Third-Class Medical deferred due to DUI 16 years ago

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Herman

Filing Flight Plan
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Herman1088
Hello, hoping you guys can help me out. I recently started training to get my PPL and went in for my Third-Class Medical exam. I noted on my application that I received a DUI 16 years ago and the AME deferred my application. He didn't know what the process would be with the FAA and he didn't ask any questions or anything about the incident either. Can you guys fill me in on what I need to do or have ready for when I here back about the deferral? I can't find any records or anything since the courts get rid of them after 10 years. Any input would be greatly appreciated.
 
I would be very surprised if there are no records of your conviction. Your states BMV will also have records.
 
Clip4 said:
I would be very surprised if there are no records of your conviction. Your states BMV will also have records.
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Not sure if it matters but I was given diversion so there wasn't a conviction. Any idea how I can get a copy of my records? Should I hire a lawyer?
 
Did you have an attorney at the time. He may have copies of the records. If not, you should document as much of it as you can remember.
One DUI with proof of BAC < .15, a savvy AME could have staved off a deferral. Since you probably couldn't should it. You fall in the middle category on this form:

https://www.faa.gov/about/office_or...UIDWI_Alcohol_Incidents_Disposition_Table.pdf

Note particularly the information required on this form:

https://www.faa.gov/about/office_or...ame/guide/media/AlcoholStatusReportforAME.pdf

You're going to have to do the best you can on the court/arrest records. You WILL have to pull driver's records to show that there was only one such incident.
 
Surprised we have made it past post #6 without the recommendation to contact Dr Bruce.
http://www.aeromedicaldoc.com/

Click on the "How to Start" Tab and send him your 1st post. Good chance he will respond here but going through his website he can more specifically tell you what is going to happen next in your case.
And what you should or should not be doing to prepare for it.

Brian
CFIIG/aSEL
 
Herman said:
Not sure if it matters but I was given diversion so there wasn't a conviction. Any idea how I can get a copy of my records? Should I hire a lawyer?
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Contact your state’s BMV and tell them you need a copy of your driving record transcript. Contact the clerk of courts for the venue and tell them you need a copy of the court record and the approximate date. They will search the records and find what you need.
 
The FAA cares not that there was no conviction and that you were deferred. You were impaired and you chose to drive. I'm in the middle of something similar. Here's my tale thus far: https://www.pilotsofamerica.com/com...sober-for-19-years-active-in-recovery.126871/

Things the FAA will ask for:
  • Records of your arrest. If you need to, call
    • DA, your lawyer (if you had one), the arresting department (if you can get the date of your arrest). You will need as much documentation as you can find, INCLUDING the BAC. If you can find a record of your BAC and it is <.15, you should be good and there should be smooth sailing.
  • Likely everything on this document: https://www.faa.gov/about/office_or...nt_FAACertificationAidRequiredInformation.pdf
Beyond this, there could be additional information required, including examinations by mental experts to make sure that you don't have any brain damange. Expect significant scrutiny and prepare as much as possible for a long process, especially if your BAC was >=0.15 or you have any other sort of alcohol or drug arrest--even if it didn't lead to prosecution. Minor in possession? Drunk in public when you were a student at university? Possession of paraphanelia? Anything related to drugs or alcohol, and they'll classify you as an abuser, regardless of what you, your family, or friends think about. As another user has said here, regulatory law is different than criminal or civil law. You have to play by their rules.

Herman said:
I can't find any records or anything since the courts get rid of them after 10 years.
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This is surprising. Even the small-town court and police office in middle TN (where I got my DUI in 1999!) still had archives. Ask. Beg. Plead. I bet that there are records available. If there are no records at all, the FAA will likely assume the worst and treat you as though you had a BAC >= 0.15. You will have hoops to jump through. They will be costly and time consuming. You will get frustrated. But holy crap, those 8 perfect ****ing landings you did at night with your CFI in the right seat and their passenger in the back seat will have you coming back for more and you will want to continue to jumping through those hoops as quickly as you can to do more flying.

I was deferred in July 2020, was kicked into the HIMS program, but sill have hope that my SI 3rd class medical will arrive before my birthday in June.
 
I was hunting down some old stuff in Pennsylvania. The courts said they had nothing but they referred me to the police department who had some stuff. Still not a whole lot of detail there.
 
Herman:

The key items are:
(1) Can you prove it's your one and only- that's what the DMV search is for.
(2) Can you show you blew and if so what? Some states, Like Penn. only give dispostions but you can tell by 'grouping', eg. remanded to education is no damage, 0.08 or less. If you cannot show a BAC value and it is not 0.19 or less, it's GOT TO BE DEFERRED
(3) Personal statement. Strongest position you can have is you can substantiate that you just don't drink "no mo!"- bosses, persons on letter head in a position to know.
(4) CADC evaluation according to DSM 4. If you didn't blow, this level of evaluation might NOT do the job. Forensic psychiatrist or PHD psycholgist who remembers DSM 4 might do.
 
allPrimes said:
I was deferred in July 2020, was kicked into the HIMS program, but sill have hope that my SI 3rd class medical will arrive before my birthday in June.
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Yikes... Deffered in September, Non HIMS issue, Hoping to get mine by June.... Nothing seems to be moving in OKC, total gridlock.
 
L.C. Gray said:
Yikes... Deffered in September, Non HIMS issue, Hoping to get mine by June.... Nothing seems to be moving in OKC, total gridlock.
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To be fair, from my limited sample size, HIMS issues proceed fairly slowly. Regardless, any sort of deferral seems to result in a months-long delay as CAMI works through staffing and technological challenges.

Good luck!
 
allPrimes said:
Does this relate to "justice," though? I've read other GOTI (here and elsewhere) suggest that flying isn't a right. As a result, while sitting through a deferral really sucks, it's not delayed justice, is it?
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Flying may or may not be a right, but it is a form of liberty, and due process is definitely a right. If I were King, I would rule that if a government makes a form of liberty conditional on meeting certain requirements, and then makes it impossible for those requirements to be met in a reasonable length of time, then that would violate due process, and would therefore be an injustice.
 
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