The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, after\nchampioning the decades-long push for long-overdue medical certification\nreform, has released a report on how BasicMed has kept safe pilots flying and\nfree from unnecessary red tape and delays over the past five years. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
President Barack Obama signed into law legislation that\ncreated what is now referred to as BasicMed on July 15, 2016. Since the program\nbecame available to pilots on May 1, 2017, more than 66,000 aviators have qualified\nto fly under it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWith hundreds of thousands of general aviation pilots in\nthe United States, I am encouraged that we are experiencing the best safety\nnumbers in years, even while the skies are busier than ever. The data clearly\nshow that BasicMed has been an undeniable success,\u201d said AOPA President Mark\nBaker. \u201cMedical reform was a top priority for me as soon as I joined AOPA, and\nwhat we expected with these reforms has now come to fruition. I am so pleased\nthat BasicMed is being embraced by pilots for its effectiveness.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The AOPA Air Safety Institute reported that the GA\naccident rate, based on National Transportation Safety Board data, including\nBasicMed pilots, is at its lowest level in decades, continuing to drop every\nyear since the 1990s. The GA community has never had a stronger focus on\nsafety, and the FAA continues to make U.S. airspace the safest in the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The fundamentals of BasicMed remain simple and\nstraightforward: A pilot must have held a valid FAA medical certificate at least\nonce since July 14, 2006 (that was not suspended or revoked), have not had the\nmost recent medical application denied, and have not had the most recent\nauthorization for special issuance withdrawn. In addition, the pilot must not\nhave had any change in a mental health disorder, neurological disorder, or\ncardiovascular condition. Pilots who meet those conditions can elect to see\ntheir own state-licensed physician or an FAA aviation medical examiner for\nsubsequent exams every 48 months, and then take an online medical education\ncourse every 24 months. The operational limitations associated with BasicMed\nprivileges include a maximum takeoff weight of 6,000 pounds, 250 knots\nindicated airspace, altitudes up to 18,000 feet msl, and no more than five\npassengers and a pilot in command. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mexico and the Bahamas have embraced BasicMed and allow\nU.S. pilots flying under this medical alternative to enter their airspace and\nland at their airports. The GA community is actively working to expand the\nacceptance of these reforms to other countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
AOPA provides many of the resources pilots need to\nsucceed under BasicMed, including tools to determine eligibility and how to\napply, along with the checklist that needs to be reviewed by the pilot and\nphysician, a physician finder, an online medical course, and tools to file the\napplication.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
AOPA\u2019s website also provides aviators with engaging and\ninformative videos about BasicMed and all steps necessary to use it, as well as\nhelpful FAQs for pilots and physicians. The online course and education\nmaterials cover topics such as how to conduct a health self-assessment when to\nsee a doctor, conditions that may require a closer look, and how to use diet\nand exercise to stay sharp for the flight deck.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, after championing the decades-long push for long-overdue medical certification reform, has released a report on how BasicMed has kept safe pilots flying and free from unnecessary red tape and delays over the past five years. President Barack Obama signed into law legislation that created what is now referred to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[115],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18906","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-national-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18906","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18906"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18906\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18907,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18906\/revisions\/18907"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18906"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18906"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18906"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}