Mike,
If you manage to keep your record absolutely, perfectly clean moving forward, I think you have a good chance. I mean spotlessly clean, no traffic tickets, no failed check rides, etc. A college degree would also be very good to put on a resume and help offset some of the negatives you have on your record.
I would recommend contacting a few regional airlines and asking them directly.
Chris
Mike,
Ten years with a clean record after the event seems to be what airlines like to see. Looks like you’ll be coming up on that point next year. It could be beneficial to reach out to recruiters and get their take on it before starting this journey. If that goes well, I’d imagine getting your medical will be the biggest challenge.
Hannah
Brady,
I have an appointment for a consult with an AME here in town and on his website it says he is designated by the FAA as a senior AME, and authorized to produce 1st, 2nd and 3rd class medical certs. However, when I use the link you have provided, not only does he not show up there but no one shows up in my city. I thought that was odd as I am not in a remote area (Nashville, TN). I’m hoping that i am searching wrong or something.
Like others on here i have a DUI from about 9 years ago, and a drunk in public from 12 years ago but am squeaky clean since then and have every intention on keeping it that way!
I appreciate all y’all are doing on here and all
The information provided, it has both put me at ease and elevated my awareness on the subject!
Joshua,
The FAA AME search site has been down (showing no results) for a while now so I wouldn’t be concerned.
Know that you’ll need to provide info on your DUI for the exam, the more the better.
Adam
Joshua,
The FAA website is total garbage, don’t worry about it. If you have an appointment, you are good.
Do know that that beard of yours is going to have to completely go if you are going to enter the aviation industry.
Chris
Thanks Chris and Adam. I figured something was up.
And yes, I am aware, I am taking my time to say goodbye before it goes forever. I haven’t seen my chin in 9 years so it is going to take adjusting!
Josh
Joshua,
I had to go through it a couple of months back. Here is part of an email from my AME of what I needed to submit:
Arrest record or some other document that gives the breath alcohol level. If the breath alcohol level was 0.15 or less I can issue the certificate. If greater than 0.15 or if there is no record of the breath alcohol level I might have to defer certification. The FAA will likely still issue the certificate but they will need to review everything and determine if you can be issued the certificate or if more information is needed. This process takes several months so I hope the breath alcohol is less than 0.15 so I can issue the certificate at the time of your exam. It is possible, since this was 13 years ago, that I can issue the certificate if the breath alcohol level is unavailable or above 0.15, but I would need to call the FAA first and review. We’ll work it one way or another.
All court documents pertaining to the DUI and how it was adjudicated and case closed.
A ten-year driving record, including the driving record from each state where you have held a driver’s license in the last ten years.
Certificates of completion for any rehab or alcohol awareness programs you have completed.
A detailed personal statement that includes all of the following information:
a. What type of offense occurred?
b. What substance(s) were involved?
c. State or locality or jurisdiction where the incident occurred
d. Date of the arrest, conviction and/or administrative action,
e. Description of circumstances surrounding the offense.
f. Describe the above for each alcohol incident. If no other incidents, this should be stated.
g. Your past, present and future plans for alcohol or drug use.
When did you start drinking? How much? How often?
How much, how often were you drinking at the time of the incident(s)
How much, how often do you drink now? If abstinent, state date.
h. Any negative consequences (legal complications, medical complications such as blackouts, pancreatitis or ER visits)
i. Include any other alcohol or drug offenses, (arrests, convictions, or administrative actions) even if they were later reduced to a lower sentence.
j. Treatment programs you attended ever in your life (if none, this should be stated)
Dates of treatment
Inpatient, outpatient other
Name of treatment facility
k. Current recovery program (if any) If you attend AA or other, please list and frequency. If no recovery program, this should be stated.
This is a very detailed report and your report should cover all these items and should include your printed name, signature, the date of the document and your date of birth.
