Flights With Up To Five Passengers In VFR Conditions Would Not Require A Third-Class Medical

GA pilots have for years been asking the FAA to look at rules for third-class medical certificates in an effort to see those rules relaxed. Wednesday, two Republican Congressman turned up the heat on the process by introducing a bill in the U.S. House of Representatives that would substantively change medical requirements for thousands of GA pilots.

The bill, titled 'The General Aviation Pilot Protection Act of 2013' was introduced by Congressmen Todd Rokita (R-IN) (left) and Sam Graves (R-MO) (right). It would require FAA administrator Michael Huerta to "issue or revise medical certification regulations to ensure that an individual may operate as pilot in command of a covered aircraft without regard to any medical certification or proof of health requirement otherwise applicable under Federal law" under the following conditions:

• The individual possesses a valid State driver’s license and complies with any medical requirement associated with that license;
• The individual is transporting not more than 5 passengers;
• The individual is operating under visual flight rules; and
• The relevant flight, including each portion thereof, is not carried out for compensation, including that no passenger or property on the flight is being carried for compensation.

Flights would also have to be conducted at an altitude that is below 14,000 feet above mean sea level within U.S. airspace at a speed below 250 knots.

The term 'covered aircraft' means an aircraft that it is not authorized under Federal law to carry more than 6 occupants and has a maximum certificated takeoff weight of not more than 6000 pounds.

The administrator would be required to issue the rule not more than 180 days after the bill’s enactment into law, and it would be subject to review in not more than five years to determine the effect, if any, on aviation safety.

FMI: www.faa.gov, http://rokita.house.gov, http://graves.house.gov