I got my third class medical certificate in 1997 and flew without issues until 2007.
In 2004 I developed prostate cancer, but it was detected very early and I opted to have a “radical prostatectomy,” which means to completely remove the prostate gland. I did so because I wanted no chance that the cancer could spread in the future.
Happily, the strategy worked and in the 17 years since removal, my annual lab results are the same for PSA (a test that indicates the likelihood of cancer in the prostate gland) — zero and undetectable.
I was happy, that is, until I tried to renew my third class medical.
After reporting the surgery to my Aviation Medical Examiner (AME) and explaining that both the surgeon and urologist assured me that a prostate gland removed could not spread cancer and all post-surgery reports and PSA tests came up undetectable, I was disheartened when the AME advised me that he had to submit all the details to some doctor in Oklahoma City for review.
I also had to submit a mountain of very expensive papers and reports to the AME, who then sent it all to a doctor in Oklahoma who never examined me and did not know me, or my primary care physician, or my surgeon, or my urologist. What?
What I received from the Oklahoma doctor was a letter stating that because I had a history of prostate cancer, I did not qualify for a third class certificate. What?
Instead he offered to authorize the AME to issue a “Special Issuance” Medical Certificate if I would have my treating doctor issue a current status report, including any testing done and a current PSA level test result. I would have to do this every 12 months for at least the next six years in addition to the regular AME medical exams.
The problem: There was no treating doctor to complete such a report because the surgeon was completely done and the urologist was completely done and I never went back to either of them precisely because the prostate gland was completely removed.
Common sense told me that I was being jerked around by the AME, the Oklahoma FAA doctor, and the federal bureaucracy. I knew it, the AME knew it, and no doubt the Oklahoma FAA doctor knew it too.
I don’t like getting jerked around, so after the initial Special Issuance Permit, I let my third class medical expire. I quit flying regularly. Of course I did miss it and when I got desperate, I would rent a plane and fly with a CFI.
That’s how it stayed until medical reform. BasicMed saved my bacon. I have been flying for over three years now under BasicMed and will continue to fly until I decide to quit or my personal physician advises me to stop.
My experience was not unique. The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) recently reported that more than 60,000 pilots have resumed flying under BasicMed so far. I personally believe the FAA owes those 60,000 pilots (including me) an apology, but I will not hold my breath.
With respect to third class medicals, I start by pointing out that only God knows when a pilot is going to drop dead and fall face forward into the yoke. If FAA officials think they can predict that, they are wrong.
The job of the FAA ought to be to prevent the very, very high risk folks from flying airplanes because they represent an unreasonable risk to themselves and the public. The agency should go no further than that.
If the FAA and its bureaucracy were improving pilot safety before BasicMed, one would expect that to show up in the statistics after BasicMed became law. After all, there are 60,000 pilots, some with “dangerous” medical conditions like me, flying again. According to the NTSB’s accident reports, medical incapacitation, as a cause of aircraft accidents (not including illegal drug abuse), has not spiked or shown any significant increase since BasicMed was implemented.
There are those (including me) who argue that the only medical qualification needed for a private pilot third class medical certificate should be a driver’s license. This group of pilots fly small planes with few, if any, passengers and typically lack the mass or capacity to cause major damage to persons or property on the ground if they do crash.
My personal physician knows more about my health and medical risks than anyone. When the day comes that I should not fly any longer for medical reasons, I will tell my personal physician and quit flying. The FAA will play no part in my decision.
Samo-samo. After a heart attack in 2014, I went on special issuance for 2 years. I wanted to get a 2nd class, but was told that I’d need a re-catherization to qualify. My AME suggested going with SI 3rd class for a 5 year period and re-apply for a second after that. I went on BasicMed when it started, but the lawyers working for the corporate medical affiliates stopped my PCP from doing the form. I have a student that is a pilot and an oncologist who I’m sure would sign me off, but that seemed like a big ask. In the meantime, the flight school/tour operator I was flying for got a Waco and I lost out on flying that because of no second class.
