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# 49 U.S.C. 46506, Application of certain criminal laws to acts on aircraft: How Federal Cases Ended, FY2016–2025
- URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-statute-49-usc-46506-case-outcomes/
- Published: 2026-11-03T06:56:13.000Z
- Updated: 2026-11-03T06:56:13.000Z
- Description: Most federal charges under 49 U.S.C. 46506 were misdemeanors: 56 of 77 (73%) were Class A misdemeanors and 21 (27%) were felonies. Of the 66 people convicted, 26 (39%) received a prison term on that charge, with a median of 7 months. Guilty pleas ended 63 cases (82%), and 3 of the 6 trials ended in
- Author: Jocelyn C. Stewart
- Tags: Understanding Trends, Federal

[Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/) › [Federal Prosecution Analysis](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal/) › 49 U.S.C. 46506

**In brief:** Most federal charges under 49 U.S.C. 46506 were misdemeanors: 56 of 77 (73%) were Class A misdemeanors and 21 (27%) were felonies. Of the 66 people convicted, 26 (39%) received a prison term on that charge, with a median of 7 months. Guilty pleas ended 63 cases (82%), and 3 of the 6 trials ended in an acquittal.

Updated November 3, 2026 · Sources: U.S. Sentencing Commission and Federal Judicial Center, fiscal years 2016–2025

This post uses the Federal Judicial Center's records of 77 federal defendants whose cases ended in fiscal years 2016 to 2025\. The series also draws on the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 659,036 people sentenced in fiscal years 2016 to 2025\. It is part of the [Federal Prosecution Analysis](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal/) series, which builds on [Military Moves Toward Sentencing Guidelines to Mirror the Federal System](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/military-sentencing-guidelines-federal-system/). How the numbers were built: [How the Federal Comparison Data Was Built](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-data-methodology/).

## Misdemeanor and Felony Charges

The Federal Judicial Center records the level of the most serious charge at the end of each case. Under this section, 56 defendants (73%) faced a Class A misdemeanor, and 21 (27%) faced a felony. No petty offenses were recorded.

A Class A misdemeanor is the most serious level of federal misdemeanor. A felony is a more serious level of charge. The records show the level of the charge, not the facts behind it.

## About the Section

Section 46506 of Title 49, U.S. Code, is headed "Application of certain criminal laws to acts on aircraft." This post refers to the section only by that heading.

The count covers 77 defendants whose cases ended in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 with a most serious charge under this section. It follows the federal courts' Table D-4, so it includes dismissals and acquittals, not only convictions.

## Prison Was Not the Usual Result

Of the 66 convicted, 26 (39%) received a prison term on this charge. The rest were convicted without a prison term on this count.

The median prison term, among terms of 1 month or more, was 7 months. The median is the middle term when terms are ranked. It is the sentence imposed and may differ from time served.

## Pleas, Dismissals, and Trials

Of the 77 defendants, 63 (82%) pleaded guilty, 8 (10%) had their charges dismissed, and 6 (8%) went to trial. Dismissals in these records can include cases the government dropped after a guilty plea in another case.

Of the 6 trials, 3 ended in an acquittal. Judges decided 4 of the trials, with 2 acquittals. Juries decided 2, with 1 acquittal. Overall, 66 of the 77 (86%) were convicted.

A group of 6 trials is too small to support a rate, so the results are given as counts.

## Type of Counsel

Federal public or community defenders were recorded for 43 defendants (56%). Retained private counsel represented 31 (40%). A CJA panel attorney, a private lawyer appointed by the court, was recorded for 1 defendant.

The guilty plea rate was 84% in both the federal defender group and the retained counsel group. Dismissals were 7% and 10%. Federal defenders had 4 trials with 1 acquittal, and retained counsel had 2 trials, both ending in an acquittal.

The counsel numbers describe groups of cases, not the quality of lawyers. People who hire a lawyer and people who are assigned one can face different charges and circumstances, and these groups are small.

| Type of counsel at the end of the case | Defendants | Pleaded guilty | Dismissed | Trials | Acquitted at trial |
| -------------------------------------- | ---------- | -------------- | --------- | ------ | ------------------ |
| Federal public or community defender   | 43         | 84%            | 7%        | 4      | 1 (1 of 4)         |
| CJA panel attorney                     | 1          | 1 of 1         | 0 of 1    | 0      | 0                  |
| Private (retained) counsel             | 31         | 84%            | 10%       | 2      | 2 (2 of 2)         |

## Fiscal Year Counts

Between 4 and 13 cases ended in each fiscal year. Fiscal years 2024 and 2025 had the most, 13 each. No year had more than 2 trials.

