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Early last year, when it appeared that enough progress was being made in Congress to finally have an alternative to the 3rd class medical, I asked my personal physician if he would be OK with completing a pilot's flight physical. Without hesitation, he said sure, no problem. Now that the BasicMed proposal has been signed into law and more details have become available, I gave my doctor a copy of the "draft" checklist and the "declaration" that he would have to sign just to get his reaction, once again. After reviewing the document, he said sure, I'll do the exam and sign the declaration..........good news there!

So then I called the insurance broker to ask their opinion as to what the underwriter of each of my aircraft insurance policies might have to say regarding flying under BasicMed. As you would expect, the underwriter for the Sonex policy has no issue with flying under BasicMed (since no medical certificate of any kind is required anyway). The underwriter for the Cessna policy also has expressed no issues with flying under BasicMed. So good news all around!

A flight physical is scheduled to be done by my personal physician on May 2nd. It's rare that anything goes this smoothly. Hope the same goes for you as well.

Art,,,,,,,,,,,,,Sonex taildragger #95,,,,,,,,,,,,,,Jab3300 #261

Was looking for that checklist and document on AOPA.org- no luck finding it. Can you steer me to those documents? Thanks Rick Adler Waiex 0146

That is good news. Thanks for the update Art!

Thank you Mike Smith. Thanks for the update Art

Here are a few more data points.

Went to my doctor yesterday for a followup on a minor matter and talked to him about Basicmed. He said he would have no problem signing the document after he reviewed it. His opinion was that in my case, it was a trivial matter from a liability concern. I have my physical scheduled for May 4th and I expect him to sign.

On the other hand, the doctor who heads the FAA regional medical offices that encompasses Chicago (I don't know how big the region is) is a member of my EAA Chapter and he gave a briefing on Basicmed to us last Friday at our regular meeting. He is - to say the least - not supportive. He claimed that a large doctor group of over 3,000 doctors in our area had been told by their lawyers that they could not sign the form because of liability concerns.

He had several 'horror story' reasons why doctors shouldn't sign. When he finished speaking he just shook his head and said 'it'll be the wild west out there, the wild west'. He's a really nice guy and has given us several talks on medical issues that are always interesting and thoughtful, but on this issue he doesn't seem very convincing that there will really be problems.

n982sx wrote:Here are a few more data points.

Went to my doctor yesterday for a followup on a minor matter and talked to him about Basicmed. He said he would have no problem signing the document after he reviewed it. His opinion was that in my case, it was a trivial matter from a liability concern. I have my physical scheduled for May 4th and I expect him to sign.

On the other hand, the doctor who heads the FAA regional medical offices that encompasses Chicago (I don't know how big the region is) is a member of my EAA Chapter and he gave a briefing on Basicmed to us last Friday at our regular meeting. He is - to say the least - not supportive. He claimed that a large doctor group of over 3,000 doctors in our area had been told by their lawyers that they could not sign the form because of liability concerns.

He had several 'horror story' reasons why doctors shouldn't sign. When he finished speaking he just shook his head and said 'it'll be the wild west out there, the wild west'. He's a really nice guy and has given us several talks on medical issues that are always interesting and thoughtful, but on this issue he doesn't seem very convincing that there will really be problems.

I am a physician and an AME - here's my take on this. It's just my opinion and is worth what you paid for it - nothing.

I think the "liability concerns" are dramatically overstated. The form completed by the physician is literally a physical exam checkbox. Docs have to fill out stuff like this all of the time. You also have to state you discussed any "yes" answers on the airman questionnaire. Yes, it does take some common sense. Even if I'm not an AME, I should know that if someone has had a seizure or unexplained passing out then they should not be a pilot. But it is basically the same level of "risk" that we take on for driver's license exams or similar occupational clearances. Remember, the document was purpose built to be easily filled out by a physician who is NOT trained as an AME. I'm sure some docs will refuse, but my guess is that these will be the exception rather than the rule (but you'll hear plenty about them on the message boards).

Hi bob, Dr. Mike, all,
As a retired faa employee, and know the inner workings of the agency, i can give a few insights. Remember this was politically driven PBOR's, and came from the top down. The FAA used to be 8 regions, it was reorganized a decade ago into 3 regions. West, central, east. There may be alot of resistance within the ranks from CAMI civil aviation medical institute, located in okc the big sprawling medical bldg on the faa campus located next to will rogers world airport oaklahoma city ok. All the faa jobs are trained here. Atc, AF airway facilities (techs to repair stuff) , fsdo, medical etc. There are alot of intrenched people in these jobs. Then into the regional offices. Power and control is changing. They may not like it and will resist. We need to police ourselves as this basic med comes into existance may 1. Are you physically and mentally ready to fly? If we have some accidents from medical issues with this new priviliage there will be a public outcry, and demand to reverse this.
Dr . mike, thanks for your service as a doctor, and being positive on this new medical. Ive asked a few local doctors, some with aviation knowledge. They have declined, saying their medical group wouldnt allow it, or the insurance liability increase doesnt justify the few $100 physicals they would do. My gut feeling is we need to be happy we got this, probably still go to an ame , no failure, but most will pass, a few may need a little doctoring to pass. Thanks!

WaiexN143NM
Michael

Hi all.
Just read the article on www.avweb.com. NTSB blames two crashes of exp. LSA aircraft on medical issues with the pilots. Not good news . Enjoy basic med while it lasts, nothing is forever.

WaiexN143NM
Michael

Wow, so much pessimism about something not yet available....so, a couple of points.

First, we have had something inordinately rare: two accidents by two pilots -- neither of which would have passed Basic Med had they subjected themselves to it...

Second, Basic Med isn't relevant to either of these two accidents; they occurred under Sport Pilot rules, which requires no medical, only a valid driver's license...so irrelevant to Basic Med....

Third, both pilots knowingly flew with medical conditions they knew put them at a higher risk for a medical event; pilots with valid medicals have done the same thing: Suffered an event that would disqualify them from flying, but because their medical was still in effect, they ignored the rules on medically self-certifying -- an assessment we all do every time we turn the key, even if we do it wrongly. No rule can prevent a pilot from ignoring the rules.

Fourth, these are not the first two accidents to befall Sport Pilot-privilege flyers in the 13-year history of LSA/SP existence; they also won't be the last, because no system is perfect. Note that accidents and incidents due to medical conditions have befallen pilots up and down the chain -- from Ultralight to ATP. They are still extremely rare and don't add up to a statistically significant number.

To condemn Basic Med as doomed on this basis is simplistic and wrong. When pilots with medicals have suffered accidents due to a medical condition we haven't seen a rise out of lawmakers or civilians to increase medical surveillance or raise the bar on getting and holding a medical. And once Basic Med gets rolling, enough doctors will participate to make it work for any who chose that path of medical certification. My GP and my AME have both seen the form and said, "No problem. Same stuff they sign for commercial vehicle drivers and kids sports programs.

It's sad, it's tragic, what both of these pilots suffered. But it ain't the end of Basic Med...not even close. Basic Med will be around for a long, long time.

Dave