Your A&P certificate is under Part 65, not Part 61

Start with the correct FAA category after a California DUI arrest: the FAA certificates aircraft mechanics under 14 CFR Part 65 Subpart D, not 14 CFR Part 61, and that one distinction changes the first phone call many mechanics think they have to make. The certificate in your wallet came from the FAA, but you are not being treated as a pilot for that reason alone.

The common internet answer says a DUI arrest creates a 60 day FAA reporting duty, but that answer is written for a person holding a certificate issued under 14 CFR Part 61. An A&P mechanic certificate by itself is different. It is issued under 14 CFR Part 65 Subpart D.

For a mechanic, the aviation problems usually sit in three places: DOT drug and alcohol testing tied to maintenance work, employer policy, and airport identification media such as SIDA badging. Those are practical problems, not the same thing as the Part 61 pilot reporting rule.

Nor is this the same problem faced by a flight attendant worried about Canada travel, or by an air traffic controller dealing with federal employment or medical clearance; another aviation role or certificate has to be checked on its own terms, while the A&P certificate alone starts with 14 CFR Part 65 Subpart D.

The 60 day FAA report belongs to Part 61 certificates

FAA 14 CFR 61.15(e) requires a written report of a motor vehicle action within 60 days to the FAA Civil Aviation Security Division, AMC 700, P.O. Box 25810, Oklahoma City, OK 73125. The key words are in the same rule: it applies by its terms to each person holding a certificate issued under Part 61.

An A&P mechanic certificate is not issued under Part 61. It is issued under 14 CFR Part 65 Subpart D. Because of that, the 14 CFR 61.15(e) 60 day motor vehicle action report does not apply to the mechanic certificate by its terms.

Most California mechanics need that correction right after an arrest. Mailing a Part 61 report just because someone online used the word "airman" broadly creates the wrong record, because a mechanic certificate has its own FAA part, and that part is 65.

The phrase "motor vehicle action" also has a specific definition under 14 CFR 61.15(c), including a DUI type conviction after November 29, 1990, a driver license cancellation, suspension, or revocation for a DUI type cause, or a driver license application denial for a DUI type cause. For pilots, that definition matters because 14 CFR 61.15(e) uses it.

For a mechanic who holds only the A&P certificate, the definition in 14 CFR 61.15(c) does not turn the Part 61 reporting rule into a Part 65 reporting rule. The citation still sits in Part 61. People miss that part.

A pilot certificate changes the answer

Many California aircraft mechanics also fly. Holding a 14 CFR Part 61 pilot certificate means the DUI has to be analyzed in that separate capacity, because the fact that your A&P certificate alone does not create the 60 day report does not erase a Part 61 pilot duty.

In the pilot capacity, 14 CFR 61.15(e) requires the written report within 60 days after a motor vehicle action. The address is the FAA Civil Aviation Security Division, AMC 700, P.O. Box 25810, Oklahoma City, OK 73125. Use the right rule for the right certificate.

Bad advice causes real trouble here.

A mechanic who also holds a private pilot certificate can be correct about the A&P side and still wrong about the pilot side. The FAA certificate part controls the duty, and Part 61 is not Part 65.

I ask about every FAA certificate early because the answer can change with one extra certificate: a mechanic with only an A&P certificate has one analysis, while a mechanic with an A&P certificate and a Part 61 pilot certificate has two analyses.

The maintenance side is the DOT testing side

For A&P mechanics, the FAA issue that usually matters at work is not the 60 day Part 61 report; it is DOT drug and alcohol testing connected to maintenance. FAA 14 CFR 120.105(e) lists aircraft maintenance and preventive maintenance as safety sensitive functions covered by the FAA drug and alcohol testing rules.

When you perform aircraft maintenance or preventive maintenance, 14 CFR 120.105(e) means DOT drug and alcohol testing can apply through your employer, repair station, or carrier. That is a job and compliance issue, not a Part 61 pilot report. The same DUI arrest can touch both worlds only if you actually occupy both worlds.

The testing issue is practical because aircraft maintenance is shift based, badge based, and documentation based in many California workplaces; a Los Angeles hangar, an Oakland repair station, and a San Diego carrier operation may use different internal forms, but 14 CFR 120.105(e) is the federal maintenance hook. Read the employer document before you speak loosely about the arrest.

Never confuse a court ordered alcohol condition with a DOT testing rule under 14 CFR 120.105(e). They come from different systems. One is tied to the California DUI case, and the other is tied to covered maintenance or preventive maintenance work.

Jobs involving maintenance release paperwork, inspection authority, line maintenance, or preventive maintenance tasks may trigger employer concern about any record that affects scheduling or compliance. The specific FAA citation for covered maintenance work is 14 CFR 120.105(e). Keep that section in view.

SIDA badges and employer policy are usually the immediate work pressure

For an A&P mechanic, airport identification media such as SIDA badging and the employer's own policy are practical DUI exposure points separate from the FAA Part 61 reporting rule, even when 14 CFR 61.15(e) does not apply to the mechanic certificate. Your badge office and your employer are not the FAA Civil Aviation Security Division address in Oklahoma City.

Read the policy that applies to your actual worksite before you volunteer extra facts. A mechanic at a carrier, a repair station, or an airport tenant may have different reporting language in a handbook, badge agreement, or union document. The legal starting point is still the same: the A&P certificate is under 14 CFR Part 65 Subpart D.

I do not want a mechanic guessing on a badge form after a DUI arrest, because the question may ask about arrests, convictions, license suspensions, or something else. Those are not the same event under 14 CFR 61.15(c), and they are not the same event in a California DMV case.

