New FAA DUI Policy
The Federal Aviation Administration has announced new guidance following any alcohol-related motor vehicle action (driving under the influence or driving while intoxicated) offense.

For quite some time there have been two separate reporting requirements after receiving “motor vehicle action”:

You must report within 60 days any “motor vehicle action” (which includes DUI or DWI convictions) to the FAA IAW FAR Part 61.15 (e). If you do not report such occurrences within 60 days, you risk enforcement action against your certificates.

You must also report the “motor vehicle action” on the very next FAA medical examination. You must now report arrests, convictions, and administrative actions by checking “yes” at line 18.v of FAA Form 8500-8.

In the past, the FAA took no further action after a properly reported first “motor vehicle action.” Now, on all offenses, including the first, your Aeromedical Examiner (AME) may require the court documents and question you regarding the offense.

If you had a blood alcohol level of 0.15 mg % or above in connection with a “motor vehicle action” or if this is not your first offense in your lifetime, your medical certification is supposed to be deferred to the FAA. Also, if you refused to allow the police to take a sample for alcohol concentration, your medical certification should be deferred. The FAA will then insist that you obtain a substance abuse evaluation from a recognized counselor as a condition of further consideration for issuance of a medical certificate. Additional documentation will also be required for FAA review.

The documentation and review process may take up to several months. If your medical certificate has lapsed during this period, you will not be eligible to fly until cleared by the FAA.

The bottom line is that in the event you have a “motor vehicle action,” or if you are told by your AME that you are no longer qualified to exercise the privileges of your airman medical certificate contact the ALPA Aeromedical Office (303-341-4435) immediately to discuss the specifics of your case. By immediately contacting the Aeromedical Office, the staff can guide you to the proper substance abuse evaluation well before the month your medical certificate is no longer valid, if the timing works out with the “motor vehicle action” and your medical examination.

ALPA plans to publish an article that will discuss the issues and ramifications of a “motor vehicle action” (which includes DUI or DWI convictions) in an upcoming issue of Air Line Pilot.


Why are we treated like prisoners on parole? How much more involvement into our personal lives do we give to the FED's? (not condoning drinking and driving, but how about EVERY employee of the federal gov't/senators/congress/TSA.....have the same standards)

No suprise after the last UA incident.

I love to party as much as the next guy. Bottom line, take a cab, have a friend, wife, girlfriend or whatever drive, period. End of story......

Actually, this went into effect many months ago, it's just that no one knew about it. A friend of mine is a big union guy at another carrier dealing with these sort of issues, and he had told me about it. Kind of sneaky because the first you may find out about it is when it's time to get your medical renewed and realized they've changed the DUI question on the form. Problem is, it can take a couple or three months to sort out.

His advice: if you've ever been even arrested for it, even if it was reduced to say, reckless driving, go get your medical renewed say 2-3 months early. That way you have time to jump through the hoops for your new certificate while the old one is still valid.

Must be nice to have a union to help u out. I sure miss the peace of mind and services a union gives you.

Agreed....don't break the law (especially one on the skyline such as DUI) and you'll have nothing to worry about. Exercise that professional judgment and don't paint yourself into a box.

USMCFLYR

Damn straight. Just don't do it. I know - and have heard of - too many people, some younger than me, killed or seriously injured by drunk driving. There's a reason that it's serious-business-illegal...not to mention that any person who attempts it demonstrates a severe lack of judgment.

Now how does that affect the no smoking within 8 hours of flight and no drinking within 50' of the fuel truck rules?

True, so what will it take to get texting/calling while driving banned in the same manner. Texting while driving is just as detrimental as a .14 BAC.

Um old medical is null once the new one has been issued......

Yes, this is casing issues for many guys.

They are also looking at lifetime monitoring for those that are diagnosed "Dependent" et al.

Simply put if you are hiding an issue, better to get it resolved now before they make this change.