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Third Class Medical Horror Story

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bmcj

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Apr 2, 2007
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I take this excerpt from another forum I belong to. I thought it was worth passing along in case any of you are faced with this same situation. These are his words verbatim, except that I changed his name to "John Pilot" to protect his privacy. Here's his story:


John Pilot said:
In December my wallet was lost and presumed stolen. Needless to say it
turned my life up side down for a couple of weeks. Fortunately, I lost
less than $100.00 and was able to cancel my credit card before it could
be used.


This has become the gift that just keeps on giving. I quickly replaced
my drivers license, credit cards etc. I sent away for replacement
airman certificate and medical certificate, figuring it would only be a
quick administrative turnaround. How wrong I was.


The airman cert replacement is going fine. For my $2.00 "replacement"
fee they emailed me a 60 day temp cert and the plastic is on the way.


The medical cert is a whole different animal. I sent my $2.00 for
the "replacement" medical cert and received the following letter:



Dear Mr. Pilot,


We are in receipt of your request for a duplicate certificate.


We are unable to establish your eligibility to hold an airman medical
certificate at this time.


We have recently developed a quality Assessment Program within our
Aerospace Medical Certification Division and have had the opportunity
to further evaluate your case.


Based upon review of your complete medical file additional information
is required.


Due to your history of surgury of your left eye (Nov, 2006) please
submit the results of a current eye evaluation from your eye specialist
in accordance with the enclosed specifications. Please ensure that all
fields of the form are completed. (NOTE: THERE WERE NO ENCLOSED
SPECIFICATIONS IN THE LETTER)


Following review of the enclosed data, we will notify you regarding
your elligibility for medical certification. We will appreciate your
use of the above referenced numbers on any correspondence.


Please note that your medical certification has not been denied ath
this time; however, if no reply is received within 30 days from the
date of this letter, we will have no alternative except to deny your
application in accordance with Title 14 of the Code of Federal
Regulations (CFR's), Section 67.413."



This is so wrong on so many levels I can't believe it. First, XEROX
your medical cert and put it in a safe place. They have NOT sent me a
temp cert even though I have requested one. This places me between a
rock and a hard place. I don't have a cert in hand, and they won't send
me one, but I am not denied. CAN THEY DO THAT? What if I wanted to
just say #@*& it and fly as a sport pilot? NO CAN DO UNTIL THIS IS RESOLVED.


This should have been a simple administrative update to my CURRENT
medical. UNBELIEVEABLE. Any of you planning to switch from private or
rec to sport could be caught by this if you don't have a spare medical
card. and they decided to "audit" your file because your cert was lost.


John Pilot


Bruce :)
 

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