After the 5 years went by I re-applied for a second class medical. This had to go through OKC so I knew I was in for the run-around. I sent in the cardiologist report, a current stress test and labs, and they came back with a requirement for a sleep apnea study. I had done one in 2012 so I sent in the result of that (mild OSA). They came back with a requirement for a current sleep study. Needless to say, it is somewhat difficult to get procedures like these scheduled during a pandemic, so I wrote a letter asking them to waive the OSA test requirement. This letter was ignored. I called AOPA and they suggested I call the local regional medical office an they suggested I request to do an at-home sleep study. I sent another letter requesting this. They received that letter Jan 6th, replied in a letter dated Jan. 20th, postmarked on Feb, 2nd and it got to me on Feb 4th. While I was in the process of scheduling the sleep study, they sent me a notice of denial. I started this process on Sept 3rd and it was March before I got the results of the sleep study. All comms with OKC is done by mail, regular and certified. There is no provision for email or submitting documents via a web site or drop box.
The system is broken. I did a quick look through the NTSB database and there isn’t a single incident where OSA is stated as a cause. The height of irony occurred when, after all this, the new chief examiner sent me an e-mail with a link to a survey about my most recent experience dealing for OKC. Boy, did she get an ear full!!!
I completely agree with your comment about FAA Medical being broken. I was recently invited to do a survey regarding their system and I hit them on all the points you raised here. No email capability, no uploading of data or forms… They are broken and I am sure it will take years for them to catch up to the early 21st Century.
I have to do a first class medical with kerataconus and IGA nephropathy and I feel the pain and anxiety every april now as a result not having a clue where your life may go due to this. Have to send the FAA a full kidney function report, drug list, symptoms or lack there of signed off by each doctor. Ophthalmologist has to do a full workup annually and include visual fields with all the same related crap. Have meet every requirement before ya tell them about any surgeries to ya know “help your own health”. Seems like you should never be actually fully diagnosed with anything as a pilot, just treat it as if ya do.
The FAA medical division exists for one reason only – to find any excuse, no matter how phony or weak , to keep pilots from flying. They lie to pilots, abuse pilots, and punish pilots. .The FAA stole my medical nearly two years ago because of a proactive test I had in ’17 which showed some blockage in my heart . My heart had formed two new “collateral” arteries ,and I have never had a symptom, despite doing extreme workouts nearly every evening. The heart doctor wrote ” there should be no restriction of activity , including flying, lifting weight, or working full time ” . I have had no “intervention” of any kind.
I flew 424 hours in high-performance planes ,including a King Air 200 after my 2017 exam until my medical expired in April, 2019. The FAA denied a renewal , and sent a form letter after my appeal that said “I can offer no encouragement ” . I had another test in 2019 after my medical was stolen, which showed the arteries were clearing themselves . Two people at the FAA headquarters lied to me in July and August ,telling me my file had been reviewed ,and that no decision had been made .
In Dec ,2019, eight months after I filed an appeal, I finally talked to one of the head doctors in OKC. He told me the only qualified Heart hospitals in the US are Mayo Aerospace and Cleveland Heart Clinic , and that I had to go there .if I wanted to fly. . I asked the doctor, who by the way isn’t a cardiologist , If he would give me my medical if Mayo said I was fit ,and his immediate answer was YES . No ifs, ands ,or buts. .Period .HE LIED TO ME . After Mayo sent the FAA a letter which said I am “ischemia-free” and qualified me, an FAA “panelist ” determined Mayo doesn’t know how to read charts ., He also repeated a lie that the FAA tells ,saying the cardiologists “recommended ” revascularization in 2017, when instead they wrote ” we cannot recommend it, and it isn’t needed .” That letter is in the FAA file, but is ignored because it doesn’t support their witch hunt .
I went to Mayo, and saw a total of six doctors . On the treadmill, I went 12 minutes instead of the required nine, at a faster speed and steeper incline than required. I could have gone longer. ( I told the doctor if he knew what the record was for the longest, fastest , steepest treadmill test ever, that I would break the record. He didn’t know .) One Mayo doctor said ” very few people make it to the ten-minute mark”..
I workout nearly every evening, doing 4 -5 miles of bike/treadmill , then lifting an average of over 300,000 LBs of weight in two hours, with a lift approximately every 2.3 to 2.5 seconds. ( not a misprint) . That’s after running businesses hundreds of miles apart with customers in 20 states . I weigh 165 Lbs . I have learned the FAA pays no attention to physical fitness or ability to perform ,as they search for excuses to ground pilots. My file is full of proof that I am, and always have been , qualified to fly, but all of that data is ignored ,as they search for any excuse to deny. I have worn a fitbit tracker for several years, and it proves what I have always known – flying a plane is one of the easiest things I ever do ,or have ever done.
