Pilots and DUI in Florida: FAA Reporting Within 60 Days

Pilots and DUI in Florida: The FAA 60-Day Reporting Rule

If you hold an FAA pilot certificate and you were arrested for DUI in Sarasota, Bradenton or anywhere in Florida, you have a federal deadline that runs alongside the state case: 14 CFR 61.15 requires a written report to the FAA within 60 days of any "motor vehicle action," and in Florida the first such action is usually the administrative license suspension that took effect the night of the arrest, not a conviction months later. Two motor vehicle actions within three years, or a failure to report one, are each independent grounds for the FAA to deny, suspend or revoke your certificates. The Florida defense and the FAA reporting have to be run together, because what happens in the criminal case and at the license hearing decides what gets reported.

What counts as a "motor vehicle action"

Section 61.15(c) defines a motor vehicle action as any of three things: a conviction for operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated, impaired or under the influence of alcohol or a drug; a cancellation, suspension or revocation of a driver license for a cause related to alcohol or drugs; or a denial of a license application for such a cause. A Florida DUI can produce more than one. The FLHSMV suspension for a breath result of 0.08 or higher, or for a refusal, is an administrative suspension for an alcohol-related cause, and it is a motor vehicle action on its own. A later DUI conviction is a second action. The FAA treats actions arising from the same incident as one for purposes of the two-in-three-years rule, but each one must still be reported.

The 60-day report

Under section 61.15(e), each report must go in writing to the FAA's security division in Oklahoma City, at the address printed in the regulation, within 60 days of the motor vehicle action. It must include your name, address, date of birth and airman certificate number; the type of violation or administrative action; the date of the conviction or administrative action; the state that holds the record; and a statement whether the action arose from the same incident as one you have already reported. The FAA publishes a notification form for this purpose.

The timing trap is Florida-specific. The administrative suspension under section 322.2615 is effective from the arrest date, with the citation serving as a 10-day permit. A pilot who waits for the court case to resolve before thinking about the FAA can blow past the 60 days while the criminal case is still at its first pretrial conference. The safer practice is to calendar 60 days from the arrest on the day you are released.

What a failure to report costs

Section 61.15(f) makes non-compliance with the reporting rule itself a basis for denial of any certificate, rating or authorization for up to a year after the motor vehicle action, or for suspension or revocation. Pilots lose certificates over the missed report more often than over the DUI, because the DUI is a single incident and the missed report reads as a candor problem. The FAA also cross-checks the National Driver Register against airman records, so an unreported action is likely to surface at your next medical.

The medical certificate is a separate disclosure

The application for an FAA medical certificate, filed through MedXPress, asks on question 18.v about any arrest, conviction or administrative action involving driving while intoxicated, impaired or under the influence, and the question has no time limit. That disclosure is required at your next medical regardless of whether a 61.15 report was filed, and the aviation medical examiner will want the arrest report, the breath or blood result and the court disposition. A breath result of 0.15 or higher, or a refusal, commonly triggers a requirement for a substance abuse evaluation before the medical certificate is issued, which is one more reason the breath number and the refusal question matter to a pilot beyond the courtroom. Airline and corporate operators have their own policies, and pilots in the HIMS program have additional obligations under their monitoring agreements.

How the Florida case shapes what you report

Three Florida decisions drive the FAA picture. First, the formal review hearing on the administrative suspension, which must be requested within 10 days of the arrest. If the suspension is invalidated at that hearing, there is no standing suspension on your Florida record; because the FAA reads "motor vehicle action" broadly, the conservative course is still to report the suspension with documentation that it was set aside, and an aviation attorney should be consulted on that filing. Second, the choice between a breath test and a refusal, which has already been made by the time you read this, but which determines whether the FAA sees a number or a refusal and a second criminal charge under Trenton's Law. Third, the outcome of the criminal case: a dismissal or a reduction to reckless driving is not a DUI conviction and is not a motor vehicle action, while a DUI conviction is a second action from the same incident and must be reported within 60 days of the judgment.

Those are the reasons a pilot's DUI defense in Sarasota or Manatee County is handled with the FAA in mind from the first call: the license hearing is requested every time, the breath test records and the roadside video are reviewed for the suppression issues that lead to dismissals and reductions, and plea options such as the State Attorney's DETER program are weighed against what the final disposition will look like on an FAA form. The DUI flat fee includes the license hearing.

Questions people ask

I was arrested two weeks ago and have not been convicted. Do I report anything yet?

Probably yes. If your license was suspended at arrest for a breath result or a refusal, that administrative suspension is a motor vehicle action and the 60 days are running from the arrest date. Report it, and report any later conviction separately.

My case was reduced to reckless driving. Is that reportable?

A reckless driving conviction is not a motor vehicle action under 61.15 unless the statute of conviction involves intoxication or impairment, and Florida's reckless driving statute does not. The administrative suspension from the arrest still was, and it should already have been reported.

Does the 10-day Florida deadline matter to a pilot?

More than to most people. Winning the formal review hearing removes a suspension from your Florida record, which changes what you have to explain to the FAA for the rest of your career.

Will one DUI end my flying career?

Usually not by itself. A single, properly reported motor vehicle action with a low breath result and a completed court disposition is a known quantity to the FAA. A refusal, a high result, a second incident within three years, or a missed report is where careers are lost.

I fly out of Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport for an airline. Does my employer find out?

Your employer's policies and your collective bargaining agreement govern that, and many carriers require self-reporting of any arrest. The FAA report and the medical disclosure are required regardless.

Can you handle the FAA filing?

The firm handles the Florida criminal case and the FLHSMV hearing and coordinates timing with the FAA deadlines. The 61.15 filing itself and any certificate action are aviation matters for which an aviation attorney is the right resource, and the two should work together.

Call or text (941) 920-5514, nights and weekends too, or request a free consultation by phone or video with former prosecutor Daniel D. Nawara. For how other licensed professions are affected, see professional licenses and criminal charges in Florida, and for what a first case involves, see first DUI in Florida. If you refused the test, start with refusing a breath test in Florida.