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Third Class Medical Reform - Third time should be a charm


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I know its has taken a long time to get this far but there's lots of momentum to get Third Class Medical Reform over the goal line.  We need your help!

The Senate has passed Pilot's Bill of Rights 2 language three times in the past six months. In December, the Senate unanimously passed Pilot's Bill of Rights 2 as a standalone bill. It also included Pilot's Bill of Rights 2 language in the Senate FAA reauthorization bill that passed by a vote of 95-to-3 in April. On June 14, the Senate passed Pilot's Bill of Rights 2 language again on an 85-13 vote as part of the National Defense Authorization Act.

Click here to let your Elected Officials know its time to act on this

 

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Even though there are something in here that I do not like that was added to the original bill we need to support this.  This will probably be the closest we can get to getting rid of the 3rd class physical at least until we have the self flying vehicles.

 

Now part 23 and maintenance re-wright that is another fight for another day.:rolleyes:

 

 

 

 

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5 hours ago, GeorgePerry said:

I know its has taken a long time to get this far but there's lots of momentum to get Third Class Medical Reform over the goal line.  We need your help!

The Senate has passed Pilot's Bill of Rights 2 language three times in the past six months. In December, the Senate unanimously passed Pilot's Bill of Rights 2 as a standalone bill. It also included Pilot's Bill of Rights 2 language in the Senate FAA reauthorization bill that passed by a vote of 95-to-3 in April. On June 14, the Senate passed Pilot's Bill of Rights 2 language again on an 85-13 vote as part of the National Defense Authorization Act.

Click here to let your Elected Officials know its time to act on this

 

Done

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I know its has taken a long time to get this far but there's lots of momentum to get Third Class Medical Reform over the goal line.  We need your help!

The Senate has passed Pilot's Bill of Rights 2 language three times in the past six months. In December, the Senate unanimously passed Pilot's Bill of Rights 2 as a standalone bill. It also included Pilot's Bill of Rights 2 language in the Senate FAA reauthorization bill that passed by a vote of 95-to-3 in April. On June 14, the Senate passed Pilot's Bill of Rights 2 language again on an 85-13 vote as part of the National Defense Authorization Act.

Click here to let your Elected Officials know its time to act on this

 

Done!

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Done George, but this is getting old as I am. I did  not want to do my physical in Dec. now for sure I will be. I have just became skeptical.

Even if they signed it into law today, the FAA will have up to a year to implement the change.

On this topic, is anyone one else worried about this moving to the hands of your primary care physician? I remember when I was dealing with an issue, my primary was absolutely resistant to signing anything pertaining to my flight readiness status. He only acquiesced when I provided a letter indicating that the AME would be responsible.

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Just now, carusoam said:

Are airline pilots still required to retire based on age?

what is the cause of that?

Best regards,

-a-

The mandatory retirement age was changed to 65 a few years ago. As far as I know the only provision is that the other pilot on the flight has to be younger than 60.

I guess when the mandatory age of 60 was placed on the books, 60 was considered fairly old, especially when you consider life expectancy for a man was in his early to mid 70's.

Now that I'm just short of 60, I don't think it's old at all.

 

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2 hours ago, Marauder said:

Even if they signed it into law today, the FAA will have up to a year to implement the change.

On this topic, is anyone one else worried about this moving to the hands of your primary care physician? I remember when I was dealing with an issue, my primary was absolutely resistant to signing anything pertaining to my flight readiness status. He only acquiesced when I provided a letter indicating that the AME would be responsible.

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Chris I have the same concern,why  the heck would my primary doc put his  butt at risk. I'm sure everyone will say it's not a concern,if I were a primary doc no way would I sign anything pertaining to someone flying with my name attached somehow someway.

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Just now, Danb said:

Chris I have the same concern,why  the heck would my primary doc put his  butt at risk. I'm sure everyone will say it's not a concern,if I were a primary doc no way would I sign anything pertaining to someone flying with my name attached somehow someway.

I'm not entirely sure.

For the first two decades that I had my medical I needed a report from my doctor which I took with me to my physical. Although I was seen by different doctors during those years, not once had any of them refused to sign their name.

I also think the willingness of doctors to sign off on the new requirement will hinge on the wording. If it simply states that "I have examined Mr X and certify that I checked his blood pressure and urine and both were found to be within normal tolerance", I can't see why they wouldn't sign it, just as they do for other required exams such as for union jobs or school admission.

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Fortunately I have a couple docs as clients although not my Dr., they told me they most likely would not put themselves at risk and said I should go to my AME. I fully expect the results to be all over the place.

 

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There is information on the AOPA site. I will be interested in seeing how it actually works: https://www.aopa.org/news-and-media/all-news/2015/december/09/third-class-medical-faqs

Specifics of the actual legislation: https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/senate-bill/571/text

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PBOR2 requires the non-AME examination to document the following:
“I certify that I discussed all items on this checklist with the individual during my examination, discussed any medications the individual is taking that could interfere with their ability to safely operate an aircraft or motor vehicle, and performed an examination that included all of the items on this checklist. I certify that I am not aware of any medical condition that, as presently treated, could interfere with the individual’s ability to safely operate an aircraft.” [my emphasis]

Wait for the first or fourth accident to occur where a medical problem is the likely cause.  There are professional AME witnesses already willing to testify against the non-AME physicians for operating outside of their scope of practice in "certifying" aviators for flight.

Assuming PBOR2 goes through exactly as it is written, and FAA changes nothing, which they won't on this paragraph, it is 99% likely that we will be 80% back to where we are today after 3-5 years.  This "certification" statement should have never been allowed in and it's a huge mistake to lose the inertia that is present at this point in history towards true and sustainable reform.

Edited by Tom
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Having a physician sign a document stating you are in good health to conduct a particular activity is nothing new.  There are medical forms for PADI to dive and medical forms for both the SCCA and NASA to race cars.  I've done all three and never had an issue getting the doc to sign.  TCMR and airplanes will be no different.

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