Pilots and other FAA-certified aviation professionals would be allowed to show digital copies of their certificates — stored on a phone or in the cloud — during FAA inspections, instead of carrying the physical paper card. Right now, airmen are required to have the original certificate on hand, which can be lost or damaged. The FAA would have until November 2028 to write the rules for how digital verification works. Anyone who holds a pilot certificate, medical certificate, or drone operator license would be affected.
Congressional Summary
Pilot Certificate Accessibility ActThis bill allows a pilot to present a digital copy of certain certificates (e.g., an airman certificate or a medical certificate) when required to present such documentation by a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector.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. This bill allows a pilot to present a certificate such as an airman certificate or a medical certificate to an FAA inspector as (1) a physical, original copy; or (2) a digital copy stored on an electronic device or cloud storage platform.The FAA must update current regulations to implement this change.
Legislative Subjects
Details
- Congress
- 119th
- Chamber
- House
- Status
- summarized
- Action
- Introduced in House
- Action Date
- 2025-03-21
- Date Added
- 2026-04-16