Would Be Valid Only For Certificate Holders Under Age 40
Earlier this week, the FAA released a Notice of Proposed
Rulemaking that, if implemented, would extend the duration of
first- and third-class medical certificates for certain
individuals.
At least a third-class medical certificate is required when
exercising private pilot privileges. Under the proposed guidelines,
third-class medicals would be extended from the current 36-month
period for persons under 40, to 60 months.
"After careful consideration of the comments and testimony
received during that rulemaking action, the FAA determined an
extended duration would pose no detriment to safety in the case of
younger individuals because they are much less likely to suffer
medical incapacitation," reads the NPRM. "Ten years of experience
[the FAA last visited the issue in 1996 -- Ed.] with
extended duration on the third class medical certificate has had no
adverse impact on safety."
A first class medical certificate is required for all airline
transport pilots. Current regulations call for a review of all ATP
medical certificates every six months; the new guidelines would
extend that period to one year for all ATP holders under 40.
"The FAA has no experience extending the duration of first-class
medical certificates beyond the current 6-month limit," the NPRM
states. "The FAA developed this proposal through review of relevant
medical literature, its own aeromedical certification data, and
accident data. Additionally, the FAA considered the long-standing
International Civil Aviation Authority (ICAO) standard requiring
revalidation of medical certification annually for airline
transport and commercial pilots in multi-crew settings and also the
ICAO standard adopted in November 2005 extending revalidation for
private pilots from 2 years to 5 years under age 40."
Stating existing second-class medical certification standards
for commercial pilots are inline with the ICAO standards, the FAA
says the agency sees no need to revisit those standards.
"FAA certification trends consistently indicate no significant
increase either in undetected pathology between required medical
examinations or in medical disability among younger applicants,"
the agency writes. "While applicants of any age manifesting medical
conditions that represent a risk to safety are denied certification
under § 67.409, the trends reveal that the percentage of
younger applicants being denied medical certification is
consistently lower than that of older applicants. It is also
consistently evident that older applicants are more likely to have
to apply for special issuance under § 67.401 than are younger
applicants."
Comments on the new proposal will be accepted until June 11.