I 
115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2107 
To amend the Pilot’s Bill of Rights to facilitate appeals, to limit the 
reexamination of airman certificates, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
APRIL 20, 2017 
Mr. GRAVES of Missouri (for himself, Mr. ROKITA, Mr. LIPINSKI, and Mr. 
PETERSON) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on Transportation and Infrastructure 
A BILL 
To amend the Pilot’s Bill of Rights to facilitate appeals, 
to limit the reexamination of airman certificates, 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. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Fairness for Pilots 
Act’’. 
SEC. 2. EXPANSION OF PILOT’S BILL OF RIGHTS. 
(a) APPEALS OF SUSPENDED AND REVOKED AIRMAN 
CERTIFICATES.—Section 2(d)(1) of the Pilot’s Bill of 
Rights (Public Law 112–153; 126 Stat. 1159; 49 U.S.C. 
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44703 note) is amended by striking ‘‘or imposing a puni-
tive civil action or an emergency order of revocation under 
subsections (d) and (e) of section 44709 of such title’’ and 
inserting ‘‘suspending or revoking an airman certificate 
under section 44709(d) of such title, or imposing an emer-
gency order of revocation under subsections (d) and (e) 
of section 44709 of such title’’. 
(b) DE NOVO REVIEW BY DISTRICT COURT; BURDEN 
OF PROOF.—Section 2(e) of the Pilot’s Bill of Rights 
(Public Law 112–153; 126 Stat. 1159; 49 U.S.C. 44703 
note) is amended— 
(1) by amending paragraph (1) to read as fol-
lows: 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In an appeal filed under 
subsection (d) in a United States district court with 
respect to a denial, suspension, or revocation of an 
airman certificate by the Administrator— 
‘‘(A) the district court shall review the de-
nial, suspension, or revocation de novo, includ-
ing by— 
‘‘(i) conducting a full independent re-
view of the complete administrative record 
of the denial, suspension, or revocation; 
‘‘(ii) permitting additional discovery 
and the taking of additional evidence; and 
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‘‘(iii) making the findings of fact and 
conclusions of law required by Rule 52 of 
the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure with-
out being bound to any findings of fact of 
the Administrator or the National Trans-
portation Safety Board.’’; 
(2) by redesignating paragraph (2) as para-
graph (3); 
(3) by inserting after paragraph (1) the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(2) BURDEN OF PROOF.—In an appeal filed 
under subsection (d) in a United States district 
court after an exhaustion of administrative remedies, 
the burden of proof shall be as follows: 
‘‘(A) In an appeal of the denial of an ap-
plication for the issuance or renewal of an air-
man certificate under section 44703 of title 49, 
United States Code, the burden of proof shall 
be upon the applicant denied an airman certifi-
cate by the Administrator. 
‘‘(B) In an appeal of an order issued by 
the Administrator under section 44709 of title 
49, United States Code, the burden of proof 
shall be upon the Administrator.’’; and 
(4) by adding at the end the following: 
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‘‘(4) APPLICABILITY OF ADMINISTRATIVE PRO-
CEDURE ACT.—Notwithstanding paragraph (1)(A) of 
this subsection or subsection (a)(1) of section 554 of 
title 5, United States Code, section 554 of such title 
shall apply to adjudications of the Administrator 
and the National Transportation Safety Board to 
the same extent as that section applied to such adju-
dications before the date of enactment of the Fair-
ness for Pilots Act.’’. 
(c) NOTIFICATION OF INVESTIGATION.—Subsection 
(b) of section 2 of the Pilot’s Bill of Rights (Public Law 
112–153; 126 Stat. 1159; 49 U.S.C. 44703 note) is 
amended— 
(1) in paragraph (2)(A), by inserting ‘‘and the 
specific activity on which the investigation is based’’ 
after ‘‘nature of the investigation’’; 
(2) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘timely’’; and 
(3) in paragraph (5), by striking ‘‘section 
44709(c)(2)’’ and inserting ‘‘section 44709(e)(2)’’. 
