Requested By The Chairmen Of The House Committee On Transportation And Infrastructure And Its Aviation Subcommittee

The United States has the largest and most diverse general aviation community in the world, with more than 220,000 aircraft. To help protect safety, the FAA establishes medical requirements for pilots of these aircraft.

In January 2017, the FAA issued new pilot medical requirements, known as BasicMed. Under BasicMed, pilots are now required to complete a medical education course, undergo a medical examination every 4 years with any State-licensed physician, and comply with aircraft and operating restrictions.

To aid in their oversight of the new BasicMed process, the Chairmen of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure and its Aviation Subcommittee requested that that the DOT OIG examine the FAA's implementation of the new BasicMed requirements.

The audit objectives will be to assess (1) FAA’s procedures for implementing new medical requirements for certain small aircraft pilots, including identifying challenges to its implementation; and (2) FAA’s plans for measuring the impact of the new BasicMed process on aviation safety.

The audit is expected to get underway this month.

(Source: DOT OIG. Image from file)

FMI: PDF