Timing matters because the California DMV process can create a driver license suspension on day 31 after the arrest, while the pink DS 367 covers the first 30 days if the license was valid at arrest. When an employer asks about current driving status, the answer on day five is not necessarily the answer on day 35. Use dates.

Be exact with job language: "I was arrested on June 4" is different from "I was convicted," and "my California license is valid under the DS 367 for 30 days" is different from "my license is suspended." Those differences matter under 14 CFR 61.15(c) and in ordinary employer paperwork.

The California DMV clock has 10 days, then 30 days

A California driver arrested for DUI must request the DMV administrative hearing within 10 days of arrest. That deadline applies to aircraft mechanics the same way it applies to other California drivers. The FAA category does not pause the California DMV clock.

The pink DS 367 is a full, unrestricted California driver license for the 30 days it covers if your license was valid at arrest. A chemical test refusal does not change that 30 day temporary license rule. The DS 367 itself is not a restricted license.

California DMV restrictions and ignition interlock requirements belong to the suspension that begins on day 31 after a DUI arrest, not to the 30 day DS 367 temporary license period. For a mechanic who drives to a hangar, a remote maintenance base, or an airport lot before sunrise, that distinction matters.

Requesting the DMV hearing within 10 days also gives a chance to keep the license issue from moving by default. It also produces the DMV discovery packet on request. That packet can matter before the first court date, because the DMV side often provides police paperwork early.

The first 10 days are not the time to wait for a prosecutor to file charges. The DMV deadline is measured from the arrest date. If the arrest was on a Monday, count the 10 day window from that arrest, not from a future court notice.

The DMV packet helps sort out what really happened at the stop

When the California DMV hearing is requested within 10 days, the DMV discovery packet is available on request, and that packet usually includes the paperwork the officer sent to DMV, including the DS 367 materials. For a mechanic, it can also help answer employer questions with dates rather than guesses.

The DMV packet is not the entire criminal case file. Still, it can show what the officer claimed about the stop, the arrest, the chemical test, and any refusal allegation. Those are the same facts that can affect the day 31 license suspension.

There is no need to walk into the first court setting blind if the DMV hearing was requested on time and the packet was requested. The court case and the DMV case are different, but the police report and DS 367 information often overlap. That overlap is useful.

I look at the timing first: the stated time of driving, the time of arrest, the time of testing, and the date the DS 367 was served. Those details can matter in the DMV case and in the criminal case. They also keep a mechanic from making a sloppy statement to an employer on day 12 that contradicts a document on day 20.

When the paperwork says there was a chemical test refusal, remember the DS 367 still covers a full, unrestricted California driver license for 30 days if the license was valid at arrest. The refusal issue belongs to the later suspension analysis. It does not shrink the first 30 days.

Keep the FAA answer separate from the workplace answer

After a California DUI arrest, an A&P mechanic needs separate answers for three systems: the FAA certificate category, the California DMV license case, and the employer or airport badge process. The FAA certificate category starts with 14 CFR Part 65 Subpart D. The DMV starts with the 10 day hearing request. A supervisor may ask a different question. A badge office may use different wording. The date may change the answer. Documents control the timeline. Unless you know you hold a Part 61 certificate that triggers 14 CFR 61.15(e), telling a supervisor that "the FAA requires me to report within 60 days" is wrong for an A&P certificate alone by the terms of the regulation. The correct FAA fact is that the mechanic certificate is issued under Part 65. Keep the tracks separate.

Avoid telling an employer that "nothing has happened" if the DMV has started a day 31 suspension process. That is also sloppy. The more accurate statement depends on the date, the DS 367, whether the 10 day DMV hearing request was made, and what the employer policy actually asks.

A badge office should not be told there was a conviction if there was only an arrest. Under 14 CFR 61.15(c), a DUI type conviction is one kind of motor vehicle action for Part 61 purposes, and a driver license suspension for a DUI type cause is another. Words matter.

The safest internal record is a short timeline with documents: arrest date, DS 367 date, 10 day DMV request date, DMV hearing request confirmation, and any employer notice date. Five dates can prevent five different versions of the same event. Keep copies.

Build the defense around the result that affects maintenance work

For an aircraft mechanic, the criminal defense cannot be separated from the work consequences. A reduction, dismissal, DMV set aside, or avoided suspension can matter to a repair station, carrier, airport badge office, or employer policy. The exact job effect depends on the written rule that applies at that worksite.

The defense starts with the evidence from the DUI arrest: the stop, the officer's observations, the chemical test paperwork, and the DMV packet requested through the 10 day hearing process. I do not assume the report is complete because it has a badge number on it. I check it against times, forms, and the DS 367.

Holding a Part 61 pilot certificate adds a separate track, because the 60 day FAA report issue has to be handled there while the A&P issue remains under Part 65. That is not a contradiction. It is two certificates with two different FAA parts.

For someone who holds only the A&P certificate, the main aviation exposure is usually 14 CFR 120.105(e) testing, employer policy, and airport identification media such as SIDA badging. The Part 61 report to the FAA Civil Aviation Security Division, AMC 700, P.O. Box 25810, Oklahoma City, OK 73125, is not created by the mechanic certificate alone.

Before you sign any workplace statement in the first 30 days, compare it to the DS 367 and the DMV request record, because a statement made on day eight can be read later after a day 31 suspension starts. Dates and exact words are the difference between an accurate disclosure and a self created problem.