9  Medical Self-Certification


Airman medical certificates are not required for pilots of gliders,
motorgliders, and hot air balloons (nor for ultralights, which are
unregulated).

There has long been a tradition in the soaring community that glider
pilots may "self-certify" their medical qualification.	This
terminology, "self-certification" may be based on discussions between
the DOT and SSA, but there has been no such process required by the
FAR's, either before or since 1997, when Part 67, Medical Standards
and Certification, was last changed.

Here's our legal status:

  1.  No medical certification is required for pilots of gliders or
      hot air balloons, either "self" or "official."

  2.  The concerns of the public, Congress, the DOT, and the FAA
      regarding pilot health can be summed up simply:
       -  The main requirement regarding illness is that the pilot not
	  have any condition that carries a risk of sudden in-flight
	  incapacitation.
	  The basic requirement concerning physical capacity is that
	  the pilot be able to safely manipulate the controls, and
	  have the vision, hearing, intellectual capacity, and
	  judgment to operate the craft with proper skill.

  3.  Pilots are required to use good judgment at all times regarding
      whether their present health interferes with safety:

	   FAR 61.53  Prohibition on operations during medical
	   deficiency.

	   (b) Operations that do not require a medical
	   certificate.  For operations
	   provided for in Section 61.23(b) [Operations not
	   requiring a medical
	   certificate] of this part, a person shall not act as
	   pilot in command, or in
	   any other capacity as a required pilot flight
	   crewmember, while that person
	   knows or has reason to know of any medical condition
	   that would make the
	   person unable to operate the aircraft in a safe
	   manner.

  4.  There is no record of the DOT ever having taken an enforcement
      action against the pilot of a glider or hot air balloon for
      flying with a medical deficiency.

  5.  There is no record of any litigation against a pilot who had a
      crash or other accident in which the health or physical
      incapacitation of the pilot was an issue.

We conclude that soaring and hot-air balloon pilots have
done a satisfactory job of recognizing their health limitations.  And we can
conclude that pilots of these types of aircraft need not be anxious
about the possibility of a health-related legal problem.  
In any event, the burden of proof is on the "enforcer."



		       Glider Pilot Physiology:

			  Clues You Can Use

		     Daniel L. Johnson, MD, FACP
			 (C) 1998, 1999, 2000

			Reproduction permitted
			  with attribution.