Can I fly sport?

U

Unregistered

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In 1980 I was taking flight lessons. The night before I was to take my first flight physical I worked a 20 hour shift. (We worked four 10 hour shifts and I filled in for someone else after my shift). I went home and fell asleep on the couch with my soft (daily wear) contacts in. I woke up and was almost late for my physical but the contacts were stuck. I managed to pull them out but my eyes were red and swollen. I flunked the eye test but the AME said I could come back for a retest. That day I learned I was being transferred to another city and never went back for another eye test. Can I legally fly sport without a medical?
 
Sounds like you failed a medical, so no... You could go back and get a 3rd class though...
 
On the face of it, no. Just the same, the regulations say that you can't if your medical was denied, suspended or revoked. If the examiner just chucked your paperwork after the exam, you're in luck. If he/she sent them to the FAA as denied, no, you're out of luck. It might be worth it to give the examiner a call.
 
From 1980? I'd just go fly sport pilot or research to see if any current maladies is going to bust you and get a medical. Guessing in those days nothing was filed and if it was it ain't anymore. Have fun.
 
ClimbnSink said:
From 1980? I'd just go fly sport pilot or research to see if any current maladies is going to bust you and get a medical. Guessing in those days nothing was filed and if it was it ain't anymore. Have fun.
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This is what I would do. 1980? Not reported.
 
Have you looked yourself up in the medical database? How far back does that go?
 
Unregistered said:
In 1980 I was taking flight lessons. The night before I was to take my first flight physical I worked a 20 hour shift. (We worked four 10 hour shifts and I filled in for someone else after my shift). I went home and fell asleep on the couch with my soft (daily wear) contacts in. I woke up and was almost late for my physical but the contacts were stuck. I managed to pull them out but my eyes were red and swollen. I flunked the eye test but the AME said I could come back for a retest. That day I learned I was being transferred to another city and never went back for another eye test. Can I legally fly sport without a medical?
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1980, it's hard to say what happened. Did he not file the results and just trashed it when you did not return?
 
ClimbnSink said:
From 1980? I'd just go fly sport pilot or research to see if any current maladies is going to bust you and get a medical. Guessing in those days nothing was filed and if it was it ain't anymore. Have fun.
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Greg's guess is only a guess not supported by anything the OP wrote. The OP will have to do some research to find out if the 1980 application was actually denied or not. If it was denied, the FAA will have that record in their files and the OP cannot fly Light Sport with that denial in the records without getting a new Third Class today. OTOH, if the AME did not file the paperwork, and FAA does not have any record of that 1980 exam, the OP is free to fly as a Sport Pilot on the strength of a valid US driver's license.

Note that once you sign and submit the application (either on paper the old way or electronically via MedExpress today), the AME is required by FAA regulations to either issue, deny, or defer -- no handing back the application allowed if you fail something after signing/submitting. No doubt some AME's violated this rule before the current system made it impossible to violate it, but there's no telling from the OP's post exactly what happened.
 
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Ron Levy said:
Greg's guess is only a guess not supported by anything the OP wrote. The OP will have to do some research to find out if the 1980 application was actually denied or not. If it was denied, the FAA will have that record in their files and the OP cannot fly Light Sport with that denial in the records without getting a new Third Class today. OTOH, if the AME did not file the paperwork, and FAA does not have any record of that 1980 exam, the OP is free to fly as a Sport Pilot on the strength of a valid US driver's license.

Note that once you sign and submit the application (either on paper the old way or electronically via MedExpress today), the AME is required by FAA regulations to either issue, deny, or defer -- no handing back the application allowed if you fail something after signing/submitting. No doubt some AME's violated this rule before the current system made it impossible to violate it, but there's no telling from the OP's post exactly what happened.
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Wouldn't he have gotten a letter from the FAA if it was denied?

Question kind of related to this. Say you go for a medical, and it gets denied. So now you can't fly sport without a 3rd class.
A couple of years later, you go and get your 3rd class no problem, now you can fly.
Can you let that 3rd class lapse and still fly sport?. You have a denial in your record, but you also have an approval that's after the denial, so your current medical status is not denied, but "lapsed".
 
Johann said:
Wouldn't he have gotten a letter from the FAA if it was denied?
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If the exam was deferred to Oklahoma City and denied there, yes. But this one never got that far -- failing the eye test is not a deferral.

Question kind of related to this. Say you go for a medical, and it gets denied. So now you can't fly sport without a 3rd class.
A couple of years later, you go and get your 3rd class no problem, now you can fly.
Can you let that 3rd class lapse and still fly sport?
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Yes.

You have a denial in your record, but you also have an approval that's after the denial, so your current medical status is not denied, but "lapsed".
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Exactly. It's only your most recent FAA medical exam which counts for this purpose, no matter how long ago that was.
 
If the op really wants to know, requesting a copy of their file from OKC would clear it up... He may not have a file at all, or he may have a denial.. Who knows?
 
Assuming he doesn't have a DQing condition can't he just go take a new test and get his 3rd class regardless?

After visiting another doctor to make sure he will pass of course...
 
cowman said:
Assuming he doesn't have a DQing condition can't he just go take a new test and get his 3rd class regardless?

After visiting another doctor to make sure he will pass of course...
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And be easier than calling OKC :)
 
ja_user said:
And be easier than calling OKC :)
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Problem is, question 13 of form 8500-8 asks:
13. Has Your FAA Airman Medical Certificate Ever Been Denied, Suspended, or Revoked?

So you still need to know what happened to that medical certificate.
 
Johann said:
Problem is, question 13 of form 8500-8 asks:
13. Has Your FAA Airman Medical Certificate Ever Been Denied, Suspended, or Revoked?

So you still need to know what happened to that medical certificate.
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Doh!!!

IS there an option to write "I don't know, look it up."
 
ja_user said:
Doh!!!

IS there an option to write "I don't know, look it up."
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That should be the right answer.
They ask you a question but you don't know the answer. Who do you ask? You ask the people that asked you the question. Aren't there laws about self incrimination?
 
If the AME said come back to do the eyes, maybe he didn't even submit the medical. You might be clear in never having been "denied" a medical.
 
JOhnH said:
That should be the right answer.
They ask you a question but you don't know the answer. Who do you ask? You ask the people that asked you the question. Aren't there laws about self incrimination?
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It's in the Constitution, but it's not applicable to this situation, because failing an FAA medical exam is not a crime.
 
Palmpilot said:
It's in the Constitution, but it's not applicable to this situation, because failing an FAA medical exam is not a crime.
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No but when filling another forum for the FAA and you lie or make a mistake it then becomes a crime.

Tony
 
I don't think it's a crime to make a mistake, because the form says "to the best of my knowledge."
 
warthog1984 said:
"To the best of my knowledge and understanding"
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This isn't a case of something obscure in one's past for which there is no retrievable record. In this case, I don't see how the OP could certify that. It's already stated that an application was submitted, an exam was begun, and there was no issuance. That's pretty good reason to know that there likely was a previous denial, and it's not that hard to find out the truth. You can be sure that if the OP comes to the FAA's attention flying Sport Pilot, and there is a denial in his record at OKC, the FAA will have no trouble at all convincing an ALJ that it is more likely than not that the OP should have known -- willful blindness just doesn't sell in that arena.
 
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