GA medical reform has been on the AOPA's agenda for a while. The current agenda for GA medical reform is laid out in the Pilot's Bill of Right's 2. The Pilot's Bill of Right's 2 allows private pilots, flying recreationally not be required to acquire a third class medical. There are certain provisions that the pilot must follow, but he/she would be free to fly under VFR and IFR flight rules (Tennyson, 2015). Not requiring all pilots to at least have a third class medical is very controversial. ALPA argues that this could lead to unfit pilots being given access to national airspace (Pope, 2015). These pilots would be sharing the airspace with not only other recreational flyers, but also commercial aviation. This may not be very safe. Although, with this GA reform there is a potential for the government and pilots to save millions of dollars, while also strengthening GA (Tennyson, 2015). Prospective recreational pilots would not be deterred by the cost or thought of not being able to pass the medical which may lead to a greater GA industry.
I feel that some GA medical reform may be necessary. On one hand it may be nice to get more pilots flying and the ability to save all parties involved a bit of money. On the other reform should have a layer in place to "weed out" the prospective pilots that should not be in the air. It is a balance that could be quite tough to define. Maybe it would be best to allow flight instructors to advise whether the pilot is fit to fly during the biannual flight review. This would be the most cost appropriate as well as safe way to "weed out" the bad participants without requiring all pilots to acquire a medical certificate.
References:
Pope, S. (2015, July 28). ALPA moves to block medical reform. Flying. Retrieved from http://www.flyingmag.com/news/alpa-moves-block-medical-reform-bill
Tennyson, E. A. (2015, February 26). Medical reform legislation introduced in house, senate. AOPA. Retrieved from http://www.aopa.org/News-and-Video/All-News/2015/February/26/Medical-reform-legislation-introduced-in-House-and-Senate
Tennyson, E. A. (2015, July 28). AOPA fights back on medical reform. AOPA. Retrieved from http://www.aopa.org/News-and-Video/All-News/2015/July/28/AOPA-fights-back-on-medical-reform
Giving that much power to flight instructors seems a bit interesting. It seems as if they can make or break a career just by saying he/she is or is not fit to fly. That is a very interesting concept.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you. I feel some reform may be good but removing the requirement to receive and maintain a third class medical may compromise safety.
ReplyDeleteI think you are correct in saying that there are some holes in the reform as it is now. I agree, there should be some way to “weed out” pilots that over the course of there extended medical. If a pilot that has a potentially dangerous illness gets behind the yolk it could be a disastrous situation.
ReplyDeleteNice job! I think its an interesting idea to let flight instructors advise whether the pilot is fit to fly during their flight review. That may be a cost effective approach to GA reform.
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