Airmen Certificate Accessibility Act

Tim Sheehy

Republican · MT · Senator

Source: Congress.gov · FEC

• Andy Kim (D-NJ)Original· 2026-03-26

Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.

2026-03-26

Source: Congress.gov

Airmen Certificate Accessibility Act This 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 certificate, or (2) a digital copy stored on an electronic device or cloud storage platform. The FAA must update current regulations to implement this change.

Plain-English rewrite of the Congressional Research Service summary published on Congress.gov. Cached and reviewed.

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office] [S. 4256 Introduced in Senate (IS)] <DOC> 119th CONGRESS 2d Session S. 4256 To amend title 49, United States Code, to establish acceptable formats for presentation of airman certificates to the Federal Aviation Administration. _______________________________________________________________________ IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES March 26, 2026 Mr. Sheehy (for himself and Mr. Kim) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation _______________________________________________________________________ A BILL To amend title 49, United States Code, to establish acceptable formats for presentation of airman certificates to the Federal Aviation Administration. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. This Act may be cited as the ``Airmen Certificate Accessibility Act''. SEC. 2. ACCEPTABLE FORMS OF CERTIFICATION. (a) In General.--Section 44703 of title 49, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following: ``(m) Sufficiency of Digital and Physical Airman Certificates.--An individual issued a certificate pursuant to this section (including a medical certificate) may present such certificate to an inspector of the Federal Aviation Administration in any of the following formats: ``(1) A physical certificate issued by the Administrator (or his or her designee). ``(2) A digital certificate issued by the Administrator that is stored on an electronic device or, in areas where there is sufficient connectivity to do so, a cloud-based system, and presented in accordance with authentication and verification requirements established by the Administrator.''. (b) Rulemaking.--Not later than November 30, 2028, the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration shall issue a final rule to update regulations in parts 61, 63, 65, 67, and 107 of title 14, Code of Federal Regulations, to implement the amendment made by this section, and any applicable guidance and policies. <all>

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