Special Issuance

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SBlakeS

Filing Flight Plan
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SBlakeS
Hi. I have a current medical and am self grounding for a recent diagnosis of sleep apnea. Honestly, it's not that hard to self ground right now since I'm not flying anyway. Looking to get back into it and I know I'll need a Special Issuance. I've looked online and can't find how to do that except for when I apply for a new medical certificate. Is there any way that I can work on my Special Issuance now without going through the whole process of applying for a new medical?

Thanks for any help you can give,
Blake
 
Yes.... you can start gathering the items needed to hand in when you do present yourself for a medical.

And get to using your CPAP machine at night so you have enough data to demonstrate you are participating with therapy and tolerating it well.

Only after you have all that is required for the SI should you go to the AME to obtain the updated medical.
 
AggieMike88 said:
Yes.... you can start gathering the items needed to hand in when you do present yourself for a medical.

And get to using your CPAP machine at night so you have enough data to demonstrate you are participating with therapy and tolerating it well.
Click to expand...

Yeah. I'm using it every night and my "scores" are good so I don't think that will be a problem. So the only way to do this is when I present myself for a medical? That's years away at this point and I would rather just get it taken care of.
 
SBlakeS said:
Yeah. I'm using it every night and my "scores" are good so I don't think that will be a problem. So the only way to do this is when I present myself for a medical? That's years away at this point and I would rather just get it taken care of.
Click to expand...
Also, my SA is very mild. I barely crossed the threshold for diagnosis so I really don't see a problem getting the Special Issuance. I'm just trying to figure out how to start that process now instead of waiting for when I need to renew my medical.
 
SBlakeS said:
That's years away at this point
Click to expand...
I think I recall an initial issuance only requires 90 days of documented usage. @Matthew please check me on this.

The other items are your sleep lab report, and a letter from your treating doctor saying things like “no right heart failure on exam, appeared before me alert and well rested, and no evidence of daytime fatigue or sleepiness beyond the norm.”

And if you can gather up all that is needed in the next several weeks, then you just need to use Sleephead or OSCAR to generate the correct download report before making your AME appointment.

And regarding that, I recommend that encounter be a consultation visit to review your case and documentation to make sure all is as it should be. Then if it isn’t, you have avoided the ticking deadline that might be impossible to make. But if it is, you can proceed quickly to submitting your application and soon have your medical in hand.
 
The actual items needed:
30 day use report graph in which 23 of the 30 usage bars stand over 6 hours tall.
Letter from Sleep doc saying (after the 30 days have passed, he will also need the report):
Appears well rested
No complaint of daytime sleepiness
Compliant nightly with CPAP
ON physical exam, no stigmata of Rt. Heart Failure.
The use affadavit which your AME has: it essentially says, this use report is actually me (and not my golden retriever, yes that has happened).

The AME can issue this one in the office. The FAA replaces you certificate and sends you an "authorization" letter for the special issuance.
 
OK. Cool. Thank you. Looks like I just need to keep using the CPAP for a bit and then get started with the process. I really appreciate the advice and information.

Blake
 
AggieMike88 said:
I think I recall an initial issuance only requires 90 days of documented usage. @Matthew please check me on this.
Click to expand...
Dr Chien already kicked in.

That first SI for new CPAP use/compliance is pretty confusing. Back when I got mine the first time the rules were slightly different, and I can't remember how many days data I needed. Remember that renewals will need to show 12 months compliance data.
 
Oh wow. So this one isn't a one and done type scenario. Makes sense.
 
SBlakeS said:
Oh wow. So this one isn't a one and done type scenario. Makes sense.
Click to expand...
No. Not one and done, but simple enough.

Once you get the SI you can move on to Basic Medical and never have to worry about it again. There are reasons to do that, and reasons not to do that, but that's for another thread.

You'll do your regular physical plus turn in your OSA paperwork (the status report from your doc and the compliance report from your CPAP). You'll get your medical (provided everything else checks out). It will be dated as good for one year. At the next year, you turn in your OSA paperwork and get another medical that's good for another year. You only need to get the physical exam on your regular schedule, and that depends on your age. You can do the off-year renewals two ways: see your AME, or mail it all in to FAA. The difference is you need to expect to pay the AME for his or her time and you'll get your new medical on the spot, or you can use the FAA at no extra cost and then have to wait months for them to process it.

Your SI will normally be good for 6 years before it needs to be renewed. That's been automatic for me, I just get a letter in the mail that says it's been extended for another 6 years.
 