After everything was submitted, my application still had to be deferred to the FAA because my arrest records were purged from the system and I have no record of my BAC. A little over 3 months later, my First class medical was approved and sent in the mail. I believe that this is a standard template. I hope this helps.
Ben
Ben,
I am currently in a very similar boat, I have everything you listed there and provided it to the AME, except for a police narrative of the circumstances because my records were also purged. I completed my exam last Tuesday and the AME submitted everything today via fax with a deferred status due to missing that one document. I fully anticipate that the FAA will come back and ask for that narrative, which I cannot provide. My question for you is this: what, if anything, did the FAA ask for from you in regards to proof that the records have been purged?
Thanks in advance for your help!
John,
The FAA actually didn’t ask. I wanted to cover my bases. Prior to submitting all of my paperwork, I went to the arresting agency and requested a document stating that my records had in fact been purged. They printed an official document with their seal and contact information. I hope this helps.
Ben
Awesome, that’s exactly what I requested from the arresting agency as well as the courthouse, unfortunately the AME submitted it today before I had the documents in hand. I’m hoping to get them Monday and fax them to the FAA to get added to my file prior to them getting to review. I’m glad to hear that was sufficient for them since yours got approved, congrats by the way! Best of luck to you and hopefully I’ll be right behind you in the next couple months.
John,
Thank you! I’m more than happy to help. My medical has been the most nerve wracking part of the journey so far. I start at ATP May 1. With some patience, you’ll get there. Cheers!
Ben
Hello everyone, I just want to say you guys assisting us who had a bit of mistake in pass is amazing.
I do have a case of my own.
3 years ago in 2020 I was pulled over for a DUI, I blew .18. Because of pandemic the court date wasn’t ready until 2021 May, was convicted of a DUI.
I’m currently with HIMS AME working on getting my medical, I know it’s an uphill battle. But let’s just say I got the medical, and finished all my training. What are my chances working in the regional airline. And also when is the date that FAA/Airlines look at for my DUI.
The date of my incident? The date of conviction? Or the date of completion of all my court required prohibitions?
Jake,
Getting the medical through the HIMS process will probably be the most difficult part. If you are successful with that, I’d call a few regional and major airline recruiters and see what they have to say. Times are changing due to this pilot shortage. Best to feel it out first before making such a huge commitment.
Typically, airlines like to see at least 10 years of a clean record since the incident. You’ll probably be alright getting hired by a regional but the major will be a bit more difficult until you get that time. Do you have a bachelors degree? Will you have a phenomenal training record with no checkride failures? Will you have plenty of raving letters of recommendation? All these things will matter to outweigh the conviction on your application.
Hannah
Thank you Hannah,
I’m 23 and making decent money at my job, Planning to finish my associate within next year, than apply to ATP flight school, by the time of next year I would have all the tuition paid in cash. Working with HIMS AME right now to make sure by the time I’m joining flight school I’m eligible for training, I mean I think its safer to find out early. I’m planning to join regionals with my associate degree in science (commercial flight) and continual working on getting my bachelors while working in regional. I’m lucky enough to have 3-4 years to making my record better looking, in the mean time of me working on all mentioned above, is there anything else would you recommend to do to make my self more competitive in this industry. Again thank you so much for you helping out all the people on this form.
Jake,
It sounds like you have a solid plan and one that makes sense. Please keep us in the loop and let us know what questions you have.
Chris
A few months ago I got a DUI with a BAC greater than 0.15. I have no other record at all on my background. I’m not a drinker at all usually, very rare occasions. However, I had way more than I should have and was expected to stay the night with a friend, unfortunately I live with my grandma and she ended up calling me at 2AM as she had fallen and in my panic I thought it would be okay to drive (completely my mistake, in hindsight a lot of other options I could have taken instead of driving) and get to her. On the way a cop pulled me over and that was that and now have a dui on my record. I have an undergrad degree and was planning to start my CPL training end of this year or next. But now with this im even wondering if there’s a point as im worried about my medical and job prospects. Looking for advise if I should drop 100k or just move on at this point from this dream?
