The FAA medical

Can You Become a Pilot With a DUI?

✓ Reviewed against current FAA sources on October 28, 2026

Search this question and you will mostly find law firms. The regulations are not hard to read, so here is what they actually say, and why a DUI is treated differently from almost any other conviction.

Is a DUI a disqualifying medical condition?

No. The medical standards in 14 CFR Part 67 name medical conditions, and a conviction is not one. No offense of any kind appears in Part 67. A DUI does not, by itself, fail you.

What makes a DUI different from, say, a theft conviction is that it is the one offense whose underlying facts point straight at a standard that is in Part 67.

The standard a DUI can engage

Section 67.107 (opens in a new tab) disqualifies substance dependence, and substance abuse within the preceding two years. An alcohol related driving conviction is exactly the kind of fact that leads an examiner to look at that standard. The conviction is not the disqualifier. A dependence or abuse finding would be.

Substance dependence also carries its own route back, written into the same paragraph. Section 67.107 (opens in a new tab)(a)(4) excepts established clinical evidence, satisfactory to the Federal Air Surgeon, of recovery, including sustained total abstinence from the substance for not less than the preceding two years.

Do I have to report a DUI from 10 or 20 years ago?

Yes. This is the question people most want a different answer to, and the FAA's own instruction for Item 18.v is explicit: all incidents must be reported, even if reported on a previous application. The same instruction says this reaches even a single driving while intoxicated arrest, conviction and/or administrative action.

There is no lookback period on that question. The whole of Item 18 is framed as whether you have ever in your life been diagnosed with, had, or presently have any of the following. A conviction from twenty years ago is still reportable, and so is one you already disclosed last time.

The duty almost everyone misses

Separately from the medical entirely, 14 CFR 61.15 (opens in a new tab) imposes a reporting duty that runs whether or not you are applying for anything. After a motor vehicle action you must send a written report to the FAA Civil Aviation Security Division in Oklahoma City not later than 60 days after it, giving your name, address, date of birth and certificate number, the type of violation, the date, the state holding the record, and whether it arose from the same incident as anything reported before.

Three things trip people up here:

• A motor vehicle action is not only a conviction. Cancellation, suspension or revocation of your driver's license for an alcohol or drug related cause counts, and so does denial of an application for one. You can owe the report without ever being convicted.
• One arrest can mean two reports. The administrative suspension of the license and the later conviction are two separate actions, which is why the report asks whether this one arose from the same incident as a previous one.
• Failing to send it is its own offense. Under 61.15(f) the failure is separate grounds for denial, suspension or revocation, independent of the underlying action.

What about a second one?

Section 61.15 (opens in a new tab)(d) adds a rule for repeat actions. A motor vehicle action occurring within three years of a previous one, where the two did not arise from the same incident, is itself grounds for denial of an application for up to a year, or for suspension or revocation.

Refusing the test is not a way out

Under 14 CFR 61.16 (opens in a new tab), refusing a blood or breath alcohol test requested by a law enforcement officer under 91.17(c), or refusing to furnish or authorize release of the results to the Administrator, is by itself grounds for denial for up to a year or for suspension or revocation. Declining the test removes a number from the record. It does not remove the problem.

Does a DUI stop you getting the pilot certificate?

The FAA answers the general version of this itself: you can get an FAA certificate if you have a felony conviction, unless the conviction is for a drug or alcohol related offense. The mechanism is 14 CFR 61.15 (opens in a new tab)(a), under which a drug conviction is grounds for denying an application for up to one year after the date of final conviction, or for suspending or revoking a certificate already held. Up to one year is the exposure, not a permanent bar.

And the airline job?

Here is a piece of good news that surprises people. Most airline flying needs unescorted access to the secure areas of an airport, which requires a criminal history records check under 49 CFR 1542.209 against a list of 28 disqualifying categories. An ordinary DUI is not on that list. Several serious felonies are, and a DUI is not among them.

What to do about it

Get the documents rather than relying on memory: the charge, the dates, the disposition, the license action if there was one and anything that followed, such as an assessment or a course. Send the 61.15 report if you owe one, and send it inside 60 days. Answer Item 18.v as asked. And if what happened raises a real question about dependence or abuse, that is the part worth getting advice on before the application is imported, not after.

A single old DUI, honestly disclosed and properly documented, is a long way from the end of an aviation career. An undisclosed one is a different matter entirely, because 14 CFR 67.403 (opens in a new tab) makes a fraudulent or intentionally false statement grounds to suspend or revoke every airman and medical certificate the person holds.