A bill that would allow the use of electronic versions of pilot and medical certificates as proof of certification is headed to the House of Representatives after it cleared committee deliberations last week. The bill, introduced by Tennessee Republican Tim Burchett a year ago, is short and sweet and will definitely help those who sometimes forget their wallets but never go anywhere without their phones. If passed by the House and then the Senate and signed by the president, the Pilot Accessibility Act will satisfy a ramp check or any other occasion that requires the presentation of those documents. In introducing the bill, Burchett said it will make enforcing the rules more efficient. “Everything we do is online nowadays,” he said. “I don’t see a reason why our pilots should have to carry physical documents with them instead of keeping them on their phone like everything else.”
“Under current FAA regulations, a pilot must present for inspection a physical copy of an airman certificate and other paperwork upon a request from the FAA; a federal, state, or local law enforcement officer; or an authorized representative of the Transportation Security Administration or the National Transportation Safety Board,” the bill says. “This bill allows a pilot to present a certificate such as an airman certificate or a medical certificate as (1) a physical, original copy; or (2) a digital copy stored on an electronic device or cloud storage platform.”
Good plan. We do digital drivers licenses now, so it seems reasonable to allow digital pilots license.
It’s about time! I carry 5-6 FAA cards that would be much simpler to have an E version and it will increase the useful load i can legally carry in my airplane.
Wait there are digital drivers license too?
So this might be a crazy idea, but I dunno, maybe also have the medical be electronic as well?
Sorry – that might be thinking too far outside the box here.
But what will become of the tatty piece of paper that has been sitting in a pocket for multiple years?
Also the utter joke that FAA Medicals are for actually certifying physical and mental fitness for flight?
The article text does say that medicals are included under the bill. Maybe that was updated since your comment.
great. how about also dropping the need for a paper copy of the registration card and the certificate of airworthiness?
What about Digital A&P License?
Anything digital is lost more often than not. Going digital has always been a bad idea. Never trust any digital system. When you need the digital system, it is usually not available for one reason or another. A paper or plastic card IDing the person is and has been the best way.
Digital works great. I can store it in many places and print a copy if I feel like a Luddite.
There’s no reason why you can’t have both.
Ramp checks are unlawful. Probable cause is a necessity for all enforcement actions. If a probable cause is not supplied, a ramp check is definitely unlawful. AOPA Legal Services knows this and will make the FAA look very foolish in court, if challenged. Since all aircraft are identified by their N number, which can be looked up, the history of the aircraft is already available to the FAA. And checks on the field with the mechanics shops will tell if the aircraft has a current annual inspection. Get the FAA to do their homework; and find probable cause before they do anything else.
I’ve been using a picture copy on my iPhone for years for both PPL and mechanics credentials. Good thing I was never checked. I found the printing rubs off pretty easily when carried around in the wallet.
This from the same FAA which basically just revoked the certificates of people living abroad for failure to have a permanent representative to receive their FAA postal mail. Can’t make these jokes up.
Great. So hackers can Get All our informations. Nothing Safer and better than Old paper.
Oooh–wait until Edouard finds out about the FAA Airman Enquiry webpage…
“Old paper” is considerably easier to steal than a digital license sitting in my phone’s wallet, only accessible to me (using either my passcode or my FaceID).
Nobody is suggesting eliminating paper, and whoever wants it can still use it. Digital is more secure, more durable and more reliable. You cannot rip up, or wear out, a digital ID card on your device. You can store it on more than one device. And I have yet to meet a person who made it out of their home to the building elevator (or to their car) before realising they forgot their phone. People forget keys, wallets, umbrellas, but phones — never.
For the past three years, I’ve been using the digital driver’s license from the state of New York. It sits in a special mobile app developed by the NY state. It requires me to authenticate before opening it, and it allows a properly equipped law enforcement officer to easily look it up in their system by scanning a QR code. I no longer carry my wallet. Hopefully, this law makes it possible to go flying without having to carry a wallet (and a bunch of paper).
Unlike most drivers licenses, FAA credentials can be verified online IF you have the persons name and certificate #. I don’t see why providing an image of my pilot and medical certificate to an enforcement agent isn’t sufficient…they can easily validate its authenticity in minutes.
I think you’re missing one small little detail. I love to fly to Mexico. They love to check my pilots license as well as 12 other documents. I need to carry in order to fly south of the border. I’m sure the Mexican authorities will probably not accept a piece of paper. They will demand that I show them a pilots license so what are you gonna do about this this plan is absolutely stupid.
Nobody is suggesting elimination of paper licenses. In fact, this law doesn’t even mandate development of an actual, proper e-Certificate. It only proposes making it acceptable to scan your paper license and put that image file somewhere on your mobile, and show that, instead of the paper document, to the enforcement agents.
For people frequently flying outside of the USA, that law is obviously irrelevant, and since there exists no global, universally agreed digital format for these documents, pilots will continue to be required to bring along paper documents.
I’m guessing you meant they wouldn’t accept a digital scan, and require a piece of paper.