AVIATOR pOinls - American Bonanza Society

MEDICAL CERTIFICATION
NUMBER CRUNCHING
AcouPle of days after returning from Oshkosh, I went
to Washington, D.C., for my compulsory FAA
Aviation Medical Examiner (AME) seminar. AMEs
are required to attend such a seminar every three years. A
computer learni ng and testing program may be substituted
for one seminar, but we must personally attend an FAA-sponsored
AME program every six years.
The live programs provide a great deal of useful information.
Many of them are called "theme" seminars and the
one I attended had a cardiology
theme. This program put emphasis
on topics of medical certification
dealing with the heart and
vascular system. A lot of in fOrtnation
and statistics was di spensed
over 20 hours.
Here are some points from
that meeting that I think you
might find of interest:
There are 4,097 AMEs, 48%
of AMEs are pilots, 7% of AMEs
are female. AMEs are located in Regions, with the Southern
Region the largest and Alaska the smallest.
Fifty percent of AMEs are senior AMEs i.e. those who
can perfortn Class I exams. All international AMEs are
Senior AMEs, to be available for air-transport pilots out of
country.
AMEs come from many medical disciplines. Family
Medicine physicians are the largest group, comprising about
half of all AMEs.
The number of AME exams given in 2007 was 426,182.
You might look at exams divided by AMEs and surmise that
each AME does about 100 exams per year. Wrong. Fifty percent
of AMEs do less than 50 exams per year; 25% do 50 to
250 exams per year. As with any such statistical curve, there
are some out there doing very few and some doing a bunch!
The Aerospace Medical Certification Division (AMCD)
receives about 1,700 exams per day. Of nearly 430,000
exams done annually, only 624 final denials were issued.
That is about one-tenth of one percent.
A word of explanation is needed on the tertn "denial." If
Airtnan X goes to his AME and has recently had a disqualifying
condition- let 's say a recent coronary bypass surgery-the
AME will defer that medical certification to the
AMCD and the pilot will receive a letter asking for more
information that AMCD deems necessary to make a decision
if the airman can receive a special issuance for the disqualifying
condition. If the airtnan provides that infortnation and
the AM CD issues the certificate, there was an "initial"
denial .. . but not a "final" denial.
There were 5,909 initial denials in 2007 of which only
624 were "final." The positive take-home lesson here is that
even though there are situations where the airman just cannot
qualify, most pilots, providing the proper documentation, can
maintain a certificate.
It is anticipated that by 2025 there will be three times the
aircraft and airmen flying. If this turns out to be true, the
AMCD hopes to expand the AME-assisted special issuance
program (AASI) that aUows AMEs to reissue certificates for
certain conditions after initial special
issuance by the AMCD.
Presently there are 25 such conditions.
This speeds the specialissuance
recertification process
for the airman.
New certification news
For pilots under 40, first-class
certificates are valid for 12
months and third-class certificates
for five years (60 months). These
new rulings are retroactive, i.e. if you had your last thirdclass
exam at age 36 in August 2004 and you did not go back
to renew your certificate at age 39 (August 2007, three years
under the old rule), and you have not been flying because
your medical expired, you now have a valid medical again
(until August 2009).
How 'bout that! Good news for the under-40 crowd. Of
course if, at any time, you have been diagnosed with a disqualifying
condition, Part 61.53 of the FARs required you to
not exercise your airtnan privileges.
Last tidbit: The average age of AMEs is 58 years old. At
the meeting they recognized several AMEs for more than 40
years of service. Looks like being an AME may be good for
longevity. I certainly hope so ...
Charles S. Davidson, M.D .. hold s board certification in family
medicine and emergency medicine. He has been an a viation
medical examiner since 1978 a nd serves as a senior AME . He
holds a commercia l pilot license with mulfiengine and instrument
roting. He is an active pilot using general aviation for
business a nd pleasure for 23 years. He is a member of the ABS
Boord of Directors a nd serves on the Executive Committee. He
flies on A36.
This column is intended as general information only for the ASS
membership; it should not be construed as providing medicol
advice or creoting a doctor-patient relationship. Consult your own
doctor for personal advice or your AME for aeromedical advice.