1) The current medical reform agenda for General aviation is to allow pilots that hold a valid third class medical within the past ten years to continue to fly without another medical exam according to AOPA. For any new pilots that have not held or applied for an initial exam are required to do so with an Aviation Medical Examiner. Any pilot with certain medical conditions must receive a onetime special issuance (EAA 2015). This would apply to pilots flying VFR or IFR in aircraft weighing up to 6,000 pounds and carrying up to five passengers at altitudes below 18,000 feet and speeds up to 250 knots (Tennyson 2015). The third class medical reforms could save pilots more than $20 million each year and save the FAA approximately $2.5 million each year (Tennyson 2015).
2) The Pilots Bill of Rights 2 (PBR2) was passed by Senate on December 15, 2015, it is now awaiting to be passed by the House before it can be signed into law by the President.
3) I like that a pilot only needs one initial medical exam and can see his or her primary care physician in which they established a relationship verses finding an AME where there is no prior history. This makes it easier to find better solutions to any given medical condition. As for a onetime medical special issuance on certain medical conditions that are more severe, I believe it should not change. These medical conditions essentially require more test and sometime stronger medication, this is why they should continue to be on the current medical standards.
4) I don’t feel that the reform is necessary because it just opens Pandora’s Box per say. For an example compared to driving there is no medical exam for getting a driver’s license, other than an eye exam. With that being said there are people on the road taking impairing medications and have disabling medical conditions with no checks and balances preventing them from driving. It falls under the individual’s integrity to make the decision not to drive and in this case fly. The opportunity for deceiving the system will be easier. As long as a pilot does not get ramp checked or reported to the FAA hotline for being unsafe, they will get away with it.
References
On to the House! Senate Passes Medical Reform | EAA. (2015, December 15). Retrieved January 31, 2016, from http://www.eaa.org/en/eaa/eaa-news-and-aviation-news/2015-news/12-15-2015-on-to-the-house-senate-passes-medical-reform
Tennyson, E. A. (2015, December 9). Third class medical reform FAQs. Retrieved January 31, 2016, from http://www.aopa.org/News-and-Video/All-News/2015/December/09/Third-class-medical-FAQs
Tennyson, E. A. (2015, December 15). Aviation groups urge passage of medical reform. Retrieved January 31, 2016, from http://www.aopa.org/News-and-Video/All-News/2015/November/17/Aviation-groups-urge-passage-of-medical-reform
1) The current medical reform agenda for General aviation is to allow pilots that hold a valid third class medical within the past ten years to continue to fly without another medical exam according to AOPA. For any new pilots that have not held or applied for an initial exam are required to do so with an Aviation Medical Examiner. Any pilot with certain medical conditions must receive a onetime special issuance (EAA 2015). This would apply to pilots flying VFR or IFR in aircraft weighing up to 6,000 pounds and carrying up to five passengers at altitudes below 18,000 feet and speeds up to 250 knots (Tennyson 2015). The third class medical reforms could save pilots more than $20 million each year and save the FAA approximately $2.5 million each year (Tennyson 2015).
2) The Pilots Bill of Rights 2 (PBR2) was passed by Senate on December 15, 2015, it is now awaiting to be passed by the House before it can be signed into law by the President.
3) I like that a pilot only needs one initial medical exam and can see his or her primary care physician in which they established a relationship verses finding an AME where there is no prior history. This makes it easier to find better solutions to any given medical condition. As for a onetime medical special issuance on certain medical conditions that are more severe, I believe it should not change. These medical conditions essentially require more test and sometime stronger medication, this is why they should continue to be on the current medical standards.
4) I don’t feel that the reform is necessary because it just opens Pandora’s Box per say. For an example compared to driving there is no medical exam for getting a driver’s license, other than an eye exam. With that being said there are people on the road taking impairing medications and have disabling medical conditions with no checks and balances preventing them from driving. It falls under the individual’s integrity to make the decision not to drive and in this case fly. The opportunity for deceiving the system will be easier. As long as a pilot does not get ramp checked or reported to the FAA hotline for being unsafe, they will get away with it.
