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.

FMI: Read The Full NPRM (.pdf)