Current federal regulations prohibit an intoxicated person to board or to be served alcohol on a flight. However, only some airlines provide training to help attendants identify and deal with drunken passengers, said Udall, a New Mexico Democrat.

"It's simple — training attendants to identify inebriated passengers either boarding or already on a flight is critical to ensuring they make informed decisions when serving alcohol," Udall said.

An airline would be fined up to $25,000 a day if found in violation of the law.

Udall began researching airline server protocol late last year following a crash involving Dana Papst of Tesuque, who police say was drunk when he drove the wrong way on Interstate 25 near Santa Fe and killed five members of a Las Vegas, N.M., family and himself.

An airline had served alcohol to Papst just hours before the crash even though witnesses said he appeared intoxicated.

"Unfortunately my legislation cannot prohibit all tragic drunk driving accidents from occurring, but it will implement a system to make it more difficult for passengers over the legal limit from deplaning and driving," Udall said.