In case you missed it, on July 15, 2016, President Obama signed into law legislation extending FAA programs through September 2017. In a well-earned victory for AOPA, EAA, other organizations and thousands of U.S. pilots, part of that legislation included a long-awaited provision exempting certain Part 91 operations from the requirement to hold a third-class medical. The exemption idea has a long history, but most recently was championed by U.S. Sen. James M. Inhofe (R-Okla.). But there’s some fine print.
The major consideration is that pilots can’t take advantage of the exemption yet. That’s because the FAA has to develop appropriate regulations to implement it—existing FARs regarding a medical certificate remain in effect. The legislation effectively gave the FAA a year—until July 15, 2017—to develop implementing regulations, and we’d bet the agency will need most of that time to come up with the new rules. If that year comes and goes without the FAA developing implementing regulations, pilots may fly under the exemption without them, according to the new law.
