…It’s Going To Take Time…

Despite recent meetings among EAA staff, FAA Administrator Marion Blakey and Federal Air Surgeon Jon Jordan, EAA said on Tuesday “the specific recourses available to pilots who have FAA medical denials or revocations on file remain unclear.” EAA said the FAA’s preamble to the final rule suggests that, in addition to the traditional special-issuance process for reinstating medical eligibility, the agency will develop a modified, or alternative, set of procedures specifically for those seeking medical reinstatement for sport-pilot flying only. (Goody, more rules.) At Oshkosh, the general buzz leaned toward interpreting this to mean that the FAA would essentially hash out a new set of standards, somewhere below what is required for a third-class medical, and establish a procedure that would allow denied or revoked pilots to qualify to regain their wings. “EAA has continued to assert the need to tailor the special-issuance criteria for those willing to fly only within the domain of sport-pilot operations,” EAA said in its report. “FAA’s responses have demonstrated a sympathetic understanding of EAA’s position and the sound philosophical rationale behind it.”