Pilot’s Bill of Rights Law

Posted by on Aug 7, 2012 in Aviation | No Comments

Pilot’s Bill of Rights Law

Just last Friday, the Pilot’s Bills of Rights legislation was passed and signed as a new law designed to help pilots understand just what they were facing when they were under investigation by the FAA.

Sponsored by Senator James Inhofe, the law provides, among other matters:

  1. The enforcement proceedings by the NTSB shall be conducted pursuant to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and Evidence;
  2. Timely, written notification to the individual who is the subject of an investigation relating to the status of his airman certificate shall be given;
  3. The individual shall be entitled to access or otherwise obtain air traffic data that would facilitate the pilot’s ability to productively participate in any proceeding;
  4. The data to be made available shall include communication tapes, radar information, air traffic controller statement(s), fight data, investigative reports, and any other air traffic or flight data that would facilitate one’s ability to productively participate…
  5. The new law also provides a procedure whereby the airman may appeal any adverse decision.

This new law is intended to make the administrative portion of the proceedings a much clearer process and more transparent, while defining the available evidence and forcing the production of this information to those affected.

Another area of the new law calls for the initiation, within six months, of a program to review and improve the notices to airmen in a number of ways.   Chief among these developments will be the prioritization of the NOTAMs for pilots of information crucial to flight safety as compared to other airspace system information.

The legislation may be reviewed here: Pilot’s Bill of Rights.

 

Thomas M. Fountain & Associates, PLLC is a civil trial law firm located in the Greater Houston Texas Metropolitan Area.  The firm’s area of practice includes aviation trial law, among other areas.  The Firm has received the highest rating for legal ability and ethics by the oldest peer rating company in the nation.  Mr. Fountain is Board Certified by the Texas Board of legal Specialization in Personal Injury Trial law.  No other certification is implied.