Kish,
A DUI used to be the kids of death but that’s no longer the case. Thing is the FAA likes to see some time after the DUI to make certain it’s not a recurring problem.
Your first and biggest obstacle will be getting your First Class Medical. It hasn’t been long and your BAC was high. I suggest you consult with an AME (Aviation Medical Examiner) in your area and they can best advise you. In all likelihood it will involve jumping through some hoops and spending some money.
Adam
What Adam said. Book a consultation (specifically a consultation, not an exam) with a HIMS AME and talk to the doctor about what you’ll have to do. Youll pay out of pocket for this consultation. Mine was 300 dollars.
You can expect this to take a very long time (3-6 months at least). You will have to take random drug tests that test for every drug under the sun, and acohol using the ETG test (you’ll pay for the drug tests out of pocket). Drug test notice is 48hrs, and ETG can see back 5 days, so if you havent already stopped drinking, you will have to by the time you see the AME because an alcohol positive will certainly result in a denied medical. Im not sure how this works for a brand new application, as mine is a previous denial for multiple marijuana charges from over a decade ago. I had to sign a bunch of HIPAA release forms for the FAA to release my old files to my current AME.
You will need to procure every document that exists for your DUI. Arresting officer’s paperwork, court case paperwork, DUI class paperwork, license suspension records. FAA will ask for it.
You will need to write a personal statement to the FAA about your DUI, your alcohol use, your lifestyle, etc. Since your DUI is so recent, like Adam said, they dont have a long timeframe to make sure youre not an alcoholic, so you’ll have to work extra hard to prove to them that you’re not one. I wouldn’t be surprised if the FAA sent you to a substance abuse counseling for a shrink to determine if you’re a drunk or not. Youll pay the shrink out of pocket as well.
Rounding up paperwork is a matter of making phone calls or visits to the court or police station, but the personal statement is the hard one. I recommend you start working on a rough draft asap. Youll think of changes to make and after a few edits and rewrites, and changes based on what the FAA asks for, it’ll be well polished. Your future depends on this one document, dont throw it together and hit send. While you have to be truthful, you need to keep in mind that your AME is not your lawyer (hes not gonna bend the law or call in favors to help your case) and the FAA are the feds. Remember “anything you say will be used against you”, the FAA will. If you misspeak about something or give them the tiniest lead to follow, they will latch onto it, and at least itll be another round of paperwork and another statement explaining that certain issue. So word your true statements clearly and concisely, but dont go into side tangents, extra explanations, etc. Answer what they ask and not a word more. You dont want to inadvertently open a can of worms.
And you’ll obviously have to sign up on medexpress and get a 1st class medical exam, which youll pay for out of pocket as well
Nobody here can say whether youll be OK or its game over for you. Your first step is consulting with a HIMS AME. Your case might be similar to mine, it might be very different. Im curently 2 months into my HIMS process, and sent off the first round of paperwork to the FAA 2 weeks ago after waiting 6 weeks after my consultation to see what the FAA needs from me. Your AME will tell you in great detail whats ahead of you
Thank you so much for your quick responses Adam and Roman! This gives me a starting place for what will probably be a hard fought process. I’ll call an AME ASAP and see what my best option will be.
I feel like being 27 already and the DUI being so recent it’s not a great spot to start. Roman since your cases were about 10+ years ago it’s unlikely my outcome would be similar to yours right now atleast Probably not a great look at 27 making a poor decision, might have been easier to explain if I were in my early 20s and immature - not to say that it’s okay to do it at that age either.
Wishing you the best for your case.
Hopefully something works out for us both.
Kish,
Keep in mind that there are large differences between your case and Roman’s and every experience will be different. Roman’s involved multiple offenses with illegal drugs, yours is a DUI. I would speculate that those two will be handled very differently.
Only way to find is to talk to an AME.
Chris