FAA Issues General Aviation Medical Rule

bflynn said:
There have been a lot of hay made about this. But the langueage


No, it's reduced. You obviously have not had to go through the pain of an SI.

Getting excited - drooled over airplanes today on Trade-a-Plane and I haven't done that in a long time.
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Well, I'm happy for you and the other guys who have had to put up with the bureaucratic bs.
 
Hell as long as I am healthy I'll just keep going to the AME - he's the only doc I've seen in 4 years anyways. Why complicate things if you don't need to? Now the day that i can't pass a medical but I am fully capable of flying then we'll look at this new damn rule. Freaking government just can't make s**t easy. Drivers License Medical for 3rd class and be done with it. NOPE... gotta have 73 damn pages to filter through..
 
It seems to me that the real beneficiaries of this are people currently flying on an SI or healthy people that wouldn't have a problem getting a medical. This really does very little to get people who have been sitting on the sidelines back in the cockpit. Truly a disappointing outcome after an exhaustive wait.

Chapter 8 of the AC has requirements for an SI while using BasicMed for 3 medical categories:
8.2 Special Issuance Medical Certificates Required. For certain conditions, a person wishing to exercise BasicMed must complete the process for obtaining an Authorization for special issuance of a medical certificate in accordance with § 68.9. The person is required to obtain only one special issuance medical certificate for each condition, and may subsequently exercise BasicMed. Persons who have, or are newly diagnosed with, a cardiovascular, neurological, or mental health condition described in FESSA, may not use BasicMed until they have been found eligible for special issuance of a medical certificate. Once issued a medical certificate, the person may then use BasicMed if they meet all other requirements of FESSA. These conditions are listed below:

8.2.1 A mental health disorder, limited to an established medical history or clinical diagnosis of any of the following: 1. Personality disorder that is severe enough to have repeatedly manifested itself by overt acts. 2. Psychosis, defined as a case in which an individual: • Has manifested delusions, hallucinations, grossly bizarre or disorganized behavior, or other commonly accepted symptoms of psychosis; or • May reasonably be expected to manifest delusions, hallucinations, grossly bizarre or disorganized behavior, or other commonly accepted symptoms of psychosis. 3. Bipolar disorder. 4. Substance dependence within the previous 2 years, as defined in part 67, § 67.307(a)(4).

8.2.2 A neurological disorder, limited to an established medical history or clinical diagnosis of any of the following: 1. Epilepsy. 2. Disturbance of consciousness without satisfactory medical explanation of the cause. 3. A transient loss of control of nervous system functions without satisfactory medical explanation of the cause.

8.2.3 A cardiovascular condition, limited to a one-time special issuance for each diagnosis of the following: 1. Myocardial infarction. 2. Coronary heart disease that has required treatment.3. Cardiac valve replacement. 4. Heart replacement.
 
I'm fine, my doctor just says I'm borderline.
 
paflyer said:
Who wrote the actual words in the bill? Juan Trippe's executives?
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Probably staffers on the transportation and infrastructure committee. Often congressional staffers will reach out to the federal agency, but in this case they didn't.
 
Who wrote the bill or who wrote the new policy? Clearly the DOT-FAA wrote the policy. DOT has lots of experience with required medical exams and certifications. Commercial truck drivers need DOT physicals and have for years.
 
Stewartb said:
Who wrote the bill or who wrote the new policy? Clearly the DOT-FAA wrote the policy. DOT has lots of experience with required medical exams and certifications. Commercial truck drivers need DOT physicals and have for years.
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With all of the sitting that commercial truck drivers do, surely they are required to have their anus inspected AND digital exam? At least we are spared that last part . . .

Anyway, BasicMed will fit just fine into my annual physical that I get anyway, and that my insurance pays fully. Just every now and then, remember to take the new form in for signature.
 
Stewartb said:
Who wrote the bill or who wrote the new policy? Clearly the DOT-FAA wrote the policy. DOT has lots of experience with required medical exams and certifications. Commercial truck drivers need DOT physicals and have for years.
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Neither DOT nor the FAA wrote the legislation that was passed back in July. The FAA enacted the legislative directive verbatim into regulation, warts and all.
 
It's always been silly - perfectly okay to hurtle down the road in close proximity to stationary and other moving objects (not to mention pedestrians) in your two and a half ton Suburban but God forbid you should take your 172 up and possibly crash into an empty bean field.
 
Stewartb said:
Ditto. My SI is for a procedure that fixed a problem. I had been sick and passed my medicals without comment. When the problem got fixed I had to get an SI. Talk about a worthless waste of time and resources. My doctors have said they'd sign the form. By the way, read the Physician Declaration form. It does not say you're safe to fly. It says the doctor, following the FAA checklist for a physical exam, did not find anything that would make you unable to operate an airplane. BIG difference.
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Yep, that's is how I've read it and I posted something similar the other day. However, whether that AMOUNTS to declaring you fit to fly is a legal question and lawsuit-conscious doctors (and what doctor can afford to NOT be lawsuit conscious?) may well hesitate to do the signoff. Read Dr. Bruce's postings on the subject as an example. My thinking is that this won't become clear until it's tested in court (i.e., after a doctor who has signed a pilot off gets sued after an accident), and might take several such cases to really clarify things (e.g. what if the accident wasn't medically caused?) I could be wrong about that, though, and would welcome correction/clarification by one of our legal experts.
 