These yearly numbers are too small to show a trend.

| Fiscal year | Cases ended | Pleaded guilty | Dismissed | Trials | Acquitted at trial |
| ----------- | ----------- | -------------- | --------- | ------ | ------------------ |
| 2016        | 7           | 6 of 7         | 0 of 7    | 1      | 0 (0 of 1)         |
| 2017        | 4           | 3 of 4         | 0 of 4    | 1      | 1 (1 of 1)         |
| 2018        | 6           | 4 of 6         | 2 of 6    | 0      | 0                  |
| 2019        | 9           | 8 of 9         | 0 of 9    | 1      | 0 (0 of 1)         |
| 2020        | 6           | 4 of 6         | 2 of 6    | 0      | 0                  |
| 2021        | 4           | 2 of 4         | 1 of 4    | 1      | 1 (1 of 1)         |
| 2022        | 6           | 6 of 6         | 0 of 6    | 0      | 0                  |
| 2023        | 9           | 8 of 9         | 1 of 9    | 0      | 0                  |
| 2024        | 13          | 77%            | 8%        | 2      | 1 (1 of 2)         |
| 2025        | 13          | 92%            | 8%        | 0      | 0                  |

## Limits

Each case is grouped by its most serious charge when it closed. The records hold no case facts and no reasons for verdicts or dismissals. The approved crosswalk has no close court-martial counterpart for this section.

### How We Counted

Every federal defendant whose case ended in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 and whose most serious charge at the end of the case (TTITLE1) was under 49 U.S.C. 46506, any subsection (77), Federal Judicial Center, counted as in the federal courts' Table D-4\. Type of counsel is TCOUNSEL; labels from the FJC criminal codebook. Section heading from the U.S. Code as published by the Office of the Law Revision Counsel (release point 119-136).

Federal fiscal years run from October 1 to September 30\. No person, judge, or lawyer is identified in any of these records.

### What to Keep in Mind

**Who is in each set of numbers.** The federal sentencing numbers come from the U.S. Sentencing Commission. They count only people who were convicted and sentenced in federal district court. People whose cases were dismissed or who were acquitted are not in them. The military numbers come from court-martial results, which include acquittals. To compare acquittal or dismissal rates, the federal side uses a different source: the Federal Judicial Center's case data, which counts every defendant whose case ended.

**How "plea" and "trial" are counted.** In the federal sentencing numbers, "trial" means the person was convicted after a trial, including people who pleaded guilty to some counts and went to trial on others. People acquitted at trial are not in these numbers at all (see "Who is in each set of numbers"). In the federal case data, the trial rate counts both convictions and acquittals at trial among all defendants whose cases ended, including dismissed cases. Military numbers count contested cases that reached a verdict. These denominators are not the same, and each post states the one it uses.

**Time periods.** Federal numbers are by federal fiscal year (October 1 to September 30), based on the sentencing date. The military numbers are by trial date. Neither source has the date of the offense, so a change in law shows up in either data set gradually.

**Type of counsel describes groups of cases, not lawyers.** The Federal Judicial Center records the type of counsel at the end of the case. Defendants who hire a lawyer differ from defendants who receive an appointed lawyer in their charges, criminal history, and circumstances, and some defendants change lawyers during a case. Differences in outcomes by type of counsel therefore cannot be credited to the type of lawyer.

## Related Analysis

- [Military Moves Toward Sentencing Guidelines to Mirror the Federal System](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/military-sentencing-guidelines-federal-system/) (the background article)
- [Federal Prosecution Analysis](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal/) (all federal posts)
- [How the Federal Comparison Data Was Built](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-data-methodology/) (sources and method)
- [49 U.S.C. 46314, Entering aircraft or airport area in violation of security requirements: How Federal Cases Ended, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-statute-49-usc-46314-case-outcomes/) (same title of the U.S. Code)
- [49 U.S.C. 46504, Interference with flight crew members and attendants: How Federal Cases Ended, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-statute-49-usc-46504-case-outcomes/) (same title of the U.S. Code)
- [Appointed vs. Retained Lawyers in Federal Criminal Cases: How Cases Ended, 2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-appointed-vs-retained-counsel-outcomes/)
- [Are Courts-Martial More Likely to End in Acquittal Than Federal Trials?](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-trial-acquittal-rates-vs-courts-martial/)
- [U.S. Sentencing Commission, Individual Offender Datafiles](https://www.ussc.gov/research/datafiles/commission-datafiles?ref=bodiesburied.com) (source)
- [Federal Judicial Center, Integrated Database (criminal defendants)](https://www.fjc.gov/research/idb?ref=bodiesburied.com) (source)

**About the author.** Jocelyn C. Stewart is a retired Army JAG with more than 24 years of trying courts-martial and more than 200 jury trials. She hosts *Where All The Bodies Are Buried* and runs the [Law Office of Jocelyn C. Stewart](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/?ref=bodiesburied.com). This analysis is for education and information only. It is not legal advice, and every case is different.