Certification Issues

by Dr. Bill Blank, MD
© Copyright 2021. All rights reserved!
Published in Midwest Flyer Magazine – December 2021/January 2022 Online Issue

Those of you who attended EAA AirVenture this year realized that the FAA had a markedly diminished presence. The FAA Aviation Center was closed. Only one FAA physician, the new Federal Air Surgeon, Dr. Susan E. Northrup, was officially in attendance. One other FAA physician came at his own expense. Normally, several FAA physicians would have been in attendance to help airmen with problems with their flight physicals.

As you saw in the last issue, Dr. Northrup is a retired Air Force physician. She is an MD and has an M.P.H. (Master’s Degree in Public Health). After she retired from the U.S. Air Force (USAF), she first worked for Delta Airlines and then became the Regional Flight Surgeon in FAA’s Southern Region. In addition, she served as the head Regional Flight Surgeon. She is a private pilot. She and her husband, a former F-16 pilot, and retired airline captain, live on an airpark in Georgia. They flew together to Oshkosh in their Harvard Mark IV after their Stearman developed a problem about 30 miles from home. Her background as an active private pilot and regulatory physician makes her uniquely qualified for the position

Dr. Northrup worked quite hard at AirVenture, meeting with various stakeholders, including EAA officials and Aviation Medical Examiners (AMEs), seeking their input, and explaining her future vision for medical certification. She is well aware of the need to improve the certification process.

FAA form 8500-8, which we all complete for our flight physicals, has been unchanged for 13 years.

She is concerned about certification delays. Her goal is to reduce them to less than 60 days.

AMEs are currently limited to submitting no more than 10 pages of an airman’s records electronically. The rest must be mailed. She wants to change that. All records must be scanned, an unnecessary step. During COVID, scanning took up to 35 days. No records are looked at until after scanning. Most AMEs use the pdf format. The government doesn’t. This will necessitate converting all records to the government format, which complicates things. Many letters airmen receive are unduly threatening. Some are being re-written. Some of the legalese is still required but is being softened when possible.

The whole time I have been an AME, the FAA has refused to publish a list of approved medications. She plans to change that and make it available to airmen and AMEs.

Being an ophthalmologist, I pay particular attention to the visual standards. I give some of the ophthalmology lectures to new AMEs and also for AME recurrent training. Sometimes, while giving these lectures, I have wondered “why we are still doing it this way?” Several AMEs met with Dr. Northrup at Oshkosh and made some suggestions.

Recently AMEs received a questionnaire regarding the color vision tests they use. Because of some episodes of cheating by Air Force pilot applicants, the USAF has gone completely to computerized testing. Some form of that may be around the corner for civilian pilots. I am watching that closely. I’ll keep you informed.

As you can see, Dr. Northrup has many issues to address. I wish her well. I think she is going in the right direction.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Columnist William A. Blank is a physician in La Crosse, Wisconsin, and has been an Aviation Medical Examiner (AME) since 1978, and a Senior AME since 1985. Dr. Blank is a retired Ophthalmologist, but still gives some of the ophthalmology lectures at AME renewal seminars. Flying-wise, Dr. Blank holds an Airline Transport Pilot Certificate and has 5600 hours. He is a Certified Instrument Flight Instructor (CFII) and has given over 1200 hours of aerobatic instruction. In addition, Dr. Blank was an airshow performer through the 2014 season and has held a Statement of Aerobatic Competency (SAC) since 1987.

DISCLAIMER: The information contained in this column is the expressed opinion of the author only, and readers are advised to seek the advice of others and refer to the Federal Aviation Regulations and FAA Aeronautical Information Manual for additional information and clarification.