Safety
FAA Rulemaking Might Ease Medical Certification Requirements
Rulemaking effort could delay action mandated by Congress.

The FAA will begin formal rulemaking to consider whether to allow private pilots to use a driver’s license in lieu of an FAA medical certificate in some circumstances, the agency announced on April 2. The announcement comes two years after the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) and the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) filed a joint petition asking the FAA to expand the third-class medical exemption to cover more recreational pilots. Possibly because the FAA failed to respond to the AOPA/EAA petition, Congress proposed its own legislation, the General Aviation Pilot Protection Act (GAPPA, House Bill H.R. 3708 and Senate Bill S.2103), which is currently making its way through both the House and Senate.

Loading…