AOPA Turbine Pilot Magazine - April 2023 - 102

FLY WITH AOPA
Returning to flying after a cardiac event
BY JULIE SUMMERS WALKER
MEET THE PIC
1,000+
The number of medical certification-related
cases addressed by the AOPA Pilot Information
Center each year.
Check your heart's plumbing
THE AOPA PI LOT Information Center (PIC) is a valuable resource to
members. The team fields questions from members about their medical
certificates and other legal and operational concerns. " The majority of
questions we get are centered around having a stent placed or having
bypass surgery performed, " said Cade Halle, AOPA medical certification
specialist. " We typically get people calling who have recently had
a cardiac event. The question is usually, 'I just had a stent placed/heart
attack and I am flying on BasicMed. What do I need to do?' "
Having a cardiac condition that has to do with the " plumbing
of the heart, " as Halle describes it, is a disqualifying event for
BasicMed. Examples of those conditions are a stent, heart attack, coronary
artery bypass graft, balloon angioplasty, heart valve replacement, or
heart transplant. Each of these is immediately grounding and will require
approval from the FAA by way of a special issuance medical certificate,
which AOPA can help you with.
" When a pilot has one of the BasicMed disqualifying conditions
(neurological event, cardiac event, or psychiatric episode that meets
the disqualifying parameters) we can assist in providing what the FAA
will require in terms of additional medical testing, medical records, and
how to navigate sending that information to the FAA, " Halle said. " At the
Pilot Protective Services Plus level we can even review that documentation
to ensure it's the appropriate information the FAA is expecting and
look for any red flags that the FAA may question. "
The AOPA PIC is available to help if any of these concerns affect you.
julie.walker@aopa.org
aopa.org/pps
102
AOPA PILOT / April 2023
AV I AT I ON AND ME D I C A L specialists
like private pilot Cade Halle respond to
more than 200,000 member questions
and thousands of chats, emails, and
letters each year. As the foremost technical
resource available to GA pilots,
the AOPA Pilot Information Center
maintains the highest standards of professionalism
and technical expertise.
This skilled group of pilots, medical specialists,
and flight instructors has more
than 50,000 hours of collective flight
experience. Chat with PIC staff online
during office hours (click the " Chat Live
with AOPA " button on the website) or
send an email. Call 800-USA-AOPA
(872-2672) Monday through Friday, 8:30
a.m. to 6 p.m., Eastern time.
'Undeniable success'
The BasicMed program became available
to pilots on May 1, 2017. Since that time,
the AOPA Air Safety Institute reports
that the GA accident rate, based on NTSB
data, including BasicMed pilots, is at its
lowest level in decades. " With hundreds
of thousands of GA pilots in the U.S., I
am encouraged that we are experiencing
the best safety numbers in years,
even while the skies are busier than ever.
The data clearly show that BasicMed has
been an undeniable success, " said AOPA
President Mark Baker.
aopa.org/basicmed
DID YOU KNOW?
http://www.aopa.org/pps http://www.aopa.org/basicmed
AOPA Turbine Pilot Magazine - April 2023

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