US Will Require Hot Air Balloon Pilots to Pass Medical Exam

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Similar to the requirement for pilots of commercial planes and helicopters, federal officials are forcing pilots of hot air balloons transporting paying passengers to pass an annual medical exam. The Federal Aviation Administration finally issued a rule that specifies the need for a medical certificate, which includes being examined by an FAA-approved examiner.

The requirement was authorized by Congress in 2018 and the FAA was instructed to adopt a regulation outlining the need by the spring of 2019. When that deadline passed without being met, lawmakers charged the organization with disobeying congressional directives. Pilots of balloons have long been excluded from the rule. Instead, the FAA accepted the voluntary standards established by a business trade association. However, the National Transportation Safety Board advised eliminating the exemption. After the deadliest hot air balloon accident in American history, a 2016 crash in Texas that killed all 16 aboard, safety board members criticized the FAA.

Investigators found that the pilot's impairment was most likely caused by several medications at the time that he collided with a power line. Robert Sumwalt, then the chairman of the safety board, questioned why the FAA endorsed voluntary requirements drafted by a balloon industry trade group instead of tightening regulations after learning that the man had informed his psychiatrist that he had stopped taking his antidepressant medication, and the psychiatrist had documented the man's mood as being "not good." The FAA announced a proposal to demand medical certificates in November of last year. Before the government published its final rule, about 200 individuals and organizations provided comments.