Does anyone know what the status of the proposed rule changes regarding using a valid drivers license in place of a third class medical is? It has been a while since I have seen anything about this.
Thanks,
Tim
Does anyone know what the status of the proposed rule changes regarding using a valid drivers license in place of a third class medical is? It has been a while since I have seen anything about this.
Thanks,
Tim
After some looking around, the only thing I could find was that the current FAA Administrator Micahel Huerta said that he wanted to have a ruling on the issue by the end of the year. So, there may be a ruling sometime in the next two months, but so far, nothing else that I know of.
The proposed rule has been approved by the FAA and is now pending approval from DOT and OMB. After DOT and OMB sign off on the proposed rule, the FAA will release it to the public as a notice of proposed rule making (NPRM). Once the NPRM is released, the public comment period starts. After the comment period closes, the FAA reviews all of the comments, incorporates changes to the rule based on the comments (if necessary), and finally enacts the new rule.
The Type Club Coalition recently sent a letter to DOT and OMB to urge both organizations to expedite the review/approval process. (http://www.eaa.org/en/eaa/eaa-news-a...medical-review)
As soon as DOT and OMB complete their reviews we will communicate the outcome.
Hey Anders, I searched the EAA website this morning for articles concerning this and found two recent ones. On Sept 18, 2014 EAA published an article entitled "Education DC on Medical Certification Reform" and on Oct 23, 2014 they published and article titled "Type Clubs to DOT: Expedite third class medical review" It looks like the pressure on the FAA DOT NTSB is being kept up. As you say, hopefully by the end of the year.
Tim
Thanks for the update Jonathan, good to see that progress is being made.
Tim
So it was a good thing that I renewed my DL with my glasses stowed in my pocket. I missed the fine print. Will it permit night or IFR?
I think we all need to comment during the comment period that we want it to include night and ifr.
We don't yet know what's in the NPRM because the FAA can't show us (an interested party) until it is made public. To do so would be an "ex parte communication," which is forbidden.
We are all very interested to know what the proposal includes and leaves out. I wish we had more to tell you.
I have pulled down the reports from the DOT website showing the progress, or lack thereof, on moving a change in the 3rd class Medical toward a new regulation.
The FAA sent the proposed rule to the Office of the Secretary of Transportation (OST) in July2014. DOT originally indicated the rule would go to Office of Management & Budget (OMB) a monh later. And should have been roughly two months from arrival in OMB to publication of the NPRM.
DOT updates their schedule early each month (the last update was dated 6 Oct). If you look at the attached graphic, you can see that the proposed rule has not left OST for OMB, and worse, in Sept and Oct, DOT didn't even bother to update their report with dates that would be in the future.
I am hoping that at the very least DOT's November report will have achievable dates in the future rather than disrespecting us with such a patently false report with rearview dates.
As it appears to me now, the earliest we will see this proposed rule is February.
The delay is unbelievable, even for the government! How does one protest this inaction? Seems like it may be time to flood the DOT, OMB, & FAA with letters and emails, with copies to our elected congressional delegations. Where are the alphabet organizations' leadership on this? AOPA, we know, just asks us for more lobbying money (I got a call just yesterday), EAA appears to prefer gentle jawboning, the Type-Club Coalition seems to be the most forward moving on this with the letter mentioned above, don't know what the others are doing, but all approaches seem ineffective.
The other frustration is not know what is being reviewed. If only the CIA & NSA were so secure with their information. Unfortunately, there is no determined aviation press to go in and dig out what's in the proposal. We can't know what is being proposed? Seems crazy to me.
Don