What Does Your PRD Say About Your Aviation Career?

What’s actually in your Pilot Records Database (PRD), and why airlines compare it line-by-line to your application.

Most pilots spend hours perfecting their resume and logbook. Very few take the time to review the one record that airlines are required by federal law to check before they can hire you.

The Pilot Records Database, your PRD, is not optional background noise. It is a mandatory pre-hire screening tool, and what’s in it can validate your application or quietly derail it.

Here’s everything you need to know.

What is the PRD?

The Pilot Records Database is an FAA-managed system established under the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018. It replaced the older PRIA (Pilot Records Improvement Act) process and became mandatory for Part 121 and Part 135 air carriers. Before any covered employer can extend a job offer, they are legally required to query your PRD. This is not a courtesy check. It is a federal requirement.

The intent is straightforward: create a centralized, standardized record of a pilot’s professional history so that safety-relevant information doesn’t get buried, overlooked, or conveniently omitted.

What’s actually in your PRD

Your PRD is a composite record pulled from multiple sources. Five categories matter.

1. FAA Records. Your airman certificates, ratings, medical certificate history, and any FAA enforcement actions or certificate actions taken against you. Warnings, suspensions, revocations all live here.

2. Air Carrier Employment Records. Any Part 121 or Part 135 operator you’ve worked for is required to submit records to the PRD. This includes:

Dates of employment and separation
Reason for separation (resignation, termination, furlough)
Training records and proficiency check results
Any unsatisfactory training events or check ride disapprovals
Records related to accidents or incidents during your employment

This is the category most pilots underestimate. A single disapproval from a regional carrier years ago is in that record. A training difficulty at a cargo operator is in that record. There is no statute of limitations on disclosure. The record reflects your history.

3. Drug and Alcohol Testing Records. Your DOT/FAA drug and alcohol testing history, including:

Positive test results
Refusals to test (treated the same as a positive)
Return-to-duty documentation if applicable

This is among the most scrutinized data in the entire file. Any record here will prompt immediate follow-up and require full, documented explanation.

4. National Driver Register (NDR). Your motor vehicle history. Driving-related convictions, license suspensions, revocations. A DUI, reckless driving conviction, or pattern of moving violations is visible here. Airlines treat this seriously as a reflection of judgment and decision-making off the flight deck.

5. Accident and Incident Records. Any NTSB-reported accident or FAA-reportable incident connected to your flying history. Includes incidents where you were the PIC and where you were a crewmember.

Why this matters to your application

Airlines query the PRD because they are building a complete picture of your professional risk profile. They are not looking for perfection. They are looking for consistency and honesty.

The most common application-ending mistake is not having a bad record. It is having a record that contradicts what you disclosed on your application.

If you had a check ride disapproval in 2019 and your application implies otherwise, that discrepancy doesn’t just raise a question. It ends the conversation. The PRD doesn’t forget. The hiring team will compare what you submitted against what the record shows, and any gap between the two reads as a character issue, not a paperwork issue.

Disclose everything. Contextualize what needs context. Let your honesty be the differentiator, not the liability.

How to access and review your PRD

You have the right to access your own record. Three steps:

Go to amsrvs.asy.faa.gov/prdhome and create an account using your FAA Tracking Number (FTN)
Review every category: FAA records, employer submissions, NDR, testing history
Cross-reference what’s in the PRD against what you plan to disclose on applications

Do this well before you apply anywhere. Not the night before you submit.

What to do if you find an error

Errors in the PRD are more common than most pilots expect. They are correctable, but only if you catch them.

FAA record errors: Contact the FAA Airmen Certification Branch directly through the FAA’s official airmen inquiry and correction process. Document everything in writing.

Employer-submitted record errors: The submitting employer is responsible for the accuracy of the data they uploaded. Contact the former employer’s HR or Chief Pilot office, request a correction, and get the correction confirmed in writing. Follow up to verify the PRD has been updated before your next application.

NDR errors: Contact the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) through their NDR dispute process. Each state DMV can also assist with correcting records at the source.

Critical: do not wait for a hiring company to discover an error. If something is wrong, fix it proactively. Arriving at an interview with a documented correction already in progress tells a very different story than being caught off guard by your own record.

The bottom line

Your PRD is your professional aviation permanent record. It is not going away, it cannot be hidden, and airlines are required to see it. The pilots who navigate this process successfully treat their PRD the same way they treat any other pre-flight document. They review it thoroughly, they know what’s in it, and they brief it honestly.

Surprises on the flight deck are manageable. Surprises in a hiring file are not.

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