Will Continue Working On Drivers License Medical Issue

EAA chief Tom Poberezny is happy with the Sport Pilot rules announced on Tuesday.

"More people will fly," he said in an exclusive interview with Aero-News Net. "This provides an economic opportunity to get people involved in aviation."

The new Sport Pilot rule, he said, brings the cost of learning to fly, flying and maintaining an aircraft down to a much more affordable level. In these days when the military is no longer the primary source of pilot training, when only 600,000 people are rated to fly, the new rule will vastly add to the ranks of pilots.

But there IS the medical issue. The Drivers Licence Medical (DLM) aspect of the new rules basically says, if you're healthy enough to drive a car, you're healthy enough to fly a sport plane. But if your medical flight certificate has ever been denied or revoked, you still have to be medically cleared before you can fly.

"For those who've been denied, that's the most important piece" of the Sport Pilot ruling, he said. "I have friends who've been denied their medical and were anticipating the opportunity to get back into the air through Sport Pilot. I understand their feelings. But the purpose of Sport Pilot is much broader than this issue. This rule package can have a tremendous effect on aviation growth in the future."

For Now, Here's What To Do If You've Been Denied/Revoked

If you have received a denial letter from the FAA, the Sport Pilot rules give you an additional avenue of recourse. As always, you can pursue a third-class special issuance from the FAA through traditional channels. But when the new rules go into effect September 1st, you can also seek a sport-pilot medical evaluation via a separate procedure that the FAA continues to design and develop.

The first alternative may prove a viable option for individuals whose longstanding denial relates to a condition for which medical advances have been made through a period of months or years. For example, as late as the mid-1980s, pilots received outright denials for diabetes. Today, this condition is not considered grounds for a denial once a treatment regimen is in place.

The FAA alluded to the second alternative during its press conference to announce the new rule on Tuesday. The details of such a sport-pilot medical evaluation remain to be developed as part of the implementation of the final rule. Poberezny said the EAA Aeromedical Council has a long-standing history of working with the FAA Medical Office and will meet with FAA medical personnel to help develop the policy and procedures for this new type of evaluation.

There's another advantage to the medical rules under Sport Pilot. "People who go for a special issuance and are approved don't have to have it re-issued every six months or every year," Poberezny said.

For those who fall under the revoked/denied clause in the Sport Pilot medical language, Poberezny held out the possibility of positive developments down the road.

"The FAA is willing to work with industry -- EAA, AOPA and other groups -- on ways to address those who've been denied, in terms of finding other ways to let them fly under the Sport Pilot rule."

The FAA appears to be thinking along the same lines. In a statement issued to ANN, the FAA said:

We understand that these conditions [the concerns of pilots with FAA medical denials on record] may not have been expected and may disappoint some people. That was not our intent, nor is it our intent that affected persons would have to maintain an airman medical certificate if they would rather use their current and valid US driver's license to medically qualify as a sport pilot. 

We ultimately concluded that, in those cases where the FAA has existing knowledge of medical ineligibility, we need the affected person to address it and, hopefully, have it resolved. To meet the intent of the rule, the affected person should apply for reconsideration of his or her eligibility. In some denial cases, applicants simply may not have provided enough information to the FAA or may not have supplied information that the FAA may have requested.  In certain other denial cases, applicants may not have exercised their appeal rights, which may have led to certification in some cases. 

The FAA wants to see as many pilots as possible take advantage of this exciting new rule and looks forward to working with individuals seeking to exercise sport-pilot privileges. We also intend to work with EAA, AOPA, and other industry groups toward that end.

Sport Pilot was the result of a nine-year effort on the part of people like Poberezny and other aviation leaders. "There were a thousand reasons to go ahead" with Sport Pilot, Poberezny said, regardless of the restrictions under DLM. "This was a nine year community effort involving EAA and a lot of other organizations. But this is just the beginning."

FMI: www.faa.gov/avr/arm/rulemaking/SportPilotRule7_19.doc