Will BasicMed help a new Student Pilot

M

Mark Johnson

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It seems you need to have gotten a 3rd Class Med Certificate before you can apply for BasicMed. If you have a condition like depression with low dose medication that would disqualify you for the 3rd class cert, are you still screwed?

Why wouldn’t the FAA allow an aspiring student pilot to apply under BasicMed?
 
Mark Johnson said:
It seems you need to have gotten a 3rd Class Med Certificate before you can apply for BasicMed. If you have a condition like depression with low dose medication that would disqualify you for the 3rd class cert, are you still screwed?

Why wouldn’t the FAA allow an aspiring student pilot to apply under BasicMed?
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Yes, if you have a disqualifying condition you are still screwed, HOWEVER, if you can get just one Special Issuance for whatever disqualifying condition then you may continue to fly under BasicMed.

If given the choice, the FAA wouldn't even have BasicMed, this was a law passed by congress. As to the why, there is already the Sport Pilot which requires no medical. BasicMed allows you to fly up to 5 other people in larger aircraft including IFR ops. The rationale is public safety. With that in mind you can probably understand why congress has the limitations in the law...
 
Yes, you are screwed because, as you said, you need the 3rd class first before you can go BasicMed. This one is not on the FAA, but on Congress who wrote the statute. There was a lot of wheeling and dealing in the process, but the end result was what we have. You might still be able to get a special issuance for 3rd class, depending on the details, but the process takes a long time and the outcome is never assured. Dr. Bruce Chien, one of the co-authors of the SI for depression treated with an SSRI, is a sometimes-poster here and would be your best guide. Reach out to him at aeromedicaldoc.com.

Sorry.
 
I googled Dr Bruce and reached out to him.

As I told him, I’m a retired 61 year old guy who wanted to fly private since high school. There were always other priorities, family, work, that kept me from it. Closest I got was building and flying RC planes. For my 60th Birthday my wife got me a flight in a P51 Mustang and the pilot let me fly it for 45 minutes. Greatest experience of my life. That started me exploring the possibility of flight training. My wife has come around to the idea, but now, it looks like my dream may be denied.

Hoping for good news from Dr. Bruce...
 
The dream need not die - Light Sport planes are at least as challenging and enjoyable to fly well as their larger brethren.

You did not say where you were located. That might help re: POA members who you might meet and engage concerning ways to earn your wings.
 
Mark Johnson said:
Why wouldn’t the FAA allow an aspiring student pilot to apply under BasicMed?
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Because the FAA has rules. Rules are to be followed. Plus, they really don't care if someone is or is not able to fly.

FastEddieB said:
Light Sport planes are at least as challenging and enjoyable to fly well as their larger brethren.
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That.

Which means, don't go and attempt a medical until you are sure you will get it so as to not shoot oneself in the foot.
 
FastEddieB said:
The dream need not die - Light Sport planes are at least as challenging and enjoyable to fly well as their larger brethren.

You did not say where you were located. That might help re: POA members who you might meet and engage concerning ways to earn your wings.
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:yeahthat:
 
Cautionary follow-up. I did as Dr Bruce said and scheduled a consult with a recommended flight surgeon. Ask what he needed from me to avoid deferral. I was given specific instructions for a report from my treating. I was told “if you bring in the report, I’ll issue your third class that day.”

Today I went in with the requested report and he still deferred me. I was so ****ed. He gave no explanation for changing his mind. Said “deferral is no big deal...”. So now my dream is in the hands of FAA bureaucracy.
 
maj75 said:
Today I went in with the requested report and he still deferred me. I was so ****ed. He gave no explanation for changing his mind. Said “deferral is no big deal...”. So now my dream is in the hands of FAA bureaucracy.
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Sorry. Those with good health and vanilla medicals have no understanding how frustrating it is to deal with the medical system. Good luck!
 
maj75 said:
Cautionary follow-up. I did as Dr Bruce said and scheduled a consult with a recommended flight surgeon. Ask what he needed from me to avoid deferral. I was given specific instructions for a report from my treating. I was told “if you bring in the report, I’ll issue your third class that day.”

Today I went in with the requested report and he still deferred me. I was so ****ed. He gave no explanation for changing his mind. Said “deferral is no big deal...”. So now my dream is in the hands of FAA bureaucracy.
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He deferred you because of the condition addressed by the report or something else you hadn't disclosed at the consult? If the former, I hope you will post his name so that the pilot community can avoid him.
 
