Posted on 07/24/2015 8:36:57 AM PDT by pabianice
A year after announcing efforts to revise third-class medical certification requirements, no specific proposal has yet been developed, FAA Administrator Michael Huerta told the audience at the annual Meet the Administrator session at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh. “I know it’s extremely frustrating, and I know you want to hear something definitive about it, but it’s important to acknowledge the pilot’s perspective is not the only perspective on this issue,” Huerta said, as he addressed several topics critical to general aviation.
Among the reasons for delay in moving forward, Huerta said, is getting sign-off from the executive and legislative branches, as well as public concerns and historical precedents for aviation regulation.
“Way back when aviation was literally first getting off the ground, it was a scary technology,” Huerta said, leading to a policy framework created “to ensure that everyone is protected. The third-class medical [rules revision] represents for many people who are not aviators a fundamental change in that basic policy framework.”
“I have conversations with very smart people,” the administrator said. “We talk about data, mitigations, everything we’re putting in place, and at the end people are saying, ‘Aviation is just different.’ I’m not saying it’s right or rational, but that’s the reality; we need to acknowledge that that perspective deserves to be answered.”
Huerta provided no timetable for when consensus on the issue will be reached. “What we all want is a lasting policy that will stand the test of time, as painful as it is, that won’t require another [revision] process three years to come."
(Excerpt) Read more at eaa.org ...
I’m a certificated airman and can assure you he is lying..
What sort of changes are they supposed to be considering?
What are the current requirements for a 3rd class medical? Thanks.
Huerta just wants to draw a paycheck without having to do anything.
Here is the guide I keep on my iPad..
http://flighttraining.aopa.org/students/presolo/special/medical.html
Correct, a recent kidney stone can disqualify a pilot under 3rd class..
A ninety year old illegal alien who can’t speak English with a heart condition, history of stroke, bad eyesight, hearing aids, mental problems can legally drive a full size 15 ton bus converted to a motorhome through town inches from other vehicles and pedestrians and down a busy interstate at 75mph. But a 45 year old whose had successful lasik or other eye surgery might not be allowed to fly a thousand pound aircraft depending on the mood of the medical examiner. You can also be disqualified for being prescribed any number of common medications.
Check www.FAA.gov
The Bureaucracy just cannot give up control and power. It is just not in its nature. To do so is an unnatural act.
Very helpful. Thank you very much.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Wish you the best in your aviation endeavor.
Text from an article last year...
The existence of an NPRM that addresses the third-class medical was revealed by FAA Administrator Michael Huerta at the EAA AirVenture Oshkosh show in July, but Huerta was careful not to identify the contents of the NPRM. The most recent version of the FAA’s regulatory tracking system shows that the NPRM project (RIN: 2120-AK45) was started on Feb. 4, 2014, and submitted to the Department of Transportation’s Office of the Secretary on July 24, 2014. The next step will be for the NPRM to move to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), and the FAA tracking document projected this would occur on November 30. OMB clearance is projected for Feb. 27, 2015, followed by publication on March 5. These dates are running nearly four months later than the FAA had originally planned. Once publication takes place, the public will be able to comment on the NPRM.
True. . .but waivers are common.
Waivers are a pain and costly as you chase medical examiners to do the paperwork, so a change is necessary.
Basically, no heart conditions, correctable eyesight to 20/20, no color or depth perception issues, hearing a conversation in a quiet room, and no medical histories such as cancer treatments, will usually pass a 3rrd class medical.
What has people confused and upset is that sport pilots get by with just self certification and a driver’s license, but general aviation pilots flying the typical Cessna must have the 3rd class medical ever 2 years. They want to use the same driver’s license certification as the sport pilots.
Sport pilots, however, usually do not fly at night, over populated densely areas, or beyond 25 miles from their airport.
Sport pilots would like to get rid of those limitations and keep their driver’s license “medicals”.
Certificated airman here also, I have often said forcing ALL Public Servants that are authorized to Carry a Firearm should be required to possess a 1st Class Airman Certificate and their own liability insurance, that would eliminate about 90% of the jackass cops we have in this country and immediately force the issue..
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