(d) RELEASE OF INVESTIGATIVE REPORTS.—Section 
2 of the Pilot’s Bill of Rights (Public Law 112–153; 126 
Stat. 1159; 49 U.S.C. 44703 note) is further amended by 
inserting after subsection (e) the following: 
‘‘(f) RELEASE OF INVESTIGATIVE REPORTS.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.— 
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‘‘(A) EMERGENCY ORDERS.—In any pro-
ceeding conducted under part 821 of title 49, 
Code of Federal Regulations, relating to the 
amendment, modification, suspension, or rev-
ocation of an airman certificate, in which the 
Administrator issues an emergency order under 
subsections (d) and (e) of section 44709, sec-
tion 44710, or section 46105(c) of title 49, 
United States Code, or another order that takes 
effect immediately, the Administrator shall pro-
vide to the individual holding the airman certifi-
cate the releasable portion of the investigative 
report at the time the Administrator issues the 
order. If the complete Report of Investigation is 
not available at the time the Emergency Order 
is issued, the Administrator shall issue all por-
tions of the report that are available at the time 
and shall provide the full report within 5 days 
of its completion. 
‘‘(B) OTHER ORDERS.—In any non-emer-
gency proceeding conducted under part 821 of 
title 49, Code of Federal Regulations, relating 
to the amendment, modification, suspension, or 
revocation of an airman certificate, in which the 
Administrator notifies the certificate holder of a 
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proposed certificate action under subsections 
(b) and (c) of section 44709 or section 44710 
of title 49, United States Code, the Adminis-
trator shall, upon the written request of the 
covered certificate holder and at any time after 
that notification, provide to the covered certifi-
cate holder the releasable portion of the inves-
tigative report. 
‘‘(2) MOTION FOR DISMISSAL.—If the Adminis-
trator does not provide the releasable portions of the 
investigative report to the individual holding the air-
man certificate subject to the proceeding referred to 
in paragraph (1) by the time required by that para-
graph, the individual may move to dismiss the com-
plaint of the Administrator or for other relief and, 
unless the Administrator establishes good cause for 
the failure to provide the investigative report or for 
a lack of timeliness, the administrative law judge 
shall order such relief as the judge considers appro-
priate. 
‘‘(3) RELEASABLE PORTION OF INVESTIGATIVE 
REPORT.—For purposes of paragraph (1), the re-
leasable portion of an investigative report is all in-
formation in the report, except for the following: 
‘‘(A) Information that is privileged. 
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‘‘(B) Information that constitutes work 
product or reflects internal deliberative process. 
‘‘(C) Information that would disclose the 
identity of a confidential source. 
‘‘(D) Information the disclosure of which is 
prohibited by any other provision of law. 
‘‘(E) Information that is not relevant to 
the subject matter of the proceeding. 
‘‘(F) Information the Administrator can 
demonstrate is withheld for good cause. 
‘‘(G) Sensitive security information, as de-
fined in section 15.5 of title 49, Code of Fed-
eral Regulations (or any corresponding similar 
ruling or regulation). 
‘‘(4) RULE
OF
CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in 
this subsection shall be construed to prevent the Ad-
ministrator from releasing to an individual subject 
to an investigation described in subsection (b)(1)— 
‘‘(A) information in addition to the infor-
mation included in the releasable portion of the 
investigative report; or 
‘‘(B) a copy of the investigative report be-
fore the Administrator issues a complaint.’’. 
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SEC. 3. LIMITATIONS ON REEXAMINATION OF CERTIFICATE 
HOLDERS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 44709(a) of title 49, 
United States Code, is amended— 
(1) by striking ‘‘The Administrator’’ and insert-
ing the following: 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator’’; 
(2) by striking ‘‘reexamine’’ and inserting ‘‘, ex-
cept as provided in paragraph (2), reexamine’’; and 
(3) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(2) LIMITATION ON THE REEXAMINATION OF 
AIRMAN CERTIFICATES.— 
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—The Administrator 
may not reexamine an airman holding a stu-
dent, sport, recreational, or private pilot certifi-
cate issued under section 44703 of this title if 
the reexamination is ordered as a result of an 
event involving the fault of the Federal Aviation 
Administration or its designee, unless the Ad-
ministrator has reasonable grounds— 
‘‘(i) to establish that the airman may 
not be qualified to exercise the privileges of 
a particular certificate or rating, based 
upon an act or omission committed by the 
airman while exercising those privileges, 
after the certificate or rating was issued by 
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the Federal Aviation Administration or its 
designee; or 
‘‘(ii) to demonstrate that the airman 
obtained the certificate or the rating 
through fraudulent means or through an 
examination that was substantially and de-
monstrably inadequate to establish the air-
man’s qualifications. 
