Friday, June 7, 2013

Changes to the FAA's Medical Certification Process

As pilots age, their focus includes maintaining their health and mitigating/eliminating any health concerns. In the past, certain medical conditions complicated the process of a pilot renewing his medical certificate.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) recently revised its medical certification process to make it easier for pilots to obtain their medical certificate by shifting the decision as to whether or not an airman is medically qualified to fly from the FAA’s offices in Oklahoma City & Washington D.C. to your local Aviation Medical Examiner (AME). The new “Certificates an AME Can Issue” (CACI) program empowers AMEs to directly issue pilots with certain qualifying medical conditions a medical certificate. Pilots must still provide certain documentation proving the condition is under control to obtain certification, but now the pilots avoid the lengthy and oftentimes frustrating process of obtaining approval from the FAA’s Air Surgeon Office.

Now pilots with the following conditions may be able to take advantage of the CACI program to obtain their medical certification quickly:

  • Arthritis;
  • Asthma;
  • Glaucoma;
  • Chronic Hepatitis C;
  • Hypertension;
  • Hypothyroidism;
  • Migraine and chronic headaches;
  • Pre-diabetes; and
  • Renal cancer.

The FAA has also issued a new policy regarding cardiac special issuances after a stent procedure. Instead of waiting six months for follow-up testing, now pilots only need to wait three months. That’s less time waiting and more time flying!

For more information on the CACI program, contact Ronnie Gipson by telephone at 415.692.6520 or by email at Gipson@higagipsonllp.com.