Flight Crew Licensing — Page 87, Lesson 141

All right, let's get into the nuts and bolts of medical certificate administration. We're looking at two very specific rules here: what happens when your medical certificate gets suspended, and how long that certificate stays valid. Let's start with 5.89, Suspension of Medical Certificate. The key word here is suspension — the certificate isn't cancelled forever, it's put on hold. And there are three specific triggers that force you to notify the authority immediately. First, if you suffer an injury. Second, if you're diagnosed as pregnant. Third, on the 21st day of a prolonged illness. So the moment one of those happens, you must tell the authority right away. Once you've notified them, your medical certificate is suspended. It stays suspended until you're passed as fit to resume aircrew duty. That's the moment of reinstatement. And here's the clever part — when it's reinstated, the remaining validity period is exactly what it was at the time of suspension. So if you had six months left when it was suspended, you get those six months back. You don't lose time. Now, the pregnancy case has its own special handling. After a female pilot is diagnosed as pregnant, she may be permitted to continue flying duty — but only until the date the medical authority decides it's no longer prudent for the health of the embryonic baby or the mother to keep flying. So it's not an automatic grounding; it's a judgment call by the medical authority. After delivery, and after a medical examination, she's then declared fit to resume duty, and at that point the certificate is reinstated. Now let's move to 5.90, Validity of Medical Certificates. This is about the life of the certificate and what happens if you let it lapse. A medical certificate is valid from the date of the initial general medical examination. That's your starting point. It may be renewed during the period of validity, or under the conditions below. Here's where the time bands come in, and you need to be precise about these. If a licence holder allows the certificate to expire by more than 5 years, renewal will require an initial or extended aeromedical examination — and the choice between those is at the AME's discretion. AME is the Aeromedical Examiner. And that examination must be carried out at an AMC — that's the Aeromedical Centre — which has obtained the certificate holder's medical records. Next band: if the certificate has expired by more than 2 years but less than 5 years, a standard or extended examination will be required. This can be done at an AMC, or by an AME if approved by the AMS — the Aeromedical Section. And again, the records of medical examinations must be made available. Final band: if the certificate expires by more than 90 days but less than 2 years, a standard or extended examination performed at an AMC or by an AME (if approved by the AMS) will be required. The excerpt cuts off right there, but you can see the pattern — the longer you let it lapse, the more rigorous the examination becomes, and the more restricted the options for where it can be done. So the takeaway: suspension is about a temporary hold with time preserved, and validity is about a sliding scale of renewal requirements based on how long the certificate has been expired. Keep those time bands straight — 90 days, 2 years, 5 years — and remember who does what: AME for the examiner, AMC for the centre, AMS for the section that approves.