BasicMed while 1st Class under review

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Blookite

Filing Flight Plan
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Dec 3, 2021
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Blookite
Hey POA hive, i had an FAA medical certificate that has since expired, and i had to make an amendment to my MedXpress records which has been awaiting review by the FAA for 7 months now.

I’m wanting to get on BasicMed to do my CFI training and maybe start working to build time while i wait on the FAA.

My question is, if the FAA decides they want more information, or want to make me undergo evaluations, would this revoke my BasicMed? Or does this only happen if the medical is outright denied? I’m prepared to do whatever they want to do but my worry is that i’ll be just starting to instruct and suddenly lose my ability because the FAA wants to see more paperwork or something (which is an automatic additional year of waiting).
 
You've lost me. Filing stuff on Medexpress does nothing without a visit to an AME to go with it. I assume that's what you meant.

As long as you held at least a third class that was valid in 2006 or later, and your application had not yet been denied, you may fly basic med (provided you've not got one of the conditions: cardiac, psych, neuro, listed that requires an SI before going forward.
 
Blookite said:
Hey POA hive, i had an FAA medical certificate that has since expired, and i had to make an amendment to my MedXpress records which has been awaiting review by the FAA for 7 months now.

I’m wanting to get on BasicMed to do my CFI training and maybe start working to build time while i wait on the FAA.

My question is, if the FAA decides they want more information, or want to make me undergo evaluations, would this revoke my BasicMed? Or does this only happen if the medical is outright denied? I’m prepared to do whatever they want to do but my worry is that i’ll be just starting to instruct and suddenly lose my ability because the FAA wants to see more paperwork or something (which is an automatic additional year of waiting).
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BasicMed is not a certificate, so there's nothing for the FAA to revoke. However, 61.23(c)(3) provides certain conditions--one of which being that your most recent medical certificate application cannot have been denied. So if a doc signs off on you for BasicMed (and you take the online course, etc.) you can fly under BasicMed until your medical gets sorted out.
 
I guess my main point is asking if FAA asking for further documents or requiring psych evals counts as a denial, as far as BasicMed is concerned. This is before SI would even come up i think.

Because it would be rough to use BasicMed to flight instruct and then lose it suddenly due to FAA asking for more things. Psych eval is something that may come up.
 
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Blookite said:
I guess my main point is asking if FAA asking for further documents or requiring psych evals counts as a denial, as far as BasicMed is concerned. This is before SI would even come up i think.

Because it would be rough to use BasicMed to flight instruct and then lose it suddenly due to FAA asking for more things. Psych eval is something that may come up.
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Did you get a letter from the FAA saying your medical was denied?
 
Lindberg said:
Did you get a letter from the FAA saying your medical was denied?
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I have not but i’m about to drop a very large amount of money to become a CFI so that’s where the risk comes in for me. Having my medical that’s under review suddenly be denied or deferred right after i dump all my money would be pretty painful.
 
Blookite said:
I guess my main point is asking if FAA asking for further documents or requiring psych evals counts as a denial, as far as BasicMed is concerned. This is before SI would even come up i think.

Because it would be rough to use BasicMed to flight instruct and then lose it suddenly due to FAA asking for more things. Psych eval is something that may come up.
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Unless you get a letter saying "You do not meet the requirements for a first class medical" (or to that effect), you have not been denied. If it just says "We are unable to determine if you meet the requirements," you're still pending and OK for Basic Med (or even your prior medical if it hadn't been expired).
 
Blookite said:
I have not but i’m about to drop a very large amount of money to become a CFI so that’s where the risk comes in for me. Having my medical that’s under review suddenly be denied or deferred right after i dump all my money would be pretty painful.
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No one can tell you what's likely to happen without knowing what's in your records. So that's probably a question for your AME.
 
Lindberg said:
No one can tell you what's likely to happen without knowing what's in your records. So that's probably a question for your AME.
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Unfortunately, communications with AME’s has been very rough. I have multiple AME’s i work with and they are all pretty difficult to get responses from lately. I’m understanding of it but it does lead me to asking questions here.
 
Blookite said:
Unfortunately, communications with AME’s has been very rough. I have multiple AME’s i work with and they are all pretty difficult to get responses from lately. I’m understanding of it but it does lead me to asking questions here.
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Talk to the AME who submitted your application. Schedule a consultation with him if you need to.
 
