Frequently Asked Questions
Find answers to your FAA questions.
Yes. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) drug and alcohol testing regulation, 14 CFR part 120, requires an air carrier to ensure that any individual who performs safety-sensitive duties (e.g., maintenance or preventive maintenance) directly or by contract, including subcontract at any tier, is subject to testing under its FAA-mandated drug and alcohol testing program. It is the air carrier's and its contractor's responsibility to ensure that any maintenance contracted out is done by an individual covered by an FAA-mandated Drug and Alcohol Program.
Employers who need more information about the definition of maintenance or preventive maintenance should review the FAA Flight Standards Service's Guidance Alert on Maintenance or consult directly with their FAA Principal Maintenance Inspector or local Flight Standards District Office. The Flight Standards Service is the expert in clarifying maintenance or preventive maintenance duties. Please visit the FAA's website to find the Flight Standards District Office closest to you.
If you have any further questions or need additional guidance that is more specific to your situation, please contact the FAA Drug Abatement Division at (202) 267-8442 or drugabatement@faa.gov.
Please visit our website to learn more about our program.
Applicable Regulations:
14 CFR § 120.7(i)
14 CFR § 120.105
Yes. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) drug and alcohol testing regulation, 14 CFR part 120, requires an air carrier to ensure that any individual who performs safety-sensitive duties (e.g., maintenance or preventive maintenance) directly or by contract, including subcontract at any tier, is subject to testing under its FAA-mandated drug and alcohol testing program. It is the air carrier's and its contractor's responsibility to ensure that any maintenance contracted out is done by an individual covered by an FAA-mandated Drug and Alcohol Program.
Employers who need more information about the definition of maintenance or preventive maintenance should review the FAA Flight Standards Service's Guidance Alert on Maintenance or consult directly with their FAA Principal Maintenance Inspector or local Flight Standards District Office. The Flight Standards Service is the expert in clarifying maintenance or preventive maintenance duties. Please visit the FAA's website to find the Flight Standards District Office closest to you.
If you have any further questions or need additional guidance that is more specific to your situation, please contact the FAA Drug Abatement Division at (202) 267-8442 or drugabatement@faa.gov.
Please visit our website to learn more about our program.
Applicable Regulations:
14 CFR § 120.7(i)
14 CFR § 120.105
As of December 12, 2017, the National Defense Authorization Act for 2018 restored the FAA's registration rule with respect to model aircraft. If you are a model aircraft owner who registered prior to December 12, 2017 and did not request to have your registration information deleted, the FAA has extended the expiration date until December 12, 2020, which is 3 years from the rule restoration date.
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Yes, an individual who is deaf can obtain a pilot certificate in one of the five categories of aircraft: airplane, rotorcraft, glider, powered-lift, or lighter-than-air.
What types of certificates can a deaf pilot obtain?
A deaf pilot can obtain a student pilot certificate, recreational pilot certificate, private pilot certificate, and, on a limited basis, a commercial pilot certificate; for example, agricultural aircraft operations, banner towing operations, or any operation which does not require radio communication. With new interface technology for in cockpit receipt of weather information and digital communication, additional pilot certificates may be available to deaf pilots in the future.
What are the grades of pilot certificates?
There are five grades of pilot certificates that are available: student pilot, recreational pilot, private pilot, commercial pilot, and airline transport pilot.
What are the differences in the certificates?
A student pilot certificate is designed for the initial instructional period of flying. The student pilot is limited to flying with the flight instructor or solo after appropriate instructor endorsements (Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) sections 61.87 and 61.89). A recreational pilot certificate limits the holder to specific categories and classes of aircraft, the number of passengers which may be carried, the distance that may be flown from the departure point, flight into controlled airports, and other limitations (14 CFR section 61.101). A private pilot certificate permits the pilot to carry passengers and provides for limited business use of an airplane (14 CFR section 61.113). A commercial pilot certificate permits the pilot to conduct certain types of operations for compensation and hire (14 CFR section 61.133).
Yes. Medical certificates can be issued in many cases where physical disabilities are involved. Depending on the nature of the disability, you may have some operating limitations. If you have any questions, contact an FAA-authorized aviation medical examiner before beginning flight training.
If you are an employer, you must ensure that any person hired to perform a safety-sensitive function, directly or by contract (including by subcontract at any tier), is subject to FAA-mandated drug and alcohol testing under 14 CFR part 120. You may use a contract employee who is not included under your own testing program if that contract employee is subject to the requirements of the contractor's FAA-mandated drug and alcohol testing program and performing a safety-sensitive function on behalf of that contractor (i.e., within the scope of employment with the contractor). You must verify that the contract employee is subject to the contractor’s FAA-mandated testing program on an on-going basis. Although the regulation does not require specific documentation to be kept on file, you are responsible for demonstrating that you have ensured that you used a contract employee who is included under the contractor’s testing program.
