Knox Times

Last week, U.S. Congressman Tim Burchett introduced a new bill known as the Pilot Certificate Accessibility Act. This legislation aims to modernize the way commercial pilots carry their necessary documentation.

Currently, pilots are required to have paper copies of their original medical and airman certificates for inspection by authorities such as the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Administrator, National Transportation Safety Board representatives, or other federal, state, or local law officials.

The proposed act seeks to streamline this process by allowing pilots to use digital versions of these documents stored on electronic devices or cloud platforms. This change is intended to increase efficiency and reflect current technological trends.

“Everything we do is online nowadays,” said Rep. Burchett. “I don't see a reason why our pilots should have to carry physical documents with them instead of keeping them on their phone like everything else.”

The complete text of the bill is available for public viewing.