There are no words in the dictionary to describe what a horrible, abusive, punitive, lying organization the FAA medical department is . I have been told by multiple doctors, especially doctors active or knowledgeable in FAA medical issues to NEVER TAKE AN EXAM THAT ISN’T REQUIRED” . They say that because they know how the FAA abuses pilots. ( I never thought I would ever hear a doctor tell me to never have an exam ) . One experienced attorney/pilot told me the FAA would be happiest if they could ground all private pilots so they would have a perfect safety record. .
“Basic Med” is a great program, except that if your last medical was denied for any reason, even if it was wrongly denied, you are not eligible. Nor are you eligible for SODA if you were denied by any cardiac-related excuse. THE FAA HATES/DESPISES THE BASIC MED PROGRAM BECAUSE IT RESTRICTS THEIR POWER TO ABUSE AND PUNISH PILOTS . The FAA doctor in OKC told me that Basic Med is a terrible program . If it wasn’t for the horrible treatment the FAA administers to pilots there would be no need for Basic Med..
While following the cumbersome ,expensive appeal route, the NTSB stated ” the FAA does not have to prove he’s unfit to deny the medical ” .
BTW, I have 13,000 hours over 43+ years , mostly in high-performance planes, with several thousand hours of IFR and night flying, and no accidents or violations.
The FAA discriminates against pilots because of age. They deny that, but if it wasn’t true, why is the first thing mentioned in the record the pilot’s age?
If you want to keep flying ,NEVER TAKE AN EXAM THAT ISN’T REQUIRED ,AND . NEVER TRUST THAT YOU WILL BE TREATED FAIRLY BY THE FAA MEDICAL DEPARTMENT . It’s not going to happen .
The FAA hitmen who have determined I not fit to fly have never examined me, tested me, met me ,or even talked to me. I have been
test, examined ,and interviewed by over a dozen doctors. . Not one has said I’m not qualified and fit to fly, or do any of the other things I do every day which are many time more stressful than flying.
Ok help me out here. I thought that Basic Med was not available to anyone who had previously been denied a medical. Am I correct?
Ted,
Thanks for your very astute question. This will sound like bureaucratic Mickey Mouse (because it is) but the reason I qualify for BasicMed is because the FAA never denied my 3d class medical. Instead, they issued a Special Issuance qualifier to my 3d class medical which I flew under for 1 year, then I (not the FAA) let my 3d class expire. The FAA never denied my 3d class medical, rather I continued to fly under Special Issuance until I decided to quit flying. Yes, it sounds circular, but that’s what happened.
This sounds like more of the micky mouse doings of our government. I’m sorry for your negative experience Loran. You didn’t deserve that and I commend your spunk in writing this article. You go man!!😍🌺
You gotta ask yourself what kind of Physician would work there and follow all of this bureaucratic nonsense. One that can’t be held responsible for his actions like most of the rest of us at work. Go figure.
The answer to what kind of physician would work there is – Mostly physicians who couldn’t make it in the real world, or are too lazy to work ,and want the government to support them .
A few years before the BasicMed was approved but being pursued, which I fly under now, I had the now retired AME tell me during my exam that the third class medical exam was a waste of his time and my money. He was also a private pilot.
I had the exact same problem and Basic Med saved me. I consider Basic Med AOPA’s greatest achievement with help from the EAA and other organizations. My personal physician was an active pilot. When he says it is time to hang it up or my instructor says I have lost the ability to control the airplane safely, then I will sell my plane and buy Microsoft Flight Simulator and a better computer.
The FAA makes these medical decisions and stick with them. This AME didn’t loose a moments sleep causing you such anguish. It’s terrible when a person decides that the right thing to do is accordance with such obvious errors. If the AME was decent, then another route could have been taken. If the FAA person was decent, another route could have been taken. No doubt, if questioned they felt that they did ( are doing ) the right thing. The day may come when they realize the didn’t.
If you would have told me 12 0r 15 years ago that the FAA would allow a pilot to fly a real airplane with just a driver’s license I would have told you that you were insane,
Now on top of that, we can fly a Beach Baron after a reasonable trip to a state licensed doctor?
