BasicMed Lacks Admin

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Wednesday, October 28, 2020 at 09:10 AM ET

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Honda Aircraft's HA-420 [Courtesy: Honda Aircraft]

Key Takeaways:

BasicMed is a popular alternative to the third-class medical, allowing over 55,000 pilots to fly under specific aircraft and operational limitations, requiring regular medical exams and an online course.
An OIG audit identified key shortcomings, including the FAA's inability to verify the validity of pilots' driver's licenses and to confirm that BasicMed medical exams are conducted by eligible, state-licensed physicians.
The FAA lacks sufficient data, particularly on yearly flight hours, to accurately assess BasicMed's impact on general aviation safety and to determine accident rates or causality.

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While BasicMed was mistakenly called third-class medical reform, it didn’t replace the third-class medical, but it did give pilots another option to fly. It has been popular with pilots who only need a third-class medical, but BasicMed does have some restrictions compared to a third-class medical. Since April 2020, more than 55,000 pilots are flying with BasicMed in lieu of an FAA medical certificate. It appears that the numbers have stabilized around that level.

BasicMed officially came into existence through legislation in July 2016. The FAA then implemented the legislation through regulation by issuing 14 CFR Part 68: “Requirements for Operating Certain Small Aircraft without a Medical Certificate” in Jan 2017. It also issued the Comprehensive Medical Examination Checklist (CMEC) which is used for the medical exam. The term “BasicMed” was also coined at that time. Pilots started flying under BasicMed as of May 2017.