I 
116TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 8408 
To direct the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration to require 
certain safety standards relating to aircraft, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
SEPTEMBER 29, 2020 
Mr. DEFAZIO (for himself, Mr. GRAVES of Missouri, Mr. LARSEN of Wash-
ington, and Mr. GRAVES of Louisiana) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastruc-
ture 
A BILL 
To direct the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Adminis-
tration to require certain safety standards relating to 
aircraft, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 
‘‘Aircraft Certification Reform and Accountability Act’’. 
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 
this Act is as follows: 
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 
Sec. 2. Safety management systems. 
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Sec. 3. Expert review of organization designation authorizations for transport 
airplanes. 
Sec. 4. Certification oversight staff. 
Sec. 5. Disclosure of safety-critical information. 
Sec. 6. Periodic reviews of organization designation authorizations. 
Sec. 7. Limitations on delegation. 
Sec. 8. Oversight of organization designation authorization unit members. 
Sec. 9. Integrated project teams. 
Sec. 10. Oversight integrity briefing. 
Sec. 11. Appeals of certification decisions. 
Sec. 12. Employment restrictions. 
Sec. 13. Professional development and skills enhancement. 
Sec. 14. Voluntary safety reporting program. 
Sec. 15. Compensation limitation. 
Sec. 16. System safety assessments and other requirements. 
Sec. 17. Flight crew alerting. 
Sec. 18. Amended type certificates. 
Sec. 19. Whistleblower protections. 
Sec. 20. Pilot training. 
Sec. 21. Nonconformity with approved type design. 
Sec. 22. Implementation of recommendations. 
Sec. 23. Oversight of FAA compliance program. 
Sec. 24. Settlement agreement. 
Sec. 25. Human factors. 
Sec. 26. Technical corrections. 
Sec. 27. Definitions. 
SEC. 2. SAFETY MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 30 days after the 
date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall ini-
tiate a rulemaking proceeding to require each person who 
holds both a type certificate and a production certificate 
issued under section 44704 of title 49, United States 
Code, to adopt, not later than the earlier of the date that 
is 180 days after the issuance of the regulation required 
under this subsection or the date that is 4 years after the 
date of enactment of this Act, a safety management sys-
tem consistent with the standards and recommended prac-
tices contained in annex 19 to the Convention on Inter-
national Civil Aviation (61 Stat. 1180) in effect on the 
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earlier of the date of the issuance of such regulations or 
the date that is 4 years after the date of enactment of 
this Act. 
(b) CONTENTS OF REGULATIONS.—The regulations 
issued under subsection (a) shall, at a minimum, include 
provisions for the Administrator’s approval of, and regular 
oversight of adherence to, a certificate holder’s safety 
management system adopted pursuant to such regula-
tions. 
(c) DEADLINE.—Not later than 12 months after the 
end of the comment period for the proposed rule issued 
pursuant to subsection (a), the Administrator shall issue 
a final rule with respect to such proposed rule. 
(d) SAFETY REPORTING PROGRAM.—The regulations 
issued under subsection (a) shall require a safety manage-
ment system to include a confidential employee reporting 
system through which employees can report hazards, 
issues, concerns, occurrences, and incidents. A reporting 
system under this subsection shall include provisions for 
non-punitive reporting of such items by employees in a 
manner consistent with other confidential employee re-
porting systems administered by the Administrator. Such 
regulations shall also require a certificate holder described 
in subsection (a) to submit a summary of reports received 
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under this subsection to the Administrator at least twice 
per year. 
(e) CODE OF ETHICS.—The regulations issued under 
subsection (a) shall require a safety management system 
to include establishment of a code of ethics applicable to 
all employees of a certificate holder, including officers, 
which clarifies that safety is the organization’s highest pri-
ority. 
(f) PROTECTION OF SAFETY INFORMATION.—Section 
44735(a) of title 49, United States Code, is amended— 
(1) by striking ‘‘title 5 if the report’’ and in-
serting the following: ‘‘title 5— 
‘‘(1) if the report’’; 
(2) by striking the period at the end and insert-
ing ‘‘; or’’; and 
(3) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(2) if the report, data, or other information is 
submitted to the Federal Aviation Administration 
pursuant to section 2(d) of the Aircraft Certification 
Reform and Accountability Act.’’. 
SEC. 3. EXPERT REVIEW OF ORGANIZATION DESIGNATION 
AUTHORIZATIONS 
FOR 
TRANSPORT 
AIR-
PLANES. 
(a) EXPERT REVIEW.— 
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(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 30 days 
after the date of enactment of this Act, the Adminis-
trator shall convene an expert panel (in this section 
referred to as the ‘‘review panel’’) to review and 
make findings and recommendations on the matters 
listed in paragraph (2). 
