Inspector general says FAA lacks tools to ensure pilot health program is safe, effective

The Federal Aviation Administration has failed to develop the necessary in-house procedures to enforce its alternative pilot health verification system, according to a recently released inspector general report. 

In 2017 the FAA instituted its BasicMed program, what the agency describes on its website as "an alternate way for pilots to fly without holding an FAA medical certificate." Under that program, non-commercial pilots can meet with a licensed physician, complete a health checklist, and then complete an online medical course, after which they can be certified to fly. 

Yet a report released this week by the Office of the Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Transportation determined that the FAA "lacks an effective process to confirm pilots meet all eligibility requirements."

The administration also "does not have a process to verify that pilots’ medical examinations are being performed by State-licensed physicians as required," the report concluded; it further argued that the FAA lacks sufficient data to verify the safety of the program itself. 

The inspector general's office recommended that the FAA "implement processes to mitigate any identified risks" associated with the program, and that the agency develop a process that "allows a meaningful assessment of the safety impact of pilots operating under BasicMed compared with pilots operating with a medical certificate."

The FAA concurred with those two recommendations.