BasicMed changes in 2024 FAA Reauthorization Act

Yes, this exactly. Logistically it would be sooo much easier for me if I could train in a 150/152/172, due to both airframe and CFI availability. Am I really that much more of a danger to society in one of those Cessnas than I am in an RV-12 or a SportCruiser?
Hoping that perhaps the upcoming M.O.S.A.I.C. will allow Sport Pilots access to the lowly Cessna Trainers that you mentioned. :yawn:

***Where's the emoji for "holding my breath***
 
***Where's the emoji for "holding my breath***
Well, here's a guy turning blue with a tear falling down his cheek. Does this sufficiently illustrate the plight of a sport pilot awaiting greater privileges being granted by a byzantine federal agency?
:sad::sad:
 
Not necessarily. You can go to your PCP and have them just sign off your BasicMed checklist, doing the minimum it takes for them to do that. Or you can get a complete checkup and blood work and all that, and also have them sign off your BasicMed. So while it does seem wise that "if I have to go there anyway, I might as well get a complete checkup", it's by no means necessary.


True, but your PCP should be doing all the other things that are never done for a 3rd class medical if the physician is worth their weight in salt.
 
Really I would like them to also get rid of the initial 3rd Class requirement before being eligible for BasicMed.
That one change would fix everything.
No need to change Sport Pilot rules, as they could become PPL.
No need to change LSA rules, as the new PPL's flying under basic med can fly the legacy planes.
You could actually eliminate the Recreational PPL and Sport Pilot categories.
AND free up a lot of FAA medical staff to focus on the Commercial and ATP pilots.
 
Only if you want them done.
Your pcp is your family doctor that you go to for all your medical needs. He knows or should know everything about you and have all your records.
How can he know less than an aero medical doc doing a class 3 that only makes you pee in a cup and look at a chart and has no medical records of you.
Now if you go to a doc in the box for one time look at, that's a different story.
 
Your pcp is your family doctor that you go to for all your medical needs. He knows or should know everything about you and have all your records.
How can he know less than an aero medical doc doing a class 3 that only makes you pee in a cup and look at a chart and has no medical records of you.
Now if you go to a doc in the box for one time look at, that's a different story.
Nobody said he should know less. I’m just implying that a doctor shouldn’t be the one in control of ones health.
 
Your pcp is your family doctor that you go to for all your medical needs. He knows or should know everything about you and have all your records.
How can he know less than an aero medical doc doing a class 3 that only makes you pee in a cup and look at a chart and has no medical records of you.
Now if you go to a doc in the box for one time look at, that's a different story.
I get what you're saying, but you're also kind of presupposing that the person has a long, continuing relationship with that PCP and goes regularly for checkups. Like we all "should". But there are a whole lot of people out there for whom their PCP is a PCP in name only, maybe they've never even met them yet or maybe the last time was 5 years ago, and maybe even then it was for some minor illness, not a complete health workup.

What I and @MauleSkinner are saying is that seeing a PCP for BasicMed does not in itself imply or necessitate anything better or worse than seeing an AME or a doc-in-the-box. It all depends on how the individual approaches it.
 
Agreed that it doesn't guarantee being better, just at the least is is about the same.

It is just that there is nothing in the Class 1, 2, 3 medical exam that can say that someone with one, versus BasicMed is safer flying in the flight levels.

And for those flying aircraft capable of it, it removes one safety factor, that is being able to climb above weather or icing.
 
And for those flying aircraft capable of it, it removes one safety factor, that is being able to climb above weather or icing.


Y'know, I have never once heard ATC ask a pilot over the radio what sort of medical he held.

Just sayin'.....
 
Some observations:

1. Some people here hate freedom and love regulation. I would suggest most of these people have never dealt with the FAA medical division.
2. The car analogy is a poor one but nothing stops someone with a drivers licenses from buying a 40 foot motor home and then towing a 20 foot SUV behind it and driving it down the road with no training at all. A lot are being driven by people who couldn't pass a 3rd class medical.
3. Seems to me with a few exceptions there is an SI for just about every ailment so if you have enough money and time you can get a medical so how does money and time equate to safety?
4. Nobody has addressed the fact that FAA medical system creates a disincentive for people to seek medical attention when they have an issue. Since being on Basic Med I don't fear that going to the doctor for an minor issue is either going to prevent me from flying or end up costing me a fortune in an attempt to prove to the FAA that there is nothing wrong.
5. At least in my case my PCP does a much more thorough job during my annual physical than any 3rd class I ever had.
6. The idea that there are a bunch of pilots out there that are flying having had a flight review 23 months ago and 3 take offs and landings is a straw man. Show me the statistics that this is a major problem.
 
Y'know, I have never once heard ATC ask a pilot over the radio what sort of medical he held.