Lindberg said:
Talk to the AME who submitted your application. Schedule a consultation with him if you need to.
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This is getting into a tangential topic but i’ve been advised to stick to one AME until the process is complete, and the AME who submitted my amendment request to the FAA is not the one who i got my original medical from.
 
Blookite said:
This is getting into a tangential topic but i’ve been advised to stick to one AME until the process is complete, and the AME who submitted my amendment request to the FAA is not the one who i got my original medical from.
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I don't know what an amendment request is. You said your existing medical was expired. Then you say your medical is under review. Did you submit a new medxpress application with different information? Did you have a new exam?

If not a new application and your old medical is expired, there's nothing for the FAA to revoke or deny, so your questions are confusing.

Regardless, the AME who did your old exam presumably doesn't have any information on what you submitted recently, right? So talk to the AME who submitted whatever you're worried about.
 
Lindberg said:
I don't know what an amendment request is. You said your existing medical was expired. Then you say your medical is under review. Did you submit a new medxpress application with different information? Did you have a new exam?

If not a new application and your old medical is expired, there's nothing for the FAA to revoke or deny, so your questions are confusing.

Regardless, the AME who did your old exam presumably doesn't have any information on what you submitted recently, right? So talk to the AME who submitted whatever you're worried about.
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I’m just as confused as you are. I went to my (new) AME about discrepancies in my previous MedXpress application (accidental omissions). My 3rd-class was still live at the time, i believe. My AME had me send an amendment request to inform the FAA about the omissions.

There currently isn’t an actual medical application. Just notifying the FAA that my last medical application was missing info. So i’ve been confused on what the actual expected outcome is supposed to be as well.

Communication with my AME has been very rough and i will probably need to spend $$$ to consult in-person for more answers.
 
Blookite said:
I’m just as confused as you are. I went to my (new) AME about discrepancies in my previous MedXpress application (accidental omissions). My 3rd-class was still live at the time, i believe. My AME had me send an amendment request to inform the FAA about the omissions.

There currently isn’t an actual medical application. Just notifying the FAA that my last medical application was missing info. So i’ve been confused on what the actual expected outcome is supposed to be as well.
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It sounds like you have been trying to do something piecemeal which requires an overall strategy. I think you need a consult with an aviation medical specialist to review the entire record. Your prior application, the records of what was left out, and the paperwork surrounding your efforts to correct the record. That's particularly true when the medical expired before the realization that there was an innocent nondisclosure - the decision point. That specialist doesn't have to be a physician; many correction strategy is handled by legal professionals advising on both methods and necessity.

No one is going to give you a promised outcome. Nor will they even give you a "this is the likely outcome" without a full review. Think about it - do you think the "expected outcome is supposed to be" the same for (a) a broken arm when the pilot was twelve and for (b) the 3 times the pilot passed out in college and was rushed to the hospital?
 
midlifeflyer said:
It sounds like you have been trying to do something piecemeal which requires an overall strategy.
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And that strategy requires knowing what you're trying to accomplish, which gets more unclear with each of your posts. Do you want to be on basic med now forever? Do you want to have a medical? Do you want to work at flying? Your reported actions to date don't clearly suggest a particular desired outcome.
midlifeflyer said:
I think you need a consult with an aviation medical specialist to review the entire record. Your prior application, the records of what was left out, and the paperwork surrounding your efforts to correct the record. That's particularly true when the medical expired before the realization that there was an innocent nondisclosure - the decision point.
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This x100.
midlifeflyer said:
That specialist doesn't have to be a physician; many correction strategy is handled by legal professionals advising on both methods and necessity.

No one is going to give you a promised outcome. Nor will they even give you a "this is the likely outcome" without a full review. Think about it - do you think the "expected outcome is supposed to be" the same for (a) a broken arm when the pilot was twelve and for (b) the 3 times the pilot passed out in college and was rushed to the hospital?
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The answers to the questions you're asking depend on access to information you haven't, and maybe shouldn't, provided here.

If your AME is really unhelpful or you're concerned about the value of his advice, midlifeflyer is one of those non-medical professionals who might be able to help you.
 
Blookite said:
I guess my main point is asking if FAA asking for further documents or requiring psych evals counts as a denial, as far as BasicMed is concerned. This is before SI would even come up i think.