‘‘(B) NOTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS.—Be-
fore taking any action to reexamine an airman 
under subparagraph (A), the Administrator 
shall provide to the airman— 
‘‘(i) a reasonable basis, described in 
detail, for requesting the reexamination; 
and 
‘‘(ii) any information gathered by the 
Federal Aviation Administration, that the 
Administrator determines is appropriate to 
provide, such as the scope and nature of 
the requested reexamination, that formed 
the basis for that justification.’’. 
(b) AMENDMENT, MODIFICATION, SUSPENSION, OR 
REVOCATION OF AIRMAN CERTIFICATES AFTER REEXAM-
INATION.—Section 44709(b) of title 49, United States 
Code, is amended— 
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(1) in paragraph (1), by redesignating subpara-
graphs (A) and (B) as clauses (i) and (ii), respec-
tively, and indenting appropriately; 
(2) by redesignating paragraphs (1) and (2) as 
subparagraphs (A) and (B), respectively, and indent-
ing appropriately; 
(3) in the matter preceding subparagraph (A), 
as redesignated, by striking ‘‘The Administrator’’ 
and inserting the following: 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para-
graph (2), the Administrator’’; and 
(4) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(2) AMENDMENTS, MODIFICATIONS, SUSPEN-
SIONS, AND REVOCATIONS OF AIRMAN CERTIFICATES 
AFTER REEXAMINATION.— 
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—The Administrator 
may not issue an order to amend, modify, sus-
pend, or revoke an airman certificate held by a 
student, sport, recreational, or private pilot and 
issued under section 44703 of this title after a 
reexamination of the airman holding the certifi-
cate unless the Administrator determines that 
the airman— 
‘‘(i) lacks the technical skills and com-
petency, or care, judgment, and responsi-
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bility, necessary to hold and safely exercise 
the privileges of the certificate; or 
‘‘(ii) materially contributed to the 
issuance of the certificate by fraudulent 
means. 
‘‘(B) STANDARD OF REVIEW.—Any order 
of the Administrator under this paragraph shall 
be subject to the standard of review provided 
for under section 2 of the Pilot’s Bill of Rights 
(49 U.S.C. 44703 note).’’. 
(c) 
CONFORMING
AMENDMENTS.—Section 
44709(d)(1) of title 49, United States Code, is amended— 
(1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘sub-
section 
(b)(1)(A)’’ 
and 
inserting 
‘‘subsection 
(b)(1)(A)(i)’’; and 
(2) in subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘sub-
section 
(b)(1)(B)’’ 
and 
inserting 
‘‘subsection 
(b)(1)(A)(ii)’’. 
SEC. 4. EXPEDITING UPDATES TO NOTAM PROGRAM. 
(a) IN GENERAL.— 
(1) Beginning on the date that is 180 days 
after the date of enactment of this Act, the Adminis-
trator of the Federal Aviation Administration may 
not take any enforcement action against any indi-
vidual for a violation of a NOTAM (as defined in 
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section 3 of the Pilot’s Bill of Rights (49 U.S.C. 
44701 note)) until the Administrator certifies to the 
appropriate congressional committees that the Ad-
ministrator has complied with the requirements of 
section 3 of the Pilot’s Bill of Rights, as amended 
by this section. 
(2) In this subsection, the term ‘‘appropriate 
congressional committees’’ means— 
(A) the Committee on Commerce, Science, 
and Transportation of the Senate; and 
(B) the Committee on Transportation and 
Infrastructure of the House of Representatives. 
(b) AMENDMENTS.—Section 3 of the Pilot’s Bill of 
Rights (Public Law 112–153; 126 Stat. 1162; 49 U.S.C. 