I can only thank my lucky stars and the AOPA and the EAA and a few legislators that pushed hard to make this happen.
Freedom won a couple victories lately.
And I fully admit I am surprised.
I’m flying under basic med due to a single Stent placement I went through. I have a history of high cholesterol and caught one artery with 90% blockage thanks to my AME. I never had a heart attack and have everything under control. My 3rd class medical became a special issuance requiring an annual medical and a Stress test that my insurance wouldn’t cover and my cardiologist said “will tell them nothing”.
After rocking my stress test 2 years in a row a went to the FAA booth at AirVenture, told my story and asked for approval to do it every 2 years. The response was “no chance, if it’s cardio related we (the FAA) OWN YOU!” So, basic med it is. It killed my dream to fly and own a T-28 someday but, it could be worse.
If you think the government can run anything to do with the medical establishment with anything resembling common sense, compassion, or intelligence, you need only ask any veteran how that works out.
Obama Care is proof of that….
👍👍👍👍👍
Bingo !
This story is not new because it is the story ALL OF US face. He is lucky that he had a 3rd class inside the 10 year limit to qualify for basic med. Try having the cancer BEFORE your first 3rd class medical…you have no path except sport pilot.
Well written, Loran. It IS time for the FAA to raise the limits of Light Sport to something that would accommodate C172, PA-28 type airplanes. I could even live with a limit to two passengers. I’ve been flying MY C172 for 35.5 years (plus maintaining it as an A&P) and have had no problems whatever. Why I should have to sell my “friend” and buy an expensive piece of lawn furniture just to comply with LSA limits is ridiculous. I’ve even had this very same conversation with my GP Doctor … and he agrees.
I’ve been flying under BasicMed from the third day of its inception. No issues. But if I DID have an issue, I’d be in trouble under the current rules. A realistic increase in LSA rules would be the answer.
I totally agree with Mr. Maloney’s assessment of the FAA’s current medical certification morass for us pilots who are perfectly fit to fly but are prohibited from doing so because of some ridiculous bureaucratic policy that exists purely for pencil pushers in Oklahoma City to justify their paychecks.
The system needs to be totally overhauled and based upon COMMON SENSE. It took me several years and a tremendous amount of blood, sweat and tears …. not to mention expense… to acquire my pilot ratings yet, despite being in perfect health… I can be denied my right to exercise those privileges because of a past isolated medical condition that was completely corrected. The special issuance rule is a travesty imposed needlessly on pilots who are fully fit to fly and should be done away with.
As Mr. Maloney maintains, those of us who fly personal aircraft for our own non-commercial purposes, should be the judge of our fitness to fly in close coordination with our personal physicians. Each flight we undertake requires a very high degree of good judgement to complete it safely. So why should our fitness to initiate the flight be at the mercy of some nameless entity at the FAA HQ requiring a mountain of paperwork and expense? Since the process is so onerous with no assurance of a successful outcome, many pilots who are otherwise fit to fly are grounded because they do not have the intestinal fortitude or physical means to run that gauntlet knowing the outcome will be a crap shoot.
With a new occupant in the oval office, perhaps much needed change will happen. In particular, the creation of a new pilot rating that expands the sport pilot category to include a much broader spectrum of aircraft will be implemented freeing us from the dictatorship of the FAA medical department. .
I predict the new occupant will make it worse… His side would have everyone wearing helmets when walking to the store. If you think Biden and Mayor BootyBoy will reduce regulations….. I’m rolling my eyes.
You are 100% correct!👍🏼
You stole my moniker for the new head of DOT, Doug … I, too, refer to him as BootyBoy … a person with absolutely NO experience in any form of transportation or aviation. How the heck did we get to here from there?
I hope every Lefty Voter here remembers this conversation when 100LL goes up to $10 a gallon and the price at the pumps goes back to Obama pricing of $5, $6, $7 a gallon. And when you can’t get insurance anymore. And when it costs $50 to land at a regional airport. And when the FAA starts hiding in the weeds like small town cops at a speed trap to harass and fine us all. How did we get here indeed….The USA needs a good surgeon. To amputate the Left. I am sickened by what is happening to our Country. Hopefully this new “Clown Show” wakes America up once and for all. How did we get so complacent and stupid????
👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
20 years sho I went thru the same thing with prostate cancer. FAA considers any cancer is cause for denial.