References
On to the House! Senate Passes Medical Reform | EAA. (2015, December 15). Retrieved January 31, 2016, from http://www.eaa.org/en/eaa/eaa-news-and-aviation-news/2015-news/12-15-2015-on-to-the-house-senate-passes-medical-reform
Tennyson, E. A. (2015, December 9). Third class medical reform FAQs. Retrieved January 31, 2016, from http://www.aopa.org/News-and-Video/All-News/2015/December/09/Third-class-medical-FAQs
Tennyson, E. A. (2015, December 15). Aviation groups urge passage of medical reform. Retrieved January 31, 2016, from http://www.aopa.org/News-and-Video/All-News/2015/November/17/Aviation-groups-urge-passage-of-medical-reform
2) The Pilots Bill of Rights 2 (PBR2) was passed by Senate on December 15, 2015, it is now awaiting to be passed by the House before it can be signed into law by the President.
3) I like that a pilot only needs one initial medical exam and can see his or her primary care physician in which they established a relationship verses finding an AME where there is no prior history. This makes it easier to find better solutions to any given medical condition. As for a onetime medical special issuance on certain medical conditions that are more severe, I believe it should not change. These medical conditions essentially require more test and sometime stronger medication, this is why they should continue to be on the current medical standards.
4) I don’t feel that the reform is necessary because it just opens Pandora’s Box per say. For an example compared to driving there is no medical exam for getting a driver’s license, other than an eye exam. With that being said there are people on the road taking impairing medications and have disabling medical conditions with no checks and balances preventing them from driving. It falls under the individual’s integrity to make the decision not to drive and in this case fly. The opportunity for deceiving the system will be easier. As long as a pilot does not get ramp checked or reported to the FAA hotline for being unsafe, they will get away with it.
References
On to the House! Senate Passes Medical Reform | EAA. (2015, December 15). Retrieved January 31, 2016, from http://www.eaa.org/en/eaa/eaa-news-and-aviation-news/2015-news/12-15-2015-on-to-the-house-senate-passes-medical-reform
Tennyson, E. A. (2015, December 9). Third class medical reform FAQs. Retrieved January 31, 2016, from http://www.aopa.org/News-and-Video/All-News/2015/December/09/Third-class-medical-FAQs
Tennyson, E. A. (2015, December 15). Aviation groups urge passage of medical reform. Retrieved January 31, 2016, from http://www.aopa.org/News-and-Video/All-News/2015/November/17/Aviation-groups-urge-passage-of-medical-reform
I think you bring up a good point about how this compares to driving. I never really looked at it this way, but I definitely see where you are coming from. There are lots of accidents that occur because people who shouldn’t be driving are driving. I think there needs to be a way that the doctors can inform the FAA or an employer only if the pilot cannot fly. The AME would have known this if they were still testing pilots, so there should be some system that allows doctors to communicate that information for the safety of the pilots and others. The doctors would not have to disclose all of their information every time they visited, but only when they found them unfit to fly. Although this could be cost and time cutting for the FAA and pilots, there still needs to be some way to keep things safe because the costs can be a lot higher if accidents start occurring or pilots are found by the FAA to have violated regulations and flown when they shouldn’t have.
ReplyDeleteI think you nailed it with the comparison to driving as well. Allowing someone to fly, who had previous medical conditions that revoked their third class medical is probably not the smartest idea. The main audience for this third class medical reform are those who have already lost their medical. A point I brought up in a previous comment was, once the first incident occurs the media would have a blast blowing this whole thing up. It’s not a huge inconvenience to get a third class medical completed for those who qualify to fly. I know it is not fair to those who can’t fly due to a medical issue, but you can’t jeopardize other people’s safety just for your wants and needs to fly.
ReplyDelete