The FAA has issued a new policy permitting the expungement of certain enforcement records against individuals.
The history of this policy goes back over thirty years. In 1991, the FAA adopted a policy that allowed it to expunge certain individual enforcement records. Suspension cases would be expunged after five years and cases involving no enforcement action would be expunged after 90 days. Revocation cases would not be expunged under the 1991 policy.
The Airline Safety and Federal Aviation Administration Extension Act of 2010 required the FAA to create a pilot records database for air carriers to use for pilot background checks. The FAA interpreted this to mean that he expungement had to stop and suspended expungement in 2011.
The FAA has examined the issue and is now ready to resume expungement of certain records. The FAA has determined that civil penalty records without a finding of violation are not included in the pilot records database; therefore these cases may be expunged after five years (assuming no further action against the individual in the intervening five years). In addition, military referrals and foreign referrals without findings of violation are likewise subject to expungement two years after being closed in the enforcement information system.
While the pilots record database was at the heart of this expungement debate, the policy applies to all individuals, including certificate holders like mechanics and repairmen, and non-certificate holders like passengers.