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DUI costs for pilots: the 60-day FAA report that runs on its own clock
For a pilot, a DUI starts a second proceeding that has nothing to do with the court or the DMV — and its deadline can expire before the criminal case is even heard. Our CDL guide prices the commercial driver's version of this problem; this page prices the airman's: the reporting duty in 14 CFR 61.15, what counts as a reportable motor vehicle action, and the certificate consequences the regulation itself publishes.
A motor vehicle action is broader than a conviction
Section 61.15(c) defines a motor vehicle action in three parts: a conviction for violating a federal or state statute relating to operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated, impaired or under the influence of alcohol or a drug; the cancellation, suspension or revocation of a licence to operate a motor vehicle for a cause related to that kind of operation; and the denial of an application for a licence to operate a motor vehicle for the same cause. The administrative half of a DUI — the licence suspension that follows a failed or refused test, priced on our DMV hearing page — is therefore reportable in its own right, separately from the conviction, and each action starts its own reporting duty.
Section 61.15(e) sets the duty and the deadline. Each person holding a certificate issued under Part 61 shall provide a written report of each motor vehicle action to the FAA's Civil Aviation Security Division in Oklahoma City not later than 60 days after the motor vehicle action. The report must include the person's name, address, date of birth and airman certificate number; the type of violation that resulted in the conviction or administrative action; the date of the conviction or action; the state that holds the record; and a statement of whether the action resulted from the same incident as a previously reported action. There is no filing fee in the regulation — the cost of this component is not money, it is the deadline.
The regulation also separates the report from the medical file. Disclosure on a later medical certificate application is a different obligation under a different part, and making one disclosure does not satisfy the other. A pilot who answers the medical application's alcohol questions honestly but never sent the 60-day letter has still failed section 61.15(e) — and section 61.15(f) prices that failure expressly, in the table below.
The certificate consequences the regulation publishes
No dollar figure appears anywhere in section 61.15, and none is invented here. The regulation prices a pilot's DUI in certificate time: denial windows measured from the action, and suspension or revocation of certificates already held. Those are the components the table reproduces, exactly as the regulation frames them.
| DUI component | Published amount |
|---|---|
| Written report of each motor vehicle action (14 CFR 61.15(e)) | Due not later than 60 days after the action, to the FAA Civil Aviation Security Division, Oklahoma City; contents listed in the regulation; no filing fee is published in the section |
| Failure to report (61.15(f)) | Grounds for denial of an application for any certificate, rating or authorisation for up to 1 year after the date of the motor vehicle action, or suspension or revocation of any certificate already held |
| Two motor vehicle actions within 3 years (61.15(d)) | A second action within 3 years of a previous one — unless both arise from the same incident — is grounds for denial for up to 1 year after the most recent action, or suspension or revocation |
| Drug-offence convictions (61.15(a)) | A conviction under a statute relating to narcotic drugs, marijuana or depressant or stimulant drugs is grounds for denial for up to 1 year after final conviction, or suspension or revocation |
| State DUI components underneath the FAA layer | Unchanged by the regulation and priced in this site's state breakdowns; the FAA layer is additional, not a substitute |
Sources: 14 CFR 61.15 (Offenses involving alcohol or drugs), paragraphs (a), (c), (d), (e) and (f), as reproduced in the eCFR text. Last verified: October 2026.
The fine is one line in a longer stack — court costs, program fees, interlock, supervision and reinstatement all bill separately. Price the layers that apply to your case in the calculator.
Open the DUI cost calculatorWhat the FAA layer does not publish
The largest costs in a pilot's DUI sit outside the regulation's text. A certificate suspension grounds the pilot for its duration, and the earnings effect of that depends on the pilot's employer, seniority and contract — none of which any federal source publishes as a figure. Medical certification after an alcohol-related action can involve evaluations whose prices are set by the examiners and specialists who perform them; the FAA does not publish a tariff for them, so this page names the layer and prices none of it. Legal help with an FAA response is likewise a private fee, described on our attorney page in general terms rather than as an aviation figure.
What can be stated precisely is the structure, because pilots lose certificates over the structure more often than over the underlying drive. The 60-day clock runs from the motor vehicle action — the suspension or the conviction — not from the arrest and not from the end of the court case. Two actions from one incident are reported as related; two actions from separate incidents inside three years trigger the stronger denial ground in paragraph (d). And the report goes to the security division named in the regulation, not to the airman's medical examiner or regional office.
Pilots should read this page alongside the professional-licence logic of our military guide: in both systems the driving offence is only the trigger, and the priced consequence is measured against the credential — there, pay and discharge; here, the certificate and the year-long denial window the regulation publishes.
Common questions
- How long does a pilot have to report a DUI to the FAA?
- Not later than 60 days after the motor vehicle action, under 14 CFR 61.15(e). Both a DUI conviction and a related licence suspension, cancellation or revocation are motor vehicle actions with their own reports.
- What happens if a pilot does not report?
- Section 61.15(f) makes failure to report grounds for denying any certificate application for up to one year after the motor vehicle action, or for suspending or revoking a certificate already held.
- Does the FAA charge a fee for the report?
- No filing fee is published in section 61.15. The regulation's costs are certificate consequences — denial windows, suspension and revocation — not charges.
Related cost guides: DUI costs for CDL holders, military DUI costs, DUI DMV hearing costs, drug DUI costs.
Sources: 14 CFR 61.15. Last verified: October 2026. This page is educational information about costs only — not legal advice. Laws and fees change; confirm current figures with your court and your state's driver-licensing agency.