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Statement of Need:

This rule implements a Pilot Records Database as required by Public Law 111-216. Section 203 of Public Law 111-216 amends the Pilot Records Improvement Act (PRIA) by requiring the FAA to create a pilot records database that contains various types of pilot records. These records would be provided by the FAA, air carriers, and other persons who employ pilots. The FAA must maintain these records until it receives notice that a pilot is deceased. Air carriers would use this database to perform a record check on a pilot prior to making a hiring decision.

Summary of the Legal Basis:

The legal basis for this rule is section 203 of the Airline Safety and Federal Aviation Administration Extension Act of 2010, Public Law 111-216, 124 Statute 2348 (2010).

Alternatives:

The ARC proposed a phased implementation as an alternative to PRDs statutory requirement to enter all historical records dating from August 1, 2005. Instead, within 60 days after the PRD launch date, air carriers and other persons would provide only the names, certificate numbers, and dates of birth of employees dating from the PRD launch date back to August 1, 2005. This information would be used to identify a pilot applicant's previous employer(s). The hiring air carrier would then make a paper PRIA request to those previous employers to obtain any records from before the launch date of PRD.

Anticipated Costs and Benefits:

The Rulemaking Team believes that three methods of data entry would allow larger air carriers to take advantage of technology, thereby reducing costs, while allowing smaller air carriers the flexibility to enter data manually without the need for an information technology department and sophisticated computer knowledge.

Risks:

Any risk mitigation technique used to counter this additional security threat would significantly add to the time and cost required for the FAA to properly manage the air carrier user accounts and likely delay air carrier access to the PRD data. Several options were explored that would simultaneously provide appropriate security controls to protect unauthorized access to sensitive data while not impeding the air carriers from ready access to the PRD data.