49 U.S.C. § 44921 — Federal flight deck officer program

(a) Establishment. The Administrator must set up a program that deputizes volunteer pilots of air carriers -- flying between states or within one state -- as federal law enforcement officers called "Federal flight deck officers," whose job is to defend the cockpit against criminal violence or hijacking. (b) Procedural requirements. The Administrator must write the rules for running this program, and must train and deputize qualified pilots. These rules must cover: what type of firearm and ammunition officers use; the standards and training needed to qualify and later requalify as an officer; where the firearm is stored on the plane so it stays secure but is easy to reach in an emergency; an analysis of the risk that firing the gun -- even by accident -- into the plane's avionics, electrical systems, or other sensitive parts could cause the aircraft to fail catastrophically; how responsibility is split between the two pilots if only one, or if both, are officers; procedures to make sure the firearm never leaves the cockpit during a disturbance in the cabin or when the pilot steps out for personal reasons; how an officer and an on-board Federal air marshal interact; how pilots are chosen for the program based on fitness, including whether they need a background check beyond the one required by section 44936(a)(1); how firearms are stored and transported between flights, including international flights, especially whether the firearm should be kept secured at the airport when a pilot stays overnight away from their home base; how security staff can tell whether a pilot is authorized to carry a firearm; how pilots, including officers, can tell whether a passenger is a law enforcement officer allowed to carry a firearm; and any other issue the Administrator thinks matters. Courts can only overturn the Administrator's decisions on how to carry out these requirements if the Administrator abused their discretion. In choosing pilots, the Administrator must give preference to former military or law enforcement personnel. Notwithstanding the Freedom of Information Act, and subject to section 40119, information from the risk analysis about accidental discharge must not be disclosed. After finishing that analysis, the Administrator must notify the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and the Senate Commerce Committee. If the analysis finds a real risk of catastrophic aircraft failure from a firearm discharge, the Administrator must act to reduce that risk. (c) Training, supervision, and equipment. The Administrator must provide the training, supervision, and equipment a pilot needs to be an officer, at no cost to the pilot or the airline. Training requirements must be based on Federal air marshal training standards, adjusted for the different role officers play. Training must at least teach officers to shoot proficiently, to keep total control of their firearm at all times (including defensive moves), and to judge when to use the firearm versus lesser force. To be deputized, a pilot must reach a firearm proficiency level comparable to that required of air marshals; this training can be run by the Administrator or by a firearms training facility, and the Administrator must designate more firearms training facilities around the country for recurrent and requalification training than existed the day before the law was enacted. Officers must requalify to carry a firearm at intervals set by the Administrator, and can do so at a TSA-approved facility using a TSA-approved contractor and curriculum. The Administrator must periodically review how often officers must requalify and adjust that interval, if appropriate, to keep officers in the program while still keeping training effective. Starting two years after the TSA Modernization Act became law, and every two years after that, the Administrator must review training facilities and requirements for both new and recurrent officer training and look for ways to streamline them without losing effectiveness, updating the requirements as needed. (d) Deputization. The Administrator may deputize as an officer any pilot who asks to join and whom the Administrator determines is qualified -- meaning the pilot works for an air carrier, meets the Administrator's standards, and has finished the required training. The medical or physical standards the Administrator sets cannot be stricter than, or inconsistent with, the FAA's normal medical-certificate rules for pilots. The Administrator may also ask another federal agency to deputize qualified pilots. The Administrator may revoke an officer's deputization at their discretion if the pilot is no longer qualified. Under TSA's appeals rules, an officer who moved to inactive status can return to active status by finishing a recurrent training program within program guidelines. (e) Compensation. Officers are not paid by the federal government for their service, and neither the government nor the airline has to pay them for participating, training, or requalifying -- except for the leave described next. Airlines must let a pilot take a reasonable amount of leave, even if unpaid, to attend initial, recurrent, or requalification training for the program. (f) Authority to carry firearms. The Administrator must let officers carry a firearm while flying. Despite the rule that training and equipment are provided at no cost to the pilot, an officer may buy their own firearm and carry it aboard a plane they are piloting, as long as it's a type the program allows. Regardless of other federal or state law, an officer may carry that firearm across state lines whenever the program requires it. Working with the Secretary of State, the Administrator may take steps needed to let an officer carry a firearm in a foreign country when the program requires it. The Administrator must, as much as practical and without jeopardizing existing air marshal agreements, align the rules for officers carrying firearms on international flights with the rules that already apply to air marshals -- even though this may go beyond Annex 17 of the International Civil Aviation Organization. (g) Authority to use force. While the program is running, and despite section 44903(d), the Administrator sets the standards and situations under which an officer may use force, including lethal force, to defend the flight deck against criminal violence or hijacking. (h) Limitation on liability. An airline cannot be sued for damages over an officer's use, or failure to use, a firearm. An officer cannot be sued for damages over what they did or didn't do defending the flight deck, unless the officer was grossly negligent or acted with willful misconduct. In a lawsuit against the federal government over an officer's actions, the officer is treated as a federal employee under the Federal Tort Claims Act. (i) Procedures following accidental discharges. If a firearm goes off by accident and injures or kills a passenger or crew member, the Administrator must revoke that officer's deputization if the Administrator decides the officer was negligent, and may temporarily pause the whole program if the Administrator decides a flaw in the standards, training, or procedures caused the accident, until that flaw is fixed. (j) Limitation on authority of air carriers. An airline cannot punish or threaten a pilot for becoming an officer, cannot stop an officer from flying its planes, and cannot fire an officer, just because the pilot volunteered for or is taking part in the program. (k) Applicability. This program does not apply to air carriers operating under Part 135 of title 14 of the Code of Federal Regulations, or to their pilots, to the extent those carriers and pilots are already covered by section 135.119 of that title or whatever rule replaces it. (l) Definitions. In this section: "Administrator" means the Administrator of the TSA. "Air transportation" includes all-cargo flights. A "firearms training facility" is a private or government-owned gun range the Administrator approves for recurrent or requalification training, using a TSA-approved contractor and curriculum. A "pilot" is whoever has final authority and responsibility for the flight's operation and safety, or any other member of the flight deck crew.