ‘‘(8) COMMUNICATIONS EQUIPMENT.—Not later 

7 than 180 days after the date of enactment of this 

8 paragraph, the Secretary shall establish a secure 

9 means for personnel of the Transportation Security 

10 Administration to communicate with Federal flight 

11 deck officers, and for Federal flight deck officers to 

12 communicate with each other, in support of the mis13 sion of such officers. Such means of communication 

14 may include a secure Internet website. 

15 ‘‘(9) ISSUANCE OF BADGES.—Not later than 

16 180 days after the date of enactment of this para17 graph, the Secretary shall issue badges to Federal 

18 flight deck officers.’’. 

19 SEC. 3. FEDERAL FLIGHT DECK OFFICER FIREARM CAR20 RIAGE PILOT PROGRAM. 

21 Section 44921(f) of title 49, United States Code, is 

22 amended by adding at the end the following: 

23 ‘‘(4) PILOT PROGRAM.—

24 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 

25 days after the date of enactment of this para-
5

•HR 5250 IH 

1 graph, the Secretary shall implement a pilot 

2 program to allow pilots participating in the 

3 Federal flight deck officer program to transport 

4 their firearms on their persons. The Secretary 

5 may prescribe any training, equipment, or pro6 cedures that the Secretary determines necessary 

7 to ensure safety and maximize weapon reten8 tion. 

9 ‘‘(B) REVIEW.—Not later than 1 year 

10 after the date of initiation of the pilot program, 

11 the Secretary shall conduct a review of the safe12 ty record of the pilot program and transmit a 

13 report on the results of the review to the Com14 mittee on Transportation and Infrastructure of 

15 the House of Representatives and the Com16 mittee on Commerce, Science, and Transpor17 tation of the Senate. 

18 ‘‘(C) OPTION.—If the Secretary as part of 

19 the review under subparagraph (B) determines 

20 that the safety level obtained under the pilot 

21 program is comparable to the safety level deter22 mined under existing methods of pilots carrying 

23 firearms on aircraft, the Secretary shall allow 

24 all pilots participating in the Federal flight 

25 deck officer program the option of carrying
6

•HR 5250 IH 

1 their firearm on their person subject to such re2 quirements as the Secretary determines appro3 priate.’’. 

4 SEC. 4. FEDERAL FLIGHT DECK OFFICERS ON INTER5 NATIONAL FLIGHTS. 

6 (a) AGREEMENTS WITH FOREIGN GOVERNMENTS.—

7 The President is encouraged to pursue aggressively agree8 ments with foreign governments to allow maximum de9 ployment of Federal flight deck officers on international 

10 flights. 

11 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after the date 

12 of enactment of this Act, the President (or the President’s 

13 designee) shall submit to the Committee on Transpor14 tation and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives 

15 and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transpor16 tation of the Senate a report on the status of the Presi17 dent’s efforts to allow maximum deployment of Federal 

18 flight deck officers on international flights. 

19 SEC. 5. COMPENSATION FOR PROGRAM-RELATED INJU20 RIES. 

21 Section 44921 of title 49, United States Code, is 

22 amended—

23 (1) by redesignating subsection (k) as sub24 section (l); and 
7

•HR 5250 IH 

1 (2) by inserting after subsection (j) the fol2 lowing: 

3 ‘‘(k) COMPENSATION FOR PROGRAM-RELATED IN4 JURY OR DEATH.—

5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall work 

6 with the relevant Federal agencies to obtain com7 pensation under applicable Federal laws for the 

8 death or injury of a Federal flight deck officer sus9 tained while in the performance of the officer’s du10 ties under the program. 

11 ‘‘(2) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after 

12 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary 

13 shall transmit to Congress a report on the Sec14 retary’s efforts to obtain compensation for Federal 

15 flight deck officers under paragraph (1), together 

16 with recommendations, if any, for legislative actions 

17 required to provide such compensation.’’. 

18 SEC. 6. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

19 It is the sense of Congress that air carriers should 

20 permit Federal flight deck officers to take a leave of ab21 sence from their employment as required to attend initial 

22 and requalification Federal flight deck officer training. 

23 SEC. 7. REFERENCES TO UNDER SECRETARY. 

24 Section 44921 of title 49, United States Code, is 

25 amended—
8

•HR 5250 IH 

1 (1) in subsection (a) by striking ‘‘Under Sec2 retary of Transportation for Security’’ and inserting 

3 ‘‘Secretary of Homeland Security’’; 

4 (2) by striking ‘‘Under Secretary’’ each place it 

5 appears and inserting ‘‘Secretary’’; and 

6 (3) by striking ‘‘Under Secretary’s’’ each place 

7 it appears and inserting ‘‘Secretary’s’’.

Æ