Just sayin'.....
True. But if anything were to happen, it WOULD be an issue.
 
Some observations:

1. Some people here hate freedom and love regulation. I would suggest most of these people have never dealt with the FAA medical division.
2. The car analogy is a poor one but nothing stops someone with a drivers licenses from buying a 40 foot motor home and then towing a 20 foot SUV behind it and driving it down the road with no training at all. A lot are being driven by people who couldn't pass a 3rd class medical.
3. Seems to me with a few exceptions there is an SI for just about every ailment so if you have enough money and time you can get a medical so how does money and time equate to safety?
4. Nobody has addressed the fact that FAA medical system creates a disincentive for people to seek medical attention when they have an issue. Since being on Basic Med I don't fear that going to the doctor for an minor issue is either going to prevent me from flying or end up costing me a fortune in an attempt to prove to the FAA that there is nothing wrong.
5. At least in my case my PCP does a much more thorough job during my annual physical than any 3rd class I ever had.
6. The idea that there are a bunch of pilots out there that are flying having had a flight review 23 months ago and 3 take offs and landings is a straw man. Show me the statistics that this is a major problem.

Agreed.

One point though for item 6. They don't even need 3 take offs and landings unless they are carrying passengers.
 
Not necessarily. You can go to your PCP and have them just sign off your BasicMed checklist, doing the minimum it takes for them to do that. Or you can get a complete checkup and blood work and all that, and also have them sign off your BasicMed. So while it does seem wise that "if I have to go there anyway, I might as well get a complete checkup", it's by no means necessary.
I'm just trying to figure out how examination of external anus and genitalia applies to my ability to fly a plane. (other than being an ****ole, or a ****head)
 
I'm just trying to figure out how examination of external anus and genitalia applies to my ability to fly a plane. (other than being an ****ole, or a ****head)
To make sure your sphincter is nice and tight so you don't sh*t your pants when you fly a bit too close to that t'storm cell ;)
 
I'm just trying to figure out how examination of external anus and genitalia applies to my ability to fly a plane. (other than being an ****ole, or a ****head)
I'm trying to figure out why this concern never comes up in regard to a third-class medical, which has the same requirements.
 
Some observations:

1. Some people here hate freedom and love regulation. I would suggest most of these people have never dealt with the FAA medical division.
2. The car analogy is a poor one but nothing stops someone with a drivers licenses from buying a 40 foot motor home and then towing a 20 foot SUV behind it and driving it down the road with no training at all. A lot are being driven by people who couldn't pass a 3rd class medical.
3. Seems to me with a few exceptions there is an SI for just about every ailment so if you have enough money and time you can get a medical so how does money and time equate to safety?
4. Nobody has addressed the fact that FAA medical system creates a disincentive for people to seek medical attention when they have an issue. Since being on Basic Med I don't fear that going to the doctor for an minor issue is either going to prevent me from flying or end up costing me a fortune in an attempt to prove to the FAA that there is nothing wrong.
5. At least in my case my PCP does a much more thorough job during my annual physical than any 3rd class I ever had.
6. The idea that there are a bunch of pilots out there that are flying having had a flight review 23 months ago and 3 take offs and landings is a straw man. Show me the statistics that this is a major problem.
Some people love deregulation and don’t care about the consequences to themselves or the general public. I really don’t want the lot of the medical misfits you want flying airplanes sharing the sky with me. This is especially true of the ADHD crowd.


  • Makes careless mistakes/lacks attention to detail
  • Lacks sustained attention in tasks or play activities
  • Poor listener, even in the absence of obvious distraction
  • Fails to follow through on tasks and instructions
  • Difficulty with organization, time management, and deadlines
  • Avoids tasks requiring sustained mental effort
  • Loses things necessary for tasks or activities
  • Easily distracted (including unrelated thoughts)
  • Forgetful in daily activities
 
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Some people love deregulation and don’t care about the consequences to themselves or the general public. I really don’t want the lot of the medical misfits you want flying airplanes sharing the sky with me. This is especially true of the ADHD crowd.


  • Makes careless mistakes/lacks attention to detail
  • Lacks sustained attention in tasks or play activities
  • Poor listener, even in the absence of obvious distraction
  • Fails to follow through on tasks and instructions
  • Difficulty with organization, time management, and deadlines
  • Avoids tasks requiring sustained mental effort
  • Loses things necessary for tasks or activities
  • Easily distracted (including unrelated thoughts)
  • Forgetful in daily activities
How likely is it that people who exhibit these qualities are being cleared to solo, passing all their stage checks and getting all the way through training, and obtaining their cert?
 
Some people love deregulation and don’t care about the consequences to themselves or the general public. I really don’t want the lot of the medical misfits you want flying airplanes sharing the sky with me. This is especially true of the ADHD crowd.