The best way to verify a contractor’s federal testing program is to obtain a copy of the contractor’s program documentation, e.g., a copy of their current program registration, Letter of Authorization (A049), or Operations Specification paragraph (A449). If you obtain a copy of the contractor’s program registration, A449, or A049, we consider it sufficient proof that the contractor conducts its own testing, and they are knowledgeable of what work their employee is performing and can remove from service any employee who has a drug or alcohol result that requires removal from safety-sensitive duties. Ultimately, the contractor must ensure safety and individual privacy are correctly balanced should a positive drug test, refusal, or alcohol violation occur. The release of any drug or alcohol testing information or results to a third party is prohibited under 14 CFR §§ 120.111(c) and 120.219(c), and 49 CFR § 40.321.
If you rely on a copy of the contractor’s contract with a consortium or own statement, you may unknowingly fail to meet the requirement to ensure the contract employee is covered under an FAA-mandated drug and alcohol testing program.
If you have any further questions or need additional guidance that is more specific to your situation, please contact the FAA Drug Abatement Division at (202) 267-8442 or drugabatement@faa.gov.
Please visit our website to learn more about the program.
Applicable Regulations:
14 CFR § 120.5
14 CFR § 120.7
14 CFR § 120.105
14 CFR § 120.111(c)
14 CFR § 120.215
14 CFR § 120.219(c)
49 CFR § 40.321
Yes. The Pilot Records Database (PRD) regulation, 14 CFR part 111, requires an air carrier/operator to query a pilot’s records to help make hiring determinations. The PRD does not replace the requirement for you to obtain the drug and alcohol records in accordance with 49 CFR § 40.25. Employers may use FAA’s aviation release of information suggested form to request the drug and alcohol testing information from previous DOT-regulated employers to meet the requirements under 49 CFR § 40.25. Please refer to FAA’s Advisory Circular (AC 120-126A) for more information about the drug and alcohol testing requirements.
For questions about accessing or entering data into the PRD, please review 14 CFR part 111 and the FAA’s Advisory Circular (AC 120-68), or contact the FAA’s PRD support office at 9-amc-avs-PRDSupport@faa.gov.
If you have any further questions or need additional guidance that is more specific to your situation, please contact the FAA’s Drug Abatement Division at (202) 267-8442 or drugabatement@faa.gov.
Please visit our Web site to learn more about our program.
Applicable Regulations:
Yes. The regulations require each employer to ensure that any employee who performs a safety-sensitive function within the territory of the United States, directly or by contract (including by subcontract at any tier) is subject to drug and alcohol testing. This includes full-time, part-time, temporary, and intermittent employees, regardless of the degree of supervision.
As a result, before hiring or transferring an individual to perform a safety-sensitive function (including a mechanic performing maintenance and preventive maintenance duties) wholly or partially within the territory of the United States, each employer must first conduct a pre-employment test and receive a verified negative drug test for that individual. At that point the individual is added to the random pool and subject to all of the requirements of the drug and alcohol testing regulations. Note: "Partially" would mean that the employee works within the territory of the United States to some degree (e.g., one day a month or once a year).
If you have any further questions or need additional guidance that is more specific to your situation, please contact the FAA Drug Abatement Division at (202) 267-8442 or drugabatement@faa.gov.
Please visit our website to learn more about our program.
Applicable Regulations:
Part 107.51 details the 400 foot limitation with respect to structures on the ground. This applies to UAS or drones operating in Class G or Class E airspace. In other airspace classifications, like Class D airspace, an authorization per 107.41 is required.
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Response by the Federal Air Surgeon
Long-standing FAA regulation, § 61.53, prohibits all pilots — those who are required to hold airman medical certificates and those who are not--from exercising privileges during periods of medical deficiency. The FAA revised § 61.53 to include under this prohibition sport pilots who use a current and valid U.S. driver's license as medical qualification. The prohibition is also added under §§ 61.23 (c) (2) (iv) and 61.303 (b) (2) (4) for sport pilot operations.
You should consult your private physician to determine whether you have a medical deficiency that would interfere with the safe performance of sport piloting duties. Certain medical information that may be helpful for pilots can be found in our Pilot Safety Brochures.
Response by the Federal Air Surgeon
You may use your current and valid U.S. driver's license to exercise sport pilot privileges; however, you must hold the required, valid FAA airman medical certificate if you wish to exercise private pilot (or higher) privileges.
You will need to register your UAS or drone if it weighs more than 0.55 pounds.
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Since the operation you proposed does not meet the definition of a governmental function under Title 49 USC 40125(a)2, your only option is to fly under the Part 107 rule.
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You should cancel your registration through the FAA's online registration system.