I'm going to backpedal just a bit. If you didn't have the documentation at the consult and all you could do was describe your diagnosis and treatment to the AME, it's possible there was a detail that you didn't think was relevant, that to the AME turned out to be a dealbreaker for in-office issuance. When my AME said he needed extra documentation, I would always make sure that he had everything in hand before going in for the live exam. If that meant paying for a second consultation, that is what I would do, and did do once, as I recall.

I'm very sorry to hear you're in that situation though, regardless, and I hope you don't have to wait too long for your med certificate. :(
 
Nothing changed between Consult and exam. I brought records to the Consult. Because they were two months old (due to two appointments cancelled on short notice) I was asked to bring in a new report addressing specific issues. I did that and brought this to the exam. Nothing “new” came up during the exam. The deferral was specifically due to the issue discussed at the Consult.

I have no idea why he deferred when he had said he would issue. I spoke with Dr Bruce who says I can expect to wait at least 5 months before I hear anything.
 
idahoflier said:
If given the choice, the FAA wouldn't even have BasicMed, this was a law passed by congress....
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Actually, the FAA proposed an alternative to a third-class medical, but it was stone-walled by the Department of Transportation.
 
maj75 said:
Nothing changed between Consult and exam. I brought records to the Consult. Because they were two months old (due to two appointments cancelled on short notice) I was asked to bring in a new report addressing specific issues. I did that and brought this to the exam. Nothing “new” came up during the exam. The deferral was specifically due to the issue discussed at the Consult.
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If that is true then you would be doing the community a service by posting the AME's name and the state where he practices. An AME who invites an airman to do a live exam with a promise to issue, who then defers even though nothing new has been uncovered or disclosed at the exam, is not an AME who deserves any pilot's business.

(Be absolutely certain that it was for that reason though, and not because there was an additional "specific issue" that, once addressed in the new reports, the AME considered DQing for office issuance.)
 
My purpose in posting this was more for a public service. Make sure if you go for a consult and the doctor says he will issue if you bring in XYZ, make sure he’s willing to do it before he goes live with MedExpress. Make it a second consult. And if you are at all uncertain, spend a couple of bucks and go see Dr. Bruce in Chicago. I wish I had because I would be starting my lessons instead of sitting around with my thumb up my a**...

Plus one million if you are trying to become a revenue pilot wher seniority is everything. I’m only going into GA, otherwise I’d have lost at least 8 months when I could have been training.
 
So sorry the AME did you that way. I hope it turns out okay.
 
Rushie said:
So sorry the AME did you that way. I hope it turns out okay.
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this is one of those situations in which, when an airman does’t see fit to travel....well, one designee cannot control another.

I also was not privy to the final letter. So I’m a tad in the pneumbra as it were...
 
I was in a similar situation as yourself, I was not sure if I would pass 3rd class, due to hearing loss and vision. I was strongly considering Sport and not even going for a 3rd class. With Sport as most know if you were never denied your fine if you were denied your screwed. The AME I went to told me not to give him my medexpress number until after the exam and I new my status. He told me If I failed, no sweat and that if not acted on my medexspess application would just self delete after a few months, like it never happened and I would still be able to get a sport license. I am writing this though its too late for you but others may benefit. Sorry to hear what happened and as others have said post his name and location so others will stay away. Good luck getting the SI.
 
Palmpilot said:
Actually, the FAA proposed an alternative to a third-class medical, but it was stone-walled by the Department of Transportation.
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Sure, they produced something after the pressure was applied by congress at the behest of AOPA and EAA and then it died at DOT. Why was that? If the FAA was really behind it do you think that would have occurred? The FAA could have implemented something in the interim time period through an exemption and Administrator Huerta said as much in July 2014. Nothing ever happened...
 
Cptwing said:
The AME I went to told me not to give him my medexpress number until after the exam and I new my status. He told me If I failed, no sweat and that if not acted on my medexspess application would just self delete after a few months, like it never happened and I would still be able to get a sport license.
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This is the way things should be done.

Make sure other pilots in your area know about this AME and that they should use his practice. AME's like this need to be kept in business for long time.
 
Well, I got a letter from the FAA today, saying I was entitled to a third class medical certificate, and enclosing a copy of the one that has been issued!

A long wait, but in the end, not the ending I expected.
 
Well good luck,remember you can always go light sport,in the future.
 
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