  • Makes careless mistakes/lacks attention to detail
  • Lacks sustained attention in tasks or play activities
  • Poor listener, even in the absence of obvious distraction
  • Fails to follow through on tasks and instructions
  • Difficulty with organization, time management, and deadlines
  • Avoids tasks requiring sustained mental effort
  • Loses things necessary for tasks or activities
  • Easily distracted (including unrelated thoughts)
  • Forgetful in daily activities
It’s a continuum with developable compensatory mechanisms - moreover, it has positive attributes that may be advantageous in certain situations.

At it’s simplest level it may be our attempt to explain behavior at the extremes of normalcy. Many times these are just really quirky folks those who consider themselves “normal” do not consider “normal”.
 
Is your last name “Smails”, and you just don’t think certain people belong at Bushwood?
 
How likely is it that people who exhibit these qualities are being cleared to solo, passing all their stage checks and getting all the way through training, and obtaining their cert?
When I have flown with CFIs who can’t demonstrate private pilot maneuvers to private pilots ACS standards I find myself asking how some people pass who appear to be normal.

The latest is a commercial ASEL and AMEL that can’t land a a Warrior after a 30 hour flight review.
 
I'm trying to figure out why this concern never comes up in regard to a third-class medical, which has the same requirements.
And yet, in 30 years, no AME has asked me to drop my pants. I guess they figure this doesn't require direct examination.
 
And yet, in 30 years, no AME has asked me to drop my pants. I guess they figure this doesn't require direct examination.
So the question becomes, "Does that same reasoning apply to the BasicMed exam?"
 
So the question becomes, "Does that same reasoning apply to the BasicMed exam?"
And the answer is, it depends on your physician. Mine's figured out how to evaluate my bodily functions without sticking his fingers anywhere.
 
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How does he or she know whether you have a hernia? Hemorrhoids? A hydrocele?
 
And the answer is, it depends on your physician. Mine's figured out how to evaluate my bodily functions with sticking his fingers anywhere.
I agree. The point I'm trying to make is that people are acting as if this is a new issue that was introduced with BasicMed. It's not.
 
Some people love deregulation...

Guilty! When it starts raining planes give me a call. There are lots of people flying around with all sorts of undisclosed medical conditions mental and otherwise (the system encourages people to hide them). Most compensate in other ways or they fail before getting too far. Even though we have deregulated the medical we are continuing to get safer not less so.
 
Asks about symptoms?
A doctor can’t definitively say you don’t have a hernia, hemorrhoids, or a hydrocele based solely on the presence or absence of symptoms. If he’s going to say definitively that you don’t have them, he has to do an exam.

It happens every day, of course, but you seemed to say that your doctor was better than someone else’s because he knew about your privates without looking at them. It’s just not true.
 
If you can drive to the doctor’s office and walk in under your own power, safe to say you don’t have a bad enough hernia or ‘roids to keep you from flying.
 
If you can drive to the doctor’s office and walk in under your own power, safe to say you don’t have a bad enough hernia or ‘roids to keep you from flying.


I would say the same about vision, but there seem to be a lot of blind drivers on I-4.....
 
The topic is anal inspection and pilots. No one has yet made a snarky, pithy but funny remark about pilots being above average in size of such, inflicting others with a pain in that specific spot, etc.
 
The topic is anal inspection and pilots. No one has yet made a snarky, pithy but funny remark about pilots being above average in size of such, inflicting others with a pain in that specific spot, etc.
Too obvious
 
A doctor can’t definitively say you don’t have a hernia, hemorrhoids, or a hydrocele based solely on the presence or absence of symptoms. If he’s going to say definitively that you don’t have them, he has to do an exam.

It happens every day, of course, but you seemed to say that your doctor was better than someone else’s because he knew about your privates without looking at them. It’s just not true.
I don't recall saying my doctor was better than anyone else's. But I suppose he might think that definitely saying I don't have an asymptomatic hernia, hydrocele, or hemorrhoid on one day a year isn't worth much. He can't definitively say I don't have a brain tumor or lung cancer without scans that he also doesn't do at my regular physicals. But I do have his cell number and use it liberally when I have an issue.
 
I don't recall saying my doctor was better than anyone else's. But I suppose he might think that definitely saying I don't have an asymptomatic hernia, hydrocele, or hemorrhoid on one day a year isn't worth much. He can't definitively say I don't have a brain tumor or lung cancer without scans that he also doesn't do at my regular physicals. But I do have his cell number and use it liberally when I have an issue.
The FAA doesn't ask about brain tumors or lung cancer.

When you said this:
And the answer is, it depends on your physician. Mine's figured out how to evaluate my bodily functions without sticking his fingers anywhere.

it seems to imply that you think a superior physician can do an adequate evaluation without an exam. If that's what you meant, you're wrong. If that's not what you meant, what did you mean?
 
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