March 21, 2025
Mr. Burchett (for himself and Mr. Mann) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
To amend title 49, United States Code, to authorize the use of physical or digital copies of certain certificates for certain Federal Aviation Administration inspections, and for other purposes.
Section 1. Short title
This Act may be cited as the Pilot Certificate Accessibility Act
.
Sec. 2. Acceptable forms of certification
(a) In general
Section 44703 of title 49, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
(m) Sufficiency of digital and physical copies of airman certificates
An individual issued a certificate pursuant to this section (including a medical certificate) may present such certificate to an inspector of the Federal Aviation Administration in any of the following formats:
(1)
A physical, original copy issued by the Administrator (or his or her designee).
(2)
A digital copy stored on an electronic device or cloud storage platform, including a mobile certificate issued by the Administrator.
(b) Rulemaking
The Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration shall update regulations in part 61 of title 14, Code of Federal Regulations, as necessary, to implement the amendments made by this section.
(c) Applicability
Beginning on the date that is 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall apply part 61, Code of Federal Regulations, in a manner reflecting the changes to section 44703 of title 49, United States Code, made by this Act.