Third class Medical reform

The idea of third class medical reform has been pushed by different advocacy groups for as long as I have been involved in aviation, and I suspect for many years before that. The way the rules work at this exact moment is any person that wants to fly an airplane for their own enjoyment must have at least a 3rd class medical. These medical certificates can only be issued by special doctors called Airmen Medical Examiners. The aviation medical process can be quick, easy and cheap if you are younger and in good health. But if you have any medical issues, from diabetes to heart conditions to even sleep apnea, the process to get a medical certificate to fly privately can be a long, expensive and very difficult process. 

The way that the third class medical reform is changing is with the Pilots Bill of Rights 2, that if passed and implemented, will all but do away with the third class medical. The new rule will be that student pilots, people with special issuance certificates and anyone who hasn't had a medical in the past 10 years would need to get a medical exam but then would not need any other exams from an AME. (Bergqvist, 2015)Instead all a private pilot would need to do to keep flying is to complete an online course every 2 years and see any board certified doctor every 4 years and make a note in their logbook, and this will allow them to fly VFR or IFR in an airplane under 6000 lbs and up to 5 passengers below 14,000 ft. (Bergqvist, 2015)

The Pilot's Bill of Rights 2 has passed the Senate and is on its way to the House where it will be voted on and if approved, and is signed by the president it will be come law. In which case the FAA would have 180 days from the day it was signed to institute a new rule or the law would become the new rule. (Text - S.571 - 114th Congress (2015-2016) 


Like I said before there are many different alphabet groups that have been pushing hard for reform of the third class medical certificate needs. Groups like the AOPA and EAA have been on the for front, advocating for people that have a hard time with their third class medicals. One of the major good things that this will do for the industry is to bring more people into the aviation world. I remember when the Sport Pilot rule came about, it was a major victory that instead of needing a full fledged medical certificate, you could use the fact that you have your drivers licence and any restrictions that were on it as your proof that you were medically fit to fly. When I was instructing and this rule came about, I expected to see many older pilots that were getting out of flying bigger airplanes because they couldn't keep their medicals, but what I found were many younger pilots that always wanted to fly but couldn't because they had minor health problems in the past that would have either disqualified them for a medical or would have made it too hard and expensive. One of the bad things that is different from the light sport rule is having a 5999 pound airplane with 6 people in it and an older, pilot with out any medical background on them makes for much bigger headlines than a single pilot killed in a small light sport plane.

Medical reform is something that has needed to happen for some time. The fact that you seeing an AME for 10 minutes every three or five years has no way of telling you whether you are going to have a heart attack in an airplane or not. Plus the rules for what was not allowed under the third class medical were getting silly. I had a student that couldn't get a medical because of an antidepressant that he had taken 8 years before, another that had sleep apnea and a third that was on an acne medication that had to get a special issuance. So I believe that the reform is a good thing, because like I saw with the Sport Pilot rule, there are people that want to fly but are unable to get a third class medical and these people will now be able to join the ranks of pilots.


Text - S.571 - 114th Congress (2015-2016): Pilot's Bill of Rights 2 | Congress.gov | Library of Congress. (2015, December 16). Retrieved January 30, 2016, from https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/senate-bill/571/text

 Bergqvist, P. (2015, December 17). Senate Passes Third-Class Medical Reform | Flying Magazine. Retrieved from http://www.flyingmag.com/senate-passes-third-class-medical-reform