AC 00-46: FAA Aviation Safety Reporting Program Waiver and Filing

FAA Advisory Circular 00-46 is the FAA document that describes the Aviation Safety Reporting Program, a voluntary system run by NASA that lets pilots, controllers, mechanics, flight attendants, dispatchers, and other airspace users report safety concerns and, in most cases, avoid a civil penalty or certificate suspension for the reported incident. The protection is real but conditional: it applies only when four specific requirements are met, and it has hard exclusions that no amount of paperwork can override.¹

The FAA does not receive or hold these reports. NASA operates the Aviation Safety Reporting System, keeping reporter identities separate from FAA enforcement. That separation is the reason the program works — a controller or pilot has a reason to describe what actually happened when the disclosure cannot be turned into an enforcement file.²

The Four Conditions for a Waiver of Sanction

The waiver only applies when all four of these are true. Miss one and the FAA can impose the penalty in full.

The violation was inadvertent, not deliberate. If the FAA finds you knowingly broke a rule, the waiver is off the table.
The incident did not involve a criminal offense, an accident, or an action under 49 U.S.C. § 44709 that reveals a lack of qualification or competency to hold your certificate.³
You have not been found to have committed a violation of federal aviation statutes or regulations in the five years before the incident. This lookback counts any prior finding of violation, including one where the sanction itself was waived under this program.⁴
You completed and delivered or mailed a written report to NASA within 10 days after the violation, or within 10 days after you became aware or should have been aware of it.⁵

The “should have been aware” language matters. If an investigation later shows you reasonably should have known earlier than you claim, the clock may already have been running. The advisory circular does not distinguish calendar days from business days, so treat the deadline as 10 calendar days.

What the Waiver Actually Does

The waiver blocks the sanction. It does not block the finding of violation. In an ASRP case, the FAA still issues a formal order that lays out the factual allegations, identifies the regulations violated, states the sanction, and then adds a line waiving that sanction because you filed with NASA.⁴

That finding stays on your record. It counts against you in the five-year lookback, so a second incident within five years will not qualify for the waiver again. Treat the protection as a one-time shield, not a routine backstop.

Incidents That Are Not Covered

Some situations are carved out of the program entirely. Filing a report in these cases will not produce a waiver:

Accidents involving serious injury or substantial aircraft damage. These fall under mandatory NTSB reporting and sit outside the ASRP.
Criminal offenses, including violations involving illegal substance use. Confidentiality does not attach to these reports, and NASA may forward the information to appropriate authorities.⁴
Deliberate or flagrant violations. The program is built for honest mistakes.
Conduct that shows a lack of qualification or competency to hold the certificate under 49 U.S.C. § 44709. That is a separate track about whether you should hold the certificate at all.³

These exclusions are absolute. Timely filing and a clean history do not override them.

How to File Within 10 Days

NASA accepts reports online and by mail. The online Electronic Report Submission is the faster route. Pick the form that matches your role — separate versions exist for general aviation pilots, air carrier pilots, controllers, maintenance personnel, cabin crew, and drone operators — fill it out in your browser, and submit.⁶

When you submit online, a verification code appears on screen. Save it. That code is your proof of filing. Print a copy of the completed form before you submit. NASA does not accept reports by email.⁶

Paper forms in the NASA ARC 277 series have a detachable identification strip at the top. Fill in the whole form including the strip, and mail it to NASA. NASA time-stamps the strip and mails it back to you as your dated receipt. That strip is the evidence you show an FAA inspector to prove you filed on time.⁷

Confidentiality

Two layers protect the reporter. First, NASA removes identifying information from the report during processing and returns the ID strip, so nothing in the retained record ties the analysis back to a person.²

Second, 14 CFR § 91.25 bars the FAA from using any ASRP report, or information derived from one, in an enforcement action. The only reports outside that bar are those involving accidents or criminal offenses, which the program excludes anyway.⁸

ASRS and ASAP Are Different Programs

Pilots at carriers with an Aviation Safety Action Program sometimes assume ASAP replaces ASRS. It does not. ASAP is run internally by an individual airline or repair station in partnership with the FAA and typically a labor group, and its reports go to a joint review team that resolves issues through corrective action.⁹

ASRS is national, run by NASA, and open to anyone in the airspace system. Many airline pilots file under both when an incident qualifies: ASAP handles the company-level response, and the ASRS filing preserves the national waiver in case the FAA opens its own enforcement track.

When You Are Not Sure a Violation Occurred

File anyway. The report takes a few minutes, and the deadline runs from when you should have been aware of the violation, not from when the FAA tells you it is investigating. Waiting to confirm whether a rule was broken burns the 10-day window. If it turns out nothing happened, the report sits in NASA’s database as safety data. If something did happen, you have proof of a timely filing. The FAA’s own guidance treats the act of filing as indicative of a constructive attitude that tends to prevent future violations.¹⁰

1
Federal Aviation Administration. Aviation Safety Reporting Program
2
NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System. ASRS Program Briefing
3
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 49 USC 44709 – Amendments, Modifications, Suspensions, and Revocations of Certificates
4
Federal Aviation Administration. FAA Order 2150.3C – Compliance and Enforcement Program
5
NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System. Immunity Policies
6
NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System. Electronic Report Submission
7
Federal Aviation Administration. Advisory Circular AC 00-46 – Aviation Safety Reporting Program
8
eCFR. 14 CFR 91.25
9
Federal Aviation Administration. Aviation Voluntary Reporting Programs
10
Federal Aviation Administration. Aviation Safety Reporting Program for UAS