Question for anyone who understands the requirements of the physical. I do not see anywhere on the checklist blood tests or urine tests. Is this just a quick physical like the AME 3rd class without the peeing in a cup?
 
Brad Z said:
Neither DOT nor the FAA wrote the legislation that was passed back in July. The FAA enacted the legislative directive verbatim into regulation, warts and all.
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I don't recall seeing anything in the legislation that said you would have to get an SI in the future after you've qualified for BasicMed. Could you point me toward that section of the bill?
 
shoepuke said:
I don't recall seeing anything in the legislation that said you would have to get an SI in the future after you've qualified for BasicMed. Could you point me toward that section of the bill?
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Look at page 22. You don't qualify for BasicMed if you have one of the conditions listed and haven't been issued an SI for it. If you have already qualified for BasicMed and then develop one of the conditions listed, you can not continue flying under those rules until you get a new SI for the condition, but you don't need to renew the SI.

https://www.faa.gov/documentLibrary/media/Advisory_Circular/AC_68-1.pdf
 
So I'm ok but then suffer one of the three conditions. I can a) ignore Basic Med, never see a Doctor and fly light sport or b) hope I get a SI and a Class III and let it lapse later. Seems to me, the middle choice of having my PCP and a Specialist ok after treatment of the condition using the Basic Med process would be rational but ain't gonna happen.

Cheers
 
X3 Skier said:
So I'm ok but then suffer one of the three conditions. I can a) ignore Basic Med, never see a Doctor and fly light sport or b) hope I get a SI and a Class III and let it lapse later. Seems to me, the middle choice of having my PCP and a Specialist ok after treatment of the condition using the Basic Med process would be rational but ain't gonna happen.

Cheers
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That's how it would work with any condition besides the ones mentioned, and all of those conditions seem pretty serious. I guess the writers of that bill wanted to keep the FAA involved with the most serious medical conditions.
 
shoepuke said:
It seems to me that the real beneficiaries of this are people currently flying on an SI or healthy people that wouldn't have a problem getting a medical. This really does very little to get people who have been sitting on the sidelines back in the cockpit. Truly a disappointing outcome after an exhaustive wait.

Chapter 8 of the AC has requirements for an SI while using BasicMed for 3 medical categories:
8.2 Special Issuance Medical Certificates Required. For certain conditions, a person wishing to exercise BasicMed must complete the process for obtaining an Authorization for special issuance of a medical certificate in accordance with § 68.9. The person is required to obtain only one special issuance medical certificate for each condition, and may subsequently exercise BasicMed. Persons who have, or are newly diagnosed with, a cardiovascular, neurological, or mental health condition described in FESSA, may not use BasicMed until they have been found eligible for special issuance of a medical certificate. Once issued a medical certificate, the person may then use BasicMed if they meet all other requirements of FESSA. These conditions are listed below:

8.2.1 A mental health disorder, limited to an established medical history or clinical diagnosis of any of the following: 1. Personality disorder that is severe enough to have repeatedly manifested itself by overt acts. 2. Psychosis, defined as a case in which an individual: • Has manifested delusions, hallucinations, grossly bizarre or disorganized behavior, or other commonly accepted symptoms of psychosis; or • May reasonably be expected to manifest delusions, hallucinations, grossly bizarre or disorganized behavior, or other commonly accepted symptoms of psychosis. 3. Bipolar disorder. 4. Substance dependence within the previous 2 years, as defined in part 67, § 67.307(a)(4).

8.2.2 A neurological disorder, limited to an established medical history or clinical diagnosis of any of the following: 1. Epilepsy. 2. Disturbance of consciousness without satisfactory medical explanation of the cause. 3. A transient loss of control of nervous system functions without satisfactory medical explanation of the cause.

8.2.3 A cardiovascular condition, limited to a one-time special issuance for each diagnosis of the following: 1. Myocardial infarction. 2. Coronary heart disease that has required treatment.3. Cardiac valve replacement. 4. Heart replacement.
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Yeah, but read the sections under what you highlighted.

It's several very specific, serious conditions that now require an initial SI and then you never have to get one again under BasicMed for that condition. It's nothing like it was when every little fart would send you to OKC for a six month wait and several yearly AMUs to stay airborne.

Many guys who have been grounded are only grounded because the yearly cost of an SI was not worth it. Now those people can decide to go ahead and spend a few grand, get the SI, and then they are good going forward. It reopens the door for them.

That still leaves a small amount of people who can't even qualify for an SI on the sidelines, but the conditions which disqualify you now all seem to actually be genuinely serious.
 
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Thank goodness they're protecting us from those "serious" conditions seeing as all the sport pilots are falling out of the sky flying with a D/L medical.
 
shoepuke said:
Thank goodness they're protecting us from those "serious" conditions seeing as all the sport pilots are falling out of the sky flying with a D/L medical.
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You really think those conditions aren't serious? You know, since you put them in quotes. Sorry you didn't get your D/L medical but people should be happy that things have been greatly narrowed and even then only require a one time SI for you to then self-certify in the future.