44701 note) is amended— 
(1) in subsection (a)(2)— 
(A) in the matter preceding subparagraph 
(A)— 
(i) by striking ‘‘this Act’’ and insert-
ing ‘‘the Fairness for Pilots Act’’; and 
(ii) by striking ‘‘begin’’ and inserting 
‘‘complete the implementation of’’; 
(B) by amending subparagraph (B) to read 
as follows: 
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‘‘(B) to continue developing and modern-
izing the NOTAM repository, in a public cen-
tral location, to maintain and archive all 
NOTAMs, including the original content and 
form of the notices, the original date of publica-
tion, and any amendments to such notices with 
the date of each amendment, in a manner that 
is Internet-accessible, machine-readable, and 
searchable;’’; 
(C) in subparagraph (C), by striking the 
period at the end and inserting a semicolon; 
and 
(D) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(D) to specify the times during which 
temporary flight restrictions are in effect and 
the duration of a designation of special use air-
space in a specific area.’’; and 
(2) by amending subsection (d) to read as fol-
lows: 
‘‘(d) DESIGNATION
OF
REPOSITORY
AS
SOLE 
SOURCE FOR NOTAMS.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator— 
‘‘(A) shall consider the repository for 
NOTAMs under subsection (a)(2)(B) to be the 
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sole location for airmen to check for NOTAMs; 
and 
‘‘(B) may not consider a NOTAM to be 
announced or published until the NOTAM is in-
cluded in the repository for NOTAMs under 
subsection (a)(2)(B). 
‘‘(2) PROHIBITION ON TAKING ACTION FOR VIO-
LATIONS OF NOTAMS NOT IN REPOSITORY.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 
subparagraph (B), beginning on the date that 
the repository under subsection (a)(2)(B) is 
final and published, the Administrator may not 
take any enforcement action against an airman 
for a violation of a NOTAM during a flight if— 
‘‘(i) that NOTAM is not available 
through the repository before the com-
mencement of the flight; and 
‘‘(ii) that NOTAM is not reasonably 
accessible and identifiable to the airman. 
‘‘(B) EXCEPTION
FOR
NATIONAL
SECU-
RITY.—Subparagraph (A) shall not apply in the 
case of an enforcement action for a violation of 
a NOTAM that directly relates to national se-
curity.’’. 
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SEC. 5. ACCESSIBILITY OF CERTAIN FLIGHT DATA. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter I of chapter 471 of 
title 49, United States Code, is amended by inserting after 
section 47124 the following: 
‘‘§ 47124a. Accessibility of certain flight data 
‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
‘‘(1) ADMINISTRATION.—The term ‘Administra-
tion’ means the Federal Aviation Administration. 
‘‘(2) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘Adminis-
trator’ means the Administrator of the Federal Avia-
tion Administration. 
‘‘(3) APPLICABLE INDIVIDUAL.—The term ‘ap-
plicable individual’ means an individual who is the 
subject of an investigation initiated by the Adminis-
trator related to a covered flight record. 
‘‘(4) CONTRACT
TOWER.—The term ‘contract 
tower’ means an air traffic control tower providing 
air traffic control services pursuant to a contract 
with the Administration under the contract air traf-
fic 
control 
tower 
program 
under 
section 
47124(b)(3). 
‘‘(5) COVERED
FLIGHT
RECORD.—The term 
‘covered flight record’ means any air traffic data (as 
defined in section 2(b)(4)(B) of the Pilot’s Bill of 
Rights (49 U.S.C. 44703 note)), created, main-
tained, or controlled by any program of the Adminis-
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tration, including any program of the Administration 
carried out by employees or contractors of the Ad-
ministration, such as contract towers, flight service 
stations, and controller training programs. 
‘‘(b) PROVISION OF COVERED FLIGHT RECORD TO 
ADMINISTRATION.— 
‘‘(1) REQUESTS.—Whenever the Administration 
receives a written request for a covered flight record 
from an applicable individual and the covered flight 
record is not in the possession of the Administration, 
the Administrator shall request the covered flight 
record from the contract tower or other contractor 
of the Administration in possession of the covered 
flight record. 
‘‘(2) PROVISION
OF
RECORDS.—Any covered 
flight record created, maintained, or controlled by a 
contract tower or another contractor of the Adminis-
tration that maintains covered flight records shall be 
provided to the Administration if the Administration 
requests the record pursuant to paragraph (1). 
‘‘(3) NOTICE OF PROPOSED CERTIFICATE AC-
TION.—If the Administrator has issued, or subse-
quently issues, a Notice of Proposed Certificate Ac-
tion relying on evidence contained in the covered 
flight record and the individual who is the subject of 
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