JohnBurke

You appear to be referring to the expiration of a former medical, as in a medical which is no longer valid because it's time of effectivity has passed. That has nothing to do with the question here.

The question here regards holding a valid medical, applying for a new medical, and seeing a deferral on the application for the new medical. We are not talking about a medical which has simply expired.

Issuing a medical certificate does not cause the prior medical to become invalid. If, for example, a pilot. holds a first class medical for three months and applies for a new medical certificate, the medical certification that the pilot holds is not invalidated by the issuance of the new medical certificate. If a pilot holds a medical certificate showing first class privileges, and at four months, applies for a medical certificate with second class privileges, issuing that certificate does not invalidate the fact that the pilot still has two months remaining of first class privilege. Ongoing, the pilot has, under his new medical certificate, second class privilege. The prior unexpired certificate is still valid for first class privilege, however, and after that time, for second class, etc. The new certificate, issued at a second class level, doesn't invalidate the former.

I went for many years without a requirement for corrective lenses. At one point, my AME told me that I'd require them, and as a result, I now have a limitation on my medical, "must wear corrective lenses." This indicates a change in my medical condition from one medical certificate to the other. I've frequently obtained a new medical well before the current one "expires," because of my geography or timing; I won't be able to take time out in two months to come back and get a new medical, so I do it now. Consequently, my current medical still has "time," and hasn't "expired." If I have a medical which still has "time" remaining, which doesn't require corrective lenses, but am issued one today that does require corrective lenses, I can't keep operating without them simply because I have a piece of paper that hasn't "expired" yet that doesn't require them. The simple fact is that a change in my medical status has been observed, and that limitation will be there going forward, even if I have a valid bit of paper that doesn't list that limitation. The overriding item of importance here is my medical condition, not which piece of paper is in my wallet or glued in my logbook (every medical certificate I've ever had is glued in my logbook(s), going back decades). Issuance of the new certificate doesn't cause the old to expire or become invalidated; it supercedes and the new limitations apply.

The thread asks two questions, really: one is does the new medical invalidate the former? On that question; we are either medically certificated or we are not. one could think of a new medical certificate issued during the validity period of the old, to be an extension...we stay medically qualified. There is no penalty under the FAA for letting one expire then applying for another certificate; each is considered under its own merits and there's no "renewal," but by doing what most of us do, getting a new physical done before the last medical expires, we "keep it going" or extend our medical certification interval, thus ensuring we don't lose work or our ability to work. If we were to let it lapse, the FAA doesn't require anything different of us: we just apply again, and off we go. Generally, issuance of new certificate supercedes the older, but if we have current first class privileges, and during their validity apply for and receive a medical certificate with second class privilege, we are not barred from exercising privilege under the validity period of the first class, previously issued certificate.

The second question is the more pressing one: what if we hold a first class medical certificate, and while it's still valid, receive a deferral (the AME refuses or is unable to issue a medical certificate, instead deferring it to Oklahoma City for further consideration). Also in the same vein, what if we hold a current medical certificate good for another given period of time (say, two months), and receive a denial on our current application? Can we continue to operate on the old certificate, because it still has two months? No, we can't, for the reasons already spelled out in my prior two posts, with links and quotes to both legal interpretation and the regulation. We have hit an impasse because our medical certificate is not presently valid, not due to expiry, but due to the medical condition which has caused the deferral or denial. As noted in the Chief Legal Counsel Interpretation, the FAA considers it inappropriate to continue to exercise the privileges of a certificate, until the determination in question (deferral, for example) had been decided.

If a medical certificate has expired, then it's expired. It's the calendar date that leads to that expiration, however; not the application for a medical certificate.

It should also be noted that if an airman is issued a first class medical certificate, it doesn't expire six months after the month in which it was issued: the airman still has a medical certificate. The use of first class privilege attached to that certificate expire, but the certificate continues to be valid for second and third class privileges. It's the privileges that expire, but the medical certificate isn't invalidated or ended based on those dates; it's only actually expired until it's reached an age in which no privileges are possible on that certificate, and now, with basic med and sport pilot, one can fully let it lapse ten years in the past and still operate using a drivers license, so long as the last medical application (the one long "expired") was never denied or in question. In that respect, even a fully "expired" medical certificate is still in play or valid, because even a sport pilot use of a driver license is supported by, and rests upon the last medical application made.

ugleeual

Not sure why the consternation… if the AME doesn’t print, sign and issue the new medical you aren’t legal to fly from that day forward. The OPs question was about gamesmanship in getting the medical done early in the month due and what are some of the pitfalls; the answer is it doesn’t matter really… once the new exam is done you are either issued a medical or not… regardless if it’s on the 1st or 31st of the month.

JohnBurke

There's no gamesmanship. It's a legal question.

If you're good until the end of the month, but you go in on the first of the month and apply, what happens if you're not denied, but your new application is deferred?

You have the rest of the month on your current medical. You're not walking out of the office with a fresh medical.

Can you continue to fly under your existing medical that's good until the end of the month?

Excargodog

Your old medical is no good as soon as the AME tells you that you no longer meet standards.



https://www.faa.gov/air_traffic/publ...tion_1.15.html

JohnBurke

Exactly what I've said, cited, linked, and explained several times, as it's spelled out in 14 CFR 61.53...except that it doesn't take an AME to tell you that. If you're not medically qualified, you can't use the privileges of your certificate.

At any time, if you have a condition for which you do not meet the medical standards, you are not medically qualified and may not exercise the privileges of your medical certificate.

If an AME tells you that you have a disqualifying condition, your medical certificate is not "no good," and is not invalidated. It does not suddenly become null and void, revoked, or anything else; it's still a valid certificate. If you have a disqualifying medical condition, however, you may not exercise the privileges of that certificate. This is a critical distinction.

If you hold a current first class medical certificate with five months to go, and go get blind drunk, you're not medically fit to hold that certificate and may not exercise the privileges of it while you're drunk, regulations specifying bottle to throttle time not withstanding. When you're sober , you may become medically qualified again. Your certificate was never suspended, revoked, or lost its validity. You still held a medical certificate, but you couldn't exercise the privilege. Same for kidney stones, many medications, a sinus blockage, and numerous other conditions which are temporary, but for a period of time may medically disqualify a pilot from flying. The medical certificate doesn't go away, and when the condition goes away, the pilot may continue flying.

Certain conditions require additional information sent to the FAA, before the pilot may continue flying. In my case with the example of the kidney stones, the FAA needed additional documentation that I was stone-free and not believed to be likely to develop more kidney stones, before I could resume flying. I had a disqualifying condition, and I couldn't fly. However, the FAA didn't need to issue a new certificate, nor did my existing FAA medical certificate become invalid. Again, this is a critical distinction.

The question of this thread is whether, while holding a valid medical certificate with time remaining, if one applies for a new certificate and that application is deferred, where does one stand medically? That deferral does NOT cause your medical certificate to become "no good." However, you cannot use the privileges of your medical while that matter is being resolved, as noted in my previous posts. Again, a very important distinction.

ugleeual

I sense a troll

Enginethunder

Or a guy who types 5-10 paragraphs saying and repeating the same thing.