I wanted to ask a question and be totally open and honest. I’m not sure if this has been asked or if it is on a individualized case by case basis with mitigating factors.
I was wondering my chances of living out my dream of becoming a pilot. I do not have a criminal record at the federal, state or county level. I had a DUI 5 years ago that was my first ever offense for anything, that was expunged and sealed after I completed a program after I decided not to fight it in court because I didn’t have the money to fight it, the public defender even said I had a case to fight it but I should just take the program and keep it off my record.
However it is on my MVR that resulted in a suspended license for 60 days and that will fall off of my MVR in another 5 years. I made mistakes I know that, I’m not happy about it, 2016-2019 was a very dark time for me, I was homeless, eating out of garbage cans, on my own, my father was abusive to me all my life and even when i tried to be a good son he disowned and continue to abuse me til I finally left.
I’ve gained a new perspective on life since then have a learned a lot about myself and have had the urge to finally stop being scared and live out that dream of mine. I currently have zero hours and am looking to apply for my 1st class medical and start training hopefully within the next few months to a year.
By the time all my training is done and I would qualify for regionals that DUI on my MVR would be 7-8 years old after putting my 4.5 years at the regionals I’d be well pass the 10 year mark in which it would automatically fall off my MVR to which I hope to go on the mainline. As I stated above, I have nothing on my criminal record and don’t plan on it.
This has always been my dream of becoming a pilot, unfortunately I don’t come from a happy stable background or family home so I didn’t have the mentorship I needed, the support system I needed, I had to grow up on my own very fast.
I apologize for the very long post just wanted to put it all out there for all of the mentors. To get a full picture. Thank you for reading this and I look forward to all of your response.
Expunged or not, when you’re dealing with Federal background checks it will come up for certain and you will need to disclose it when you apply for your medical. If in fact your record is clean otherwise you should be fine.
My only suggestion is WHEN (not if) it comes up during your interview l would not go into your story of your unhappy unstable home. Many people do and somehow manage to not be irresponsible, break the law, risk others lives etc. This was YOU.
Thank you for replay Adam. I apologize if I upset you. I made a mistake and I understand.
Record is totally clean. Nothing. I’ve had to do federal background checks for a baseball camp I worked as well as state child abuse clearances it never came up on those checks at all. Thank you for your insight.
In the eyes of the FAA, there is no such thing as expunged, off the record, sealed, etc. The FAA asks “have you ever been charged with…” They know that many people complete programs and have their charges dropped, sealed, etc, but the fact of the matter remains that the event did take place and that you drove whilst under the influence of alcohol. The airlines will ask the same question, so it is best to get the idea that you can somehow hide from this charge out of your mind. That being said, the FAA will often approve somebody if they only have one DUI and there has been some time elapsed. You will need to schedule an appointment with a FAA Medical Examiner to discuss your case.
I am absolutely not trying to hide it, I’m very open and very open to discuss the matter with any authority that is deemed necessary. I made a mistake, I understand that and I apologize. I’ve learned a lot from said mistake. I’m hoping and praying this won’t ruin my chances. All I ever wanted to do in life was become a pilot. Life happened and kept me from reaching that goal right away. But I know I will not be making those mistakes again.
No apology needed nor did you upset me. I’m simply telling you if/when you interview they don’t want to hear excuses or stories, they want to hear you taking responsibility.
As far as your previous checks, do you not think flying a 250,000 ton aircraft with 300 people onboard might (just maybe) require a little bit more thorough background check then baseball camp? Just sayin’…
Totally agree with you. They absolutely should require a more thorough background check. I just assumed all FEDERAL back ground checks were the same regardless of position being that fingerprints are required and then checked against the NCIC which Is FBI.