Matthew said:
Once you get the SI you can move on to Basic Medical and never have to worry about it again.
Click to expand...

Clarifying question that you brought up:
why would the Pilot-in-question need a SI _if_ they were going to go straight to Basic Med anyways?

couldn't they just go to Basic Med now? (their last Medical was recent enough, it was not revoked or denied).
 
Matthew said:
Your SI will normally be good for 6 years before it needs to be renewed. That's been automatic for me, I just get a letter in the mail that says it's been extended for another 6 years.
Click to expand...

One potential caveat, if you go BasicMed you will likely need to go back to square one in the medical process if you want to obtain another SI. My LOA has a condition that I'm required to have my regular scheduled medical exam which I haven't done since going BasicMed. So I'm pretty sure I'm screwed if I ever need another medical...
 
ChopAndDrop said:
Clarifying question that you brought up:
why would the Pilot-in-question need a SI _if_ they were going to go straight to Basic Med anyways?

couldn't they just go to Basic Med now? (their last Medical was recent enough, it was not revoked or denied).
Click to expand...

Yes, she/he could go BasicMed
 
ChopAndDrop said:
Clarifying question that you brought up:
why would the Pilot-in-question need a SI _if_ they were going to go straight to Basic Med anyways?

couldn't they just go to Basic Med now? (their last Medical was recent enough, it was not revoked or denied).
Click to expand...
That's something I don't know. But you may be right. I don't know how this circumstance works out. I was assuming the OP was planning to do the SI anyway.
 
Hi. Sorry I've been away for a while. I plan to do the normal physical process. Basic Med doesn't work for me right now. Thanks for all the information! I should be able to schedule a meeting with my sleep doc after the end of the month to get the needed letter.

Thanks again.
 
Grr. One more hiccup in the process. I tried to schedule a meeting with my sleep doc (with the VA) for the beginning of next month. They aren't taking in-person appointments right now due to Covid. Gotta figure out a way around the physical exam portion of this.
 
Matthew said:
No. Not one and done, but simple enough.

Once you get the SI you can move on to Basic Medical and never have to worry about it again. There are reasons to do that, and reasons not to do that, but that's for another thread.

You'll do your regular physical plus turn in your OSA paperwork (the status report from your doc and the compliance report from your CPAP). You'll get your medical (provided everything else checks out). It will be dated as good for one year. At the next year, you turn in your OSA paperwork and get another medical that's good for another year. You only need to get the physical exam on your regular schedule, and that depends on your age. You can do the off-year renewals two ways: see your AME, or mail it all in to FAA. The difference is you need to expect to pay the AME for his or her time and you'll get your new medical on the spot, or you can use the FAA at no extra cost and then have to wait months for them to process it.

Your SI will normally be good for 6 years before it needs to be renewed. That's been automatic for me, I just get a letter in the mail that says it's been extended for another 6 years.
Click to expand...

I am in the same boat. I send in the paperwork to the FAA on the off years, about 2.5 months before my 3rd class is due to expire. Every two years I do the 3rd class with my AME. FAA has renewed my SI once already and should be upcoming in 2023.
 
Rcmutz said:
I am in the same boat. I send in the paperwork to the FAA on the off years, about 2.5 months before my 3rd class is due to expire. Every two years I do the 3rd class with my AME. FAA has renewed my SI once already and should be upcoming in 2023.
Click to expand...
I've never had the guts to try the FAA route. I know I can get into my AME on short notice, and I know I can walk out what that SI renewal. I also know that I will be paying for the convenience. I'm glad it's working out for you.

I think my current SI expires in 2023 as well. It's interesting that I have a 6 yr SI, but a while ago FAA sent me a fresh renewal after only about 2 years. I didn't request it, and I didn't expect it. It just showed up in the mail and said they had extended it by 6 yrs even though I still had 4(?) left on it. I always wondered if they were trying to get some of those SI deals on the same schedule so they could handle a bunch all at once?
 
Matthew said:
I've never had the guts to try the FAA route. I know I can get into my AME on short notice, and I know I can walk out what that SI renewal. I also know that I will be paying for the convenience. I'm glad it's working out for you.

I think my current SI expires in 2023 as well. It's interesting that I have a 6 yr SI, but a while ago FAA sent me a fresh renewal after only about 2 years. I didn't request it, and I didn't expect it. It just showed up in the mail and said they had extended it by 6 yrs even though I still had 4(?) left on it. I always wondered if they were trying to get some of those SI deals on the same schedule so they could handle a bunch all at once?
Click to expand...

I had the same thing happen to me. They extended within the first two years I had it.
 
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