Because it would be rough to use BasicMed to flight instruct and then lose it suddenly due to FAA asking for more things. Psych eval is something that may come up.
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Just so we have the real timeline here, is it:
I have (had) a third-class medical.
I decided that I wanted to become a CFI.
I went to renew or enhance my 3rd class medical (was valid at this time) with a different AME from the one that issued my initial medical.
I "suddenly remembered" an omission from my first application. This omission may require Psych eval or HIMS.
My new AME says an amendment needs to be completed.
My last medical recently expired while I am sorting through the amendment process.
Is this relatively accurate?

As far as BasicMed goes, it appears that you may be qualified at the moment, but does your past history (subject of the omission) fall under one of the listed disqualifying items in Part 61?

Anyway, looking at14CFR61.23 (c) (3) (i) (iv) "The most recent application for an airman medical certificate submitted to the FAA cannot have been completed and denied" seems to indicate that at this moment you may convert to BasicMed. Hindsight seems to indicate the least convoluted path would have been to just transition straight into BasicMed.
 
Were you joking when you posted this in another thread, or is this the issue that we're discussing here? :confused2:

Blookite said:
I’m in a similar situation with an adolescence event (took a dose of Tylenol when i was a kid because i had a cold and didn’t disclose this to the FAA as an adult).
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If so, brilliant troll. Or if you're serious, I think I know why the AME isn't returning your calls and you haven't heard from the FAA.
 
Lindberg said:
If your AME is really unhelpful or you're concerned about the value of his advice, midlifeflyer is one of those non-medical professionals who might be able to help you.
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I'm no longer consulting personally on medical-related issues. Retirement has finally caught up with me (or vice versa).
 
Dry Creek said:
Just so we have the real timeline here, is it:
I have (had) a third-class medical.
I decided that I wanted to become a CFI.
I went to renew or enhance my 3rd class medical (was valid at this time) with a different AME from the one that issued my initial medical.
I "suddenly remembered" an omission from my first application. This omission may require Psych eval or HIMS.
My new AME says an amendment needs to be completed.
My last medical recently expired while I am sorting through the amendment process.
Is this relatively accurate?

As far as BasicMed goes, it appears that you may be qualified at the moment, but does your past history (subject of the omission) fall under one of the listed disqualifying items in Part 61?

Anyway, looking at14CFR61.23 (c) (3) (i) (iv) "The most recent application for an airman medical certificate submitted to the FAA cannot have been completed and denied" seems to indicate that at this moment you may convert to BasicMed. Hindsight seems to indicate the least convoluted path would have been to just transition straight into BasicMed.
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Apologies if i’ve been vague. I have dug myself into holes by over-sharing and over-trusting people while seeking help. I’m being perfectly open with the FAA and my AME but not being open to anyone outside of that.

The timeline is that i have held a first class medical twice and i was going in for another renewal but cancelled the appointment when i realized i had omissions. The diagnosis i found does not seem to be immediately disqualifying per 61 but i believe it will be significant by the FAA’s interpretation. I don’t think your average person would find it significant. After a long hiatus, i reached out to a HIMS AME for consultation, and have been working with this AME only.

My AME gave me a document that is specifically for MedXpress amendments, where i checked all the “have you ever” boxes thoroughly, attached a separate page listing every diagnosis ever and every hospital visit in my own writing, and then a personal statement about how i’m trying to do the right thing and fix a mistake i made.

I was initially told the FAA would be understanding and that they would make a decision within a few weeks. It’s now 7 months later and AME only knows that they are “working on it”. Their hands are tied since they didn’t give me my last medical but there are release forms i can sign that will give them more access.

My objective is 121 airline.

Tylenol is a joke
 
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If it's psychiatry, it's problaby grounding until evaluated by FAA....and that never goes away until it is.
And as you won't share there is no useable comment that might remotely be reasonable.
 
Blookite said:
Hey POA hive, i had an FAA medical certificate that has since expired, and i had to make an amendment to my MedXpress records which has been awaiting review by the FAA for 7 months now.

I’m wanting to get on BasicMed to do my CFI training and maybe start working to build time while i wait on the FAA.

My question is, if the FAA decides they want more information, or want to make me undergo evaluations, would this revoke my BasicMed? Or does this only happen if the medical is outright denied? I’m prepared to do whatever they want to do but my worry is that i’ll be just starting to instruct and suddenly lose my ability because the FAA wants to see more paperwork or something (which is an automatic additional year of waiting).
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HI blookite,am a private pilot pilot w/t2d and a similar situation.if your a cfi and want a career,i think your basic med would not be valid if your under going medical evaluations by the faa.if you get approved(say a special issuance) than your basic med should be good accordinf the aopa and the regulations for its issuance.
 
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