120-68F - Pilot Records Improvement Act of 1996

Date Issued

May 31, 2012

Responsible Office

AFS-600

Description

The Pilot Records Improvement Act of 1996 (PRIA), as amended, was enacted to ensure that air carriers and air operators adequately investigate a pilot’s background before allowing that pilot to conduct commercial air carrier flights. Under PRIA, a hiring employer cannot place a pilot into service until he or she obtains and reviews the last 5 years of the pilot’s background and other safety-related records as specified in PRIA.

This advisory circular (AC) is supplemented by the current edition of Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Order 8000.88, PRIA Guidance for FAA Inspectors, and numerous other documents found on the PRIA Web site at http://www.faa.gov/pilots/lic_cert/pria. These sources of detailed information related to PRIA provide invaluable assistance to the certificate holder or others concerning the PRIA request process as well as other compliance issues.

The FAA has greatly expanded this AC from the previous version to address operational situations that the hiring employer may encounter that could affect his or her records request process through PRIA.

The Flight Standards Service (AFS) is committed to a stakeholder-driven system of operation that will deliver FAA records and assistance to all parties subject to PRIA, when necessary.

• AC 1120-68F (PDF, 336 KB)