AVIATION SAFETY. AIRLINES SHOULD CHECK PILOT APPLICANTS' SAFETY HISTORY
This report identifies Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) regulatory requirements and guidance pertaining to airline pilot hiring practices, assesses pilot safety background information availability, and identifies airline hiring practices for pilot safety background checks. In summary, the FAA has few regulatory requirements for airline pilot hiring practices. FAA does require airline pilots to have a valid certificate. Airlines require security background checks, but this is limited to verifying the pilot's employment for 5 prior years. FAA maintains data bases containing records of all pilots' safety history and the validity of pilots' certificates, which can be accessed by airlines at a nominal cost. Airline practices regarding pilot safety background checks varies. A survey of 112 airlines showed that all obtained a copy of the pilot's certificate, 62% did not verify certificate validity with FAA, and, while 92% obtained safety background information from pilots during the hiring process, 23% of these airlines did not check with FAA to verify safety transgressions pilots reported and 56% did not check with FAA to verify a lack of safety transgressions if the pilot reported none.
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Supplemental Notes:
- Report to the Honorable Robert C. Byrd, U.S. Senate.
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Corporate Authors:
U.S. General Accounting Office
441 G Street, NW
Washington, DC United States 20548 - Publication Date: 1988-6
Media Info
- Features: Appendices; Figures; Tables;
- Pagination: 26 p.
Subject/Index Terms
- TRT Terms: Air pilots; Airline pilots; Airlines; Databases; Hiring policies
- Identifier Terms: U.S. Federal Aviation Administration
- Uncontrolled Terms: Background checks
- Old TRIS Terms: Personnel records
- Subject Areas: Administration and Management; Aviation; Highways;
Filing Info
- Accession Number: 00485297
- Record Type: Publication
- Report/Paper Numbers: GAO/RCED-88-154
- Files: TRIS
- Created Date: Jul 31 1989 12:00AM