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It must be registered using the FAA's paper-based registration process.
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By passing a physical examination administered by a doctor who is an FAA-authorized Aviation Medical Examiner.
Call your local law enforcement. Law enforcement personnel will contact the FAA if the crash investigation requires FAA participation.
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There is no simple rule that determines whether pre-employment testing or other program requirements are required when changes occur to the ownership, company name, or structure of the operations. For example, if a new owner acquires a company and there is a break in operations or employment of safety-sensitive personnel, a negative pre-employment drug test may be required in accordance with 14 CFR § 120.109(a)(1). Alternatively, if the new owner maintains operations and the federal drug and alcohol testing program, a new pre-employment drug test would not be required.
If you need guidance, it is important that you contact the FAA’s Drug Abatement Division as soon as possible to ensure the acquisition or new ownership will comply with the federal drug and alcohol testing requirements outlined in 14 CFR part 120. To help FAA understand your situation, it is important that you send a written statement to drugabatement@faa.gov and provide the information in response to the questions below:
- Is there an FAA certificate involved and, if so, will the certificate number change?
- Is the change a result of a merger with another certificated or registered employer that has an existing FAA-mandated drug and alcohol testing program?
- Will there be an interruption of operations during the acquisition or change in ownership?
- Will your safety-sensitive employees remain employed and tested without interruption by the same testing program by the new owner and during the change in ownership?
- What will happen to your drug and alcohol testing records under the new owner, and will the location of where you maintain your records change?
- How will the changes affect your random testing pool or relationship with a service agent?
If you have any further questions or need additional guidance that is more specific to your situation, please contact the FAA Drug Abatement Division at (202) 267-8442 or drugabatement@faa.gov.
Please visit our Web site to learn more about our program.
Applicable Regulations:
If you have an issued waiver, and you want to change the equipment used under the waiver, you would need to apply for an amendment to the waiver. You may need to update the safety justification for the original waiver justification. The list of authorized pilots is maintained by the Responsible Person.
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Yes. In accordance with 14 CFR § 120.109(a)(1), an employer must conduct a pre-employment drug test and obtain a verified negative result prior to hiring any individual to perform safety-sensitive functions. When you merge with another employer that has an active FAA-mandated drug and alcohol testing program under a single operating certificate, you are hiring the employees and must comply with all requirements under 14 CFR part 120. This includes pre-employment drug testing and providing your new employee and supervisory training, informational materials, and education in accordance with 14 CFR § 120.115 and 120.223. These requirements apply when two employers merge under a single operating certificate or chooses to unify programs with another company it acquires that maintains its own operating certificate.
Please note that the FAA cannot make determinations about requests for relief from 49 CFR part 40. Although an employer is required to request drug and alcohol testing records and maintain confidentiality when hiring a new employee, the DOT has determined when a corporate entity is merging with another employer (which is defined under 49 CFR § 40.3), the employer encompasses a broader group and an exemption from 49 CFR § 40.25(a) is not required.
For companies that merge under a single operating certificate, it is possible for the employer to file a petition for exemption and seek relief from the requirements under 14 CFR part 120 (including the pre-employment drug testing and/or education and training) under the FAA’s exemption procedures outlined in 14 CFR part 11. The FAA has granted relief to employers that merged with other operators under a single operating certificate or program registration. All petitions must comply with 14 CFR part 11 and be submitted 120 days before you need the exemption to take effect. In accordance with 14 CFR § 11.81, a petition for exemption must include the following information, with as much detail as possible:
- Requesting employer’s name and mailing address. We encourage an employer to provide a fax number, telephone number, and/or e-mail address.
- The specific section or sections of Title 14 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) from which an employer is seeking an exemption.
- The extent of relief and reason the employer seeking relief.
- The reasons why granting the request would be in the public interest; that is, how it would benefit the public as a whole.
- The reasons why granting the exemption would not adversely affect safety, or how the exemption would provide a level of safety at least equal to that provided by the rule.
- A summary FAA can publish in the Federal Register stating:
- The rule from which an employer is seeing the exemption; and
- A brief description of the nature of the exemption; and
- Any additional information, views or arguments available to support the request.
To review exemptions related to pre-employment drug testing, you may visit the FAA’s Dynamic Regulatory System (DRS) and search for ‘120.109’. An employer may submit an exemption request electronically to the FAA on the Docket Management System website at http://www.regulations.gov. Instructions are available on the FAA’s webpage. For more information or assistance with FAA’s exemption procedures, please review the FAA’s Frequently Asked Questions or contact the FAA’s Office of Rulemaking directly at 202-267-9677.
If you have any further questions or need additional guidance that is more specific to your situation, please contact the FAA Drug Abatement Division at (202) 267-8442 or drugabatement@faa.gov.
Please visit our website to learn more about our program.