I got a special issuance, and renewed it every year for five years. Once five years passed with no recurrence you are considered cured. Applied for cancellation of my special issuance and it was granted.
It really was not a big deal.
I am 70 now and still own a plane but fly under light sport rules. No more medical.
Dave
I am involved in this process now. I cannot even find the regulations to talk about my conditions. There’s a new program called CACI where the local medical examiner can issue you a license based on the information provided. Unfortunately this has not been given to the aviators you’re applying for food past medical and there’s no website devoted to this I had to find out this information on my own. Call sis so I did not have the right information my medical examiner could not give my issue my license. So now I have to wait for the FAA to send me a letter to apply for special insurance there’s no phone number to call the FAA medical examiners in Oklahoma City. There has to be a better system a more efficient system. He’s been my opinion and experience that nobody in the FAA will make a decision. Doctors treat patients based on their problems in laboratory studies every day and they have to make decisions every day. They are the person who is most concerned about your patients health rather than a third-party. Yefe is beginning to act like an insurance company which is restricting care or treatments depending upon the financial status. I know their regional FAA medical directors that we should be able to contact to go through from the local examiner. I just can’t understand why there’s not a progressive system or hierarchy to determine what needs to be done so let the FAA in Oklahoma City do the airline pilots corporate pilots etc. but lots of general aviation pilots be done by the local examiners of the regional examiners it should be more efficient system I’m now waiting for a letter from the FAA am I examiner told me it would be between three and six months as to what test would be required for me to even apply for special issuance so I am assuming this process will take over a year I’m gonna have to pick up my airplane. Spend a considerable amount of money in rental fees until I can fly again if ever I can get an answer. I agree with the person who wrote this article that if I don’t feel well I don’t fly it’s the I am safe rule and now we have an X ternal person saying you can’t fly who wish you cannot communicate with. They don’t know you they don’t know your doctor they don’t know the treatment you have they don’t know your postoperative plans.I did not know of any pilot who is not interested in this health so he can continue flying and I don’t know of any pilot who would put my safety of my family safety in jeopardy because they want to continue flying when they’re not able to.
Last year I went the Special Issuance route too. Took 4 months for it to be issued, which I am grateful for because it could have been much worse during lockdown. I would like to go to BasicMed too, now that I can say I’ve held a medical after the cutoff year. My fear though is that eventually these large healthcare providers will forbid their doctors from doing the physicals for BasicMed, due to their fear of taking on some sort of increased liability. Then I’d be back to hunting for a Dr. who didn’t know me.
I’ve been flying with a Special Issuance Medical for the last two years, but You’re right in your assessment of the FAA medical certification process. It takes 3-4 weeks to get them to upload your paperwork and another 5-7 weeks before a doctor (?) renders a decision. They can’t tell you over the phone, but instead they use snail mail (another 1-2 weeks for delivery) to send a letter by regular mail and by certified mail, a waste of taxpayer money, that states you have 60 days to respond. This is one of the most archaic systems I’ve ever dealt with, and for what? A letter that requires three more tests completely unrelated to the current medical condition.
I agree 100% because I lived through the same FAA process around the same time. The special issuance time was always shorten to 9 months, no matter how early you sent the documents to the FAA because it took them 3 months to mail a reply.
I started flying again with Basic Med. It has been a lifesaver.
In the past two years, after getting a medical very easily from my AME, the FAA has magically diagnosed me with something I had never been diagnosed with before by anyone. I have no idea what they are looking at. But I have no choice but to jump through the special issuance hoops to keep flying professionally.
I’m absolutely livid as it results in extra time and costs to me for issues that I don’t have, and have never ever been told that I have by anyone other than the FAA.
My family physician is absolutely baffled at all this.
I’m considering a different career and because of this, would no longer recommend an airline career to anyone starting out.
I held a 2nd class using SI for ~8 years until they moved the goal posts. I had a letter specifically telling me my AME could issue my cert without going thru OKC for 5 yrs. But the SI requires you report any medical changes. When I reported a successful knee replacement (not an SI condition) they responded by requiring additional tests for my other conditions. There’s no arguing, no appeal. If you don’t do it they revoke your medical and then you can’t even fly LSA. So I did the tests and then let the SI cert. expire. I switched to BasicMed and haven’t looked back. No T-28 for me now but there are pllenty of cool aircraft under 6000lbs.