A Question about a Question about Basic Med

[Crashnburn]

I'm studying aviation knowledge using Rod Machado's Private and Commercial Pilot Handbook and Workbook.

I ran into this question in the Workbook, and the material isn't covered in enough detail in the Handbook:

If you completed the BasicMed checklist and physical exam on May 10, 2017, and the online course on May 20, 2017, then take the online course again on May 31, 2019, you would be able to operate under BasicMed through
A. May 31, 2021
B. May 20, 2021
C. June 1, 2021

Machado says the answer is B, but there is no explanation. In a previous question, I learned the Basic Med physical is good for 48 months to the date of the exam. In another question, I learned the Basic Med course is good for 24 calendar months.

Seems to me the correct answer is not given. It should be May 10, 2021, because that is 48 months to the date of the original Basic Med physical exam.

Am I missing anything?

 

[robin ardoin]

It is based on calendar month. Physical 48 calendar months, CMEC 24 calendar months. The answer should be ‘A’.

 

[Clip4]

A BasicMed medical certification expires on the exact date of the most recent medical exam 4 years later. The online course expires 24 months. The answer is May 10, 2021. There is a typo in the answers. B is the closest, although wrong, answer.

 

[midlifeflyer]

A BasicMed medical certification expires on the exact date of the most recent medical exam 4 years later. The online course expires 24 months. The answer is May 10, 2021. There is a typo in the answers. B is the closest, although wrong, answer.

That’s changing. They will both be calendar months.

 

[Greg Bockelman]

That’s changing. They will both be calendar months.

As it should be. Everything else is calendar month. Why should that be different?

 

[midlifeflyer]

As it should be. Everything else is calendar month. Why should that be different?

that was probably a simple oversight.

The change goes into effect Nov 12 unless the FAA acts earlier.

 

[Dana]

As it should be. Everything else is calendar month. Why should that be different?

Because basicmed was created by Congress, not the FAA.

 

[Crashnburn]

Thank you all for your answers.

 

[midlifeflyer]

Because basicmed was created by Congress, not the FAA.

Yep. And the FAA has never made a semantic error in a regulation.

 

[midlifeflyer]

Thank you all for your answers.

BTW, I sent Machado a message about it. I'll let you know if/when/how he responds.

 

[Crashnburn]

BTW, I sent Machado a message about it. I'll let you know if/when/how he responds.

Great. Thanks.

 

[Clip4]

That’s changing. They will both be calendar months.

That could be, but anyone taking an FAA written knowledge test until then should be given the proper answers.

 

[4CornerFlyer]

Because basicmed was created by Congress, not the FAA.

The history of Basic Med is that Congress passed the legislation after the FAA and Dept of Transportation went decades blocking any medical reform. The law had a deadline for implementation, and the FAA chose to implement the regulations as written in the statute without a notice of proposed rulemakeing, comment or correction, which would be the normal course. That is why Basic Med has a few inconsistencies. This was one, the non-applicability to safety pilots is another.
It took the FAA more than five years to get around to proposing corrections and modifications to the rule. As stated above, that finally happened.
Under the revised rule, the correct answer to the original question is the end of the calendar month of the last exam.
To contradict one point made by Greg earlier, not "everything else" is by calendar month. Off the top of my head, night currency is 90 days, not three months.
Jon

 

[flyingron]

Actually, the FAA approved the AOPA/EAA proposal for medical reform. It went up to the DOT level as required by regs, and the AMA lobby got it permanently pigeonholed there. It was after that Congress got involved. In the name of expedience, the FAA just verbatim implemented it as it appeared in the legislation even though there were certain issues with it. They've subsequently worked on that: the safety pilot issue, calendar verses date years, etc...

 

[midlifeflyer]

The history of Basic Med is that Congress passed the legislation after the FAA and Dept of Transportation went decades blocking any medical reform. The law had a deadline for implementation, and the FAA chose to implement the regulations as written in the statute without a notice of proposed rulemakeing, comment or correction, which would be the normal course. That is why Basic Med has a few inconsistencies. This was one, the non-applicability to safety pilots is another.
It took the FAA more than five years to get around to proposing corrections and modifications to the rule. As stated above, that finally happened.
Under the revised rule, the correct answer to the original question is the end of the calendar month of the last exam.
To contradict one point made by Greg earlier, not "everything else" is by calendar month. Off the top of my head, night currency is 90 days, not three months.
Jon

Small quibble. While the safety pilot fix was the FAA's, the calendar month one is not - that's part of a group of BasicMed changes made by Congress via the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2024. The FAR has not yet been revised. The CMEC is stall date-to-date. Unless the FAA acts earlier, the Congressional directive goes into effect November 12. Since this will be a Direct Rule, it can be quick. Since it's probably not a huge priority, it may not be.