(2) CONTENTS OF REVIEW.—With respect to 
each holder of an organization designation author-
ization for the design and production of transport 
airplanes, the review panel shall review the following: 
(A) The extent to which the holder has im-
plemented a safety culture consistent with the 
principles of the International Civil Aviation 
Organization 
Safety 
Management 
Manual, 
Fourth Edition (International Civil Aviation 
Organization Doc. No. 9589) or any similar 
successor document. 
(B) The effectiveness of measures insti-
tuted by the holder to instill, among employees 
and contractors of such holder that support or-
ganization designation authorization functions, 
a commitment to safety above all other prior-
ities. 
(C) The holder’s capability, based on the 
holder’s organizational structures, requirements 
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applicable to officers and employees of such 
holder, and safety culture, of making reasonable 
and appropriate decisions regarding functions 
delegated to the holder pursuant to the organi-
zation designation authorization. 
(D) Any other matter determined by the 
Administrator for which inclusion in the review 
would be consistent with the public interest in 
aviation safety. 
(3) COMPOSITION OF REVIEW PANEL.—The re-
view panel shall consist of— 
(A) 2 representatives of the National Aero-
nautics and Space Administration; 
(B) 2 employees of the Administration’s 
Aircraft Certification Service with experience 
conducting oversight of persons not involved in 
the design or production of transport airplanes; 
(C) 1 employee of the Administration’s 
Aircraft Certification Service with experience 
conducting oversight of persons involved in the 
design or production of transport airplanes; 
(D) 2 employees of the Administration’s 
Flight Standards Service with experience in 
oversight of safety management systems; 
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(E) 1 appropriately qualified representa-
tive, designated by the applicable represented 
organization, of each of— 
(i) a labor union representing airline 
pilots involved in both passenger and all- 
cargo operations; 
(ii) a labor union, not selected under 
clause (i), representing airline pilots with 
expertise in the matters described in para-
graph (2); 
(iii) a labor union representing em-
ployees engaged in the assembly of trans-
port airplanes; 
(iv) the certified bargaining represent-
ative under section 7111 of title 5, United 
States Code, for field engineers engaged in 
the audit or oversight of an organization 
designation authorization within the Air-
craft Certification Service of the Adminis-
tration; and 
(v) the certified bargaining represent-
ative for safety inspectors of the Adminis-
tration; 
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(F) 2 independent experts who have not 
served as a political appointee in the Adminis-
tration and— 
(i) who hold either a baccalaureate or 
postgraduate degree in the field of aero-
space engineering or a related discipline; 
and 
(ii) who have a minimum of 20 years 
of relevant applied experience; 
(G) 4 air carrier employees whose job re-
sponsibilities include administration of a safety 
management system; and 
(H) 4 individuals representing 4 different 
holders of organization designation authoriza-
tions, with preference given to individuals rep-
resenting holders of organization designation 
authorizations for the design or production of 
aircraft other than transport airplanes or for 
the design or production of aircraft engines, 
propellers, or appliances. 
(4) RECOMMENDATIONS.—The review panel 
shall make recommendations to the Administrator 
regarding suggested actions to address any defi-
ciencies found after review of the matters listed in 
paragraph (2). 
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(5) REPORT.— 
(A) SUBMISSION.—Not later than 270 
days after the date on which the review panel 
is established, the review panel shall transmit to 
the Administrator and the congressional com-
mittees of jurisdiction a report containing the 
findings and recommendations of the review 
panel regarding the matters listed in paragraph 
(2), except that such report shall include— 
(i) only such findings endorsed by 10 
or more individual members of the review 
panel; and 
(ii) only such recommendations de-
scribed in paragraph (4) endorsed by 18 or 
more of the individual members of the re-
view panel. 
(B) DISSENTING
VIEWS.—In submitting 
the report required under this paragraph, the 
review panel shall append to such report the 
dissenting views of any individual member or 
group of members of the review panel regarding 
the findings or recommendations of the review 
panel. 
(C) PUBLICATION.—Not later than 5 days 
after receiving the report under subparagraph 
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(A), the Administrator shall publish such re-
port, including any dissenting views appended 
to the report, on the website of the Administra-
tion. 
(D) TERMINATION.—The review panel 
shall terminate upon submission of the report 
under subparagraph (A). 
(6) ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS.— 
(A) ACCESS
TO
INFORMATION.—The re-
view panel shall have authority to perform the 
following actions if a majority of the total num-
ber of review panel members consider each ac-
tion necessary and appropriate: 
(i) Entering onto the premises of an 
organization 
designation 
authorization 
holder described in subsection (a) for ac-
cess to and inspection of records or other 
purposes. 
(ii) Notwithstanding any other provi-
sion of law, accessing and inspecting 
unredacted records in the possession of an 
employee or appointed political official of 
the Administration. 
(iii) Interviewing employees of such 
organization 
designation 
authorization 
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