Larry S., we have become enlightened souls. Thank you.
MY pleasure to ‘school’ everyone, Raf. As I said, this was a gigantic pet peeve of mine so I followed its gestation all along its path to implementation by Congress. How said that ‘we’ have to force the FAA to do its reasonable job that way. There’s more that I’m holding back in this public record.
I say again to all pilots … IF you can accomodate your ‘mission’ via BasicMed … you need to do it! And … I hope and pray that MOSAIC is announced in a form that is useful to raise the weight of an LSA compliant aircraft to something more usable AND safe this Airventure, too. If not, the airlines better fire up their “Ab Initio” schools pronto.
Honestly I don’t see why more pilots don’t avail themselves of the BasicMed option. It costs WAY less, lasts twice as long, is much easier to use and eliminates exposure to the potential of an overly enthusiastic AME. If the limitations don’t effect you, I do not see the downside.
Regarding non-AME doctors being reticent; a rational discussion and a few minutes research ought to do it. My doctor originally was not on board, but promised to look into it. That was four years ago. He told me the other day he now has about 4 or 5 of us in the area that he does this for.
I’m fortunate to have had the same GP for the past 24 years. He knows more about my health practices to include exercise, food consumption and overall mental health than an AME can ascertain in a 30 minute visit. I visit with him at least once a year covered by my UnitedHealthcare plan which covers the cost of the exam. While I haven’t sent him on an expensive vacation to the Creek Isles, like some Justices have, I did send a thank you card and cash for a dinner for he and his wife.
Funny how the FAA demands all this data to show that Basicmed and LSA aren’t impacting “safety”… but where was the data that drove the purported need for medical certificates in the first place?
The FAA didn’t “demand” this report, Bob. The Senators who fought against BasicMed drove how it finally shook out. To gain their support, this requirement was drawn up. In fact, the Aeromed folks don’t have anything to do with BasicMed. The FAA was REQUIRED to provide this data as part of the agreement to put BasicMed into the 2016 FAA Reauthorization Bill.
But you ask a fair question. Now that this report shows that BasicMed didn’t impact safety … where is the data that shows that medical certificates do anything. Dead airline pilots in the pointy end of those big aluminum things show that they really don’t do anything.
Bottom line is that general aviation regulations are to a large extent driven by the public’s illogical perception of GA as dangerous and as a consequence there can be illogical requirements set by their bureaucracies.
Atrial fibrillation requires a special issuance for 3rd class but isn’t a factor for BasicMed so that leaves little option for us elders.
I suspect that ICAO over regulation is a significant driver of 3rd Class Medical requirement while US pragmatism is the determinant for BasicMed.
As was pointed out a GA pilot self regulates every time they leave the ground.
So the US, Mexico and to some extent NZ think BasicMed is fine but Canada and the rest of the world don’t. Can’t have much respect for strict rules with that kind of uncertainty.
Interesting to see that total number of “medicals” is constant with 3rd Class decreasing and BasicMed increasing by the same amount.
Forgot to mention that my AME refused to do a BasicMed due to liability concern. He said the FAA covered him for 3rd Class but he was exposed with BasicMed.
The FAA motto has changed to: “We’ve upped our game, now up yours”.
I jumped on BasicMed as soon as it was offered. I don’t fly for a living, and never will. I just sprung it on my doctor one day. He thought a medical checklist for my physical was a great idea and took to the form immediately. I think it broke up the mundane checkups for him. He never once asked me about any liability. He just read through the forms and said let’s get to it. But then he’s always been fascinated by aviation and a good portion of my visits are talking airplanes. Bottom line is that my doctor and I both like BasicMed. AME’s are getting hard to find in my area.
Can there be any substantial reason that a person can fly under Basic Med taking a med that is disqualifying under a third class rules? I think not.
AOPA EAA etc should bring a lawsuit against the FAA based upon the denial of equal protection as required by the Constitution. You or I cannot undertake the case but they could and should. I feel they are letting us down by not fighting this irrational approach to medical certification.
Jerry
Actually there are 3 gorillas in northern california. They are Kaiser-Permanente, Dignity Health and Sutter Health. I don’t know the actual numbers but it would not surprise me if they controlled 90%+ of outpatient and inpatient medical care in the SF Bay/Central Valley area.
Between micro managed physician workload and the organization’s risk management departments good luck finding a provider willing/able to sign off on Basic Med. There may be an occasional independent urgent care clinic that do DOT exams willing to do basic med but I have not found one yet.
And also properly done the basic med exam is much more extensive than the class 3 medical.
If you are on SI then basic med might make sense otherwise it is more of a problem than FAA class 3.
Paul - Very interesting interview. One quick correction…the number of pilots actually bottomed out in 2016 and has been slowly, but steadily INCREASING since then! I appreciate your efforts to carefully use statistics, so here’s the FAA data (if the comments will let me post a link)…
https://www.faa.gov/data_research/aviation_data_statistics/civil_airmen_statistics/2022
Lots of interesting data, which should entertain you for a while. Obviously, Basic Med isn’t the only factor in the change in the pilot population, but I don’t think it hurt. Keep up the great work supporting GA. Cheers!
I saw what you did there…
“The FAA can’t revoke your Basic Med certification” tells you EVERTHING you need to know about the FAA, and how our government views you as a pilot and a citizen.
Very interesting Tom.
It’s interesting to see the steady increase in ATPs through the years relative to the Private. And that the number of CFIs has been on a steady increase.
I’d love to see a line showing the number of DPEs through the years.
I think Dr. Blank’s assessment of Basic Med is correct. The largest benefit is for non-commercial pilots that in the past needed a special issuance. The FAA seems to be fond of saying that over 90% of pilots that apply for a special issuance, get it. What the FAA doesn’t say is all the money these pilots spend on tests that need to be submitted. And then the anxious months (and months) of waiting for Ok City to render a verdict.
For anyone to claim basic med has had little impact seems …absurd.
What, now over 75,000 GA pilots under basic med?
Can all 75,000+ GA pilots be wrong?
https://www.aopa.org/news-and-media/all-news/2022/november/17/basicmed-limitation-lifted
Paul, you nailed the underlying question, “Did the 3rd class really do anything for safety?”
The fact that those 75,000+ GA pilots (and light sport pilots too) are NOT falling out of the sky seems to be scientifically-sound evidence that the 3rd class medical accomplished little to nothing, if anything, and at an immense cost, both in $$$ and to freedom.
The doctor expressed frustration that they could not run the other income-generating tests they might otherwise get with other patients… well, what need I say to that? 
I am sure that out of the hundreds of thousands of pilots ground through the 3rd class mill over the years, a few patients finally got flagged for the medical attention they needed.
I also speculate that whatever might have tripped them up with 3rd class with FAA would probably have soon been picked up by other symptoms.
The 3rd class cost and negative impacts to the industry greatly outweighed any benefits.
As to basic med’s economic impact to the industry, I speculate a significant percentage of those 75,000 under basic med (and Light Sport too!) would no longer be flying under the traditional 3rd class medical. As result, there are probably tens of thousands of MORE pilots still flying than would be otherwise, which increases demand for the existing fleet, at all price points.
So take a breath and enjoy your freedom!