That's a far cry away from what the system was.

The conditions are pretty specific. I don't think many SPL fliers are doing so with diagnosed mental delusions, epilepsy, loss of nervous system control without explanation, or heart disease. So while they could fly with those conditions, is having them still be checked for a PPL really that much of a hardship? Is that really going to affect many people? I don't think so. Most guys who are grounded but still want to fly had SIs for stupid crap that were unrelated to being a pilot.
 
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Bonchie said:
I don't think many SPL fliers are doing so with diagnosed mental delusions, epilepsy, loss of nervous system control without explanation, or heart disease.
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You're making my point. Sport Pilot has proven self-assessment works.
 
Bonchie said:
Many guys who have been grounded are only grounded because the yearly cost of an SI was not worth it. Now those people can decide to go ahead and spend a few grand, get the SI, and then they are good going forward. It reopens the door for them.
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And since the conditions requiring the one-time SI are very limited, in many cases, they don't even need to do that. If their conditions are well controlled and they can find a doctor willing to brave the (putative, and still unproven) liability issues involved in signing the FESSA form, they're golden as is. History of kidney stones, cancer in many cases (basal and squamous-cell skin cancer for sure, the most common), thyroid disease, nuisance heart conditions that don't imperil life or consciousness such as MVP, and many many others... all usually require a decision by OKC to get a 3rd class and all are certifiable under FESSA if in the doctor's judgment, the patient meets the standard of "has no known condition that, as presently treated, could interfere with pilot's ability to safely operate an aircraft".
 
shoepuke said:
You're making my point. Sport Pilot has proven self-assessment works.
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No, I'm not making your point because I'm not arguing for or against the DL medical. That's already been decided.

I'm arguing that we did get something that's very much improved on what we had and in the practical sense is not that much worse for pilots if the people with those few serious conditions were indeed self-grounding anyway.
 
A comment I have not seen placed with many of these conversations is that if you compare Class 3 to BasicMed for a Type 1 diabetic (insulin dependent) then the Canada and Mexico restriction is in both. The SI for insulin dependent limits to within US airspace.
 
Volzalum said:
A comment I have not seen placed with many of these conversations is that if you compare Class 3 to BasicMed for a Type 1 diabetic (insulin dependent) then the Canada and Mexico restriction is in both. The SI for insulin dependent limits to within US airspace.
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So for a Type 1 diabetic (insulin dependent), the benefits to a Class 3 medical with SI vs BasicMed are 1) Can fly higher than 18000 feet and 2) Can serve as a safety pilot when not serving as PIC. Now the Class 3 with SI 'may' allow you to get a reciprocal Canadian Pilots License issued which would then allow you to fly in US and Canadian airspace and allow you to legally fly from Lower 48 to Alaska as PIC, while currently you would not be able to get the reciprocal license with BasicMed. We should start a thread under Medical Topics to list comparisons between BasicMed and the SI limitations for Class 3 medicals that includes where they are the same, where they differ, and what is required to maintain them.
 
I am going to print this post and carry it with me while I fly, along with my physician signed form, online test results, expired 3rd class Medical and SI for type 2 controlled by oral medications. This many people can't be wrong...
I agree with one point made early on, I think in my case, I might have the one SI that still requires a yearly AME visit.
 
Probably posted before, but diabetes controlled by medication is not on this list:

Medical Conditions Requiring One Special Issuance Before Operating under BasicMed:

(1) A mental health disorder, limited to an established medical history or clinical diagnosis of—

  1. A personality disorder that is severe enough to have repeatedly manifested itself by overt acts;
  2. A psychosis, defined as a case in which an individual—
    1. Has manifested delusions, hallucinations, grossly bizarre or disorganized behavior, or other commonly accepted symptoms of psychosis; or
    2. May reasonably be expected to manifest delusions, hallucinations, grossly bizarre or disorganized behavior, or other commonly accepted symptoms of psychosis;
  3. A bipolar disorder; or
  4. A substance dependence within the previous 2 years, as defined in §67.307(a)(4) of 14 Code of Federal Regulations
(2) A neurological disorder, limited to an established medical history or clinical diagnosis of any of the following:

  1. Epilepsy;
  2. Disturbance of consciousness without satisfactory medical explanation of the cause; or
  3. A transient loss of control of nervous system functions without satisfactory medical explanation of the cause.
(3) A cardiovascular condition, limited to a one-time special issuance for each diagnosis of the following:

  1. Myocardial infarction;
  2. Coronary heart disease that has required treatment;
  3. Cardiac valve replacement; or
  4. Heart replacement.
 
Yes, and the fact that simple depression is not on the list of mental health conditions requiring an SI suggests that a lot of pilots who have hid their depression in the past, or have refused treatment for it, are going to go the BasicMed route.

That is one problem I don't have, but if I did, I would be much likelier now to get it treated. That seems like another big win.
 
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