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4 Answers

Private Pilots License

Asked by: 1933 views FAA Regulations, Flight Instructor, Private Pilot, Student Pilot

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4 Answers



  1. KDS on May 07, 2020

    Unfortunately, this question appears on the FAA Medical Application:

    19. w. HISTORY OF NON-TRAFFIC CONVICTIONS(S) (MISDEANORS OR FELONIES): Have you ever had any other (non-traffic) convictions (e.g., assault, battery, public intoxication, robbery, etc.)? If so, name the charge for which you were convicted and the date of conviction in the “additional comments or explanation” box. 20.

    However, the odds of that being a bar to receiving a medical are very small. The odds of having to explain it again and again until you’re sick of explaining it are very large because the word “ever” means “ever”, not just in the last XX years.

    Mark is really our subject matter expert on this kind of question and hopefully he will weigh in on it and how Basic Med might factor into the question.

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  2. awair on May 10, 2020

    No need to answer this publicly:

    Was this an Arrest only, or a Conviction?

    In the UK, some convictions are counted as “Spent” after a certain number of years. Does this concept apply in the USA? Also, if a conviction is expunged or sealed – how does that affect the OP’s question?

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  3. pilotmike33 on May 11, 2020

    Honest opinion here. Find another career field. Fighting in a bar is never okay and quite frankly to do so meant you were most likely inebriated and the deliberate action to partake in such an immature and infantile act of sheer futility is a character flaw that has no place in the cockpit. You will be asked about this incident for the rest of your life by recruiters and interviewers and no matter how you explain you’ve changed or you’ve learned… It won’t be enough. The cockpit is no place for arrogance, stupidity and senseless violence. The good news is that you’ve only logged 10 hours. There’s a lot of work out there. My landscaper looks a little rough around the edges (like to bar brawl apparently, too) but then again he can’t do much damage with his truck and trailer if he decides to go postal. No one wants another Germanwings or Egyptair accident. You’ll land on your feet. Just make sure you don’t fall off your barstool.

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  4. Mark Kolber on May 11, 2020

    For any kind of reliable answer, you need to have your court record reviewed by an attorney who understands both the criminal law of your state and the FAA requirements. awair raised the exact question I thought of when I read the post. And his advice don’t answer this on any social media platform (and this is one) is spot-on!

    The one thing I have learned through the years is that most people who have been through the criminal process – even those who have been through it repeatedly! – don’t really know what happened in the legal sense. So I don’t know whether there was a conviction or just an arrest. I don’t know what the exact charge was. I don’t know what the the legal terms of the disposition was. All of those, and more, are needed to answer two questions: (1) Does it need to be disclosed? (2) how will it affect you?

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