No More Medicals?

The FAA has released the medical requirements for the Pilots Bill of Rights 2 (PBOR2) and quite frankly, I think it is a home run for general aviation, pilots, and the AOPA who fostered it through Congress. The new program is called BasicMed that is technically the FAAs implementation of medical requirements in the PBOR2 portion of the FAA Extension, Safety, and Security Act of 2016 known (of course) as FESSA. The final rule from the FAA, released January 10, 2017, and effective May 1, 2017, can be found on the FAA web site, FAA.gov.

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Wednesday, February 08, 2017 at 12:00 AM ET

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Key Takeaways:

The FAA introduced BasicMed, an alternative medical certification program under the Pilot's Bill of Rights 2, effective May 1, 2017, designed to ease medical requirements for general aviation pilots.
To qualify for BasicMed, pilots must have held an FAA medical certificate with an expiration date on or after July 15, 2006, possess a valid driver's license, and adhere to flight limitations including aircraft under 6,000 pounds, carrying no more than six people, flying below FL180, under 250 knots IAS, and only for non-compensation, domestic flights.
Maintaining BasicMed requires an online medical education course every 24 months and a physical evaluation by a state-licensed physician every four years (or two years for specific special issuance conditions), with the pilot retaining the records and no medical data being sent to the FAA.
BasicMed significantly reduces the burden for many pilots with conditions previously requiring special issuances, eliminating the need for extensive annual FAA-mandated testing, though the traditional Third Class Medical still exists for those not meeting BasicMed criteria.

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The FAA has released the medical requirements for the Pilot’s Bill of Rights 2 (PBOR2) and quite frankly, I think it is a home run for general aviation, pilots, and the AOPA who fostered it through Congress. The new program is called BasicMed that is technically the FAA’s implementation of medical requirements in the PBOR2 portion of the FAA Extension, Safety, and Security Act of 2016 known (of course) as FESSA.

The final rule from the FAA, released January 10, 2017, and effective May 1, 2017, can be found on the FAA web site, FAA.gov. It truly reflects the spirit and intent of the PBOR2. The rule is 77 pages long to implement a 10-page law, reminding us that this is one government body responding to mandates from another.