AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2022 - 106

FLY WITH AOPA
LEGALLY SPEAKING /
Notorious 18(v)
Get your background
check straight
THE FAA'S APPL ICAT ION for airman medical
certificate (MedXPress) is not your
ordinary government form. Filling it out
accurately is important. If the FAA alleges
you made a fraudulent or intentionally false
statement on the medical application, you
will likely face emergency revocation of
your airmen certificates (and, in certain
cases, jail time). The entire form is complicated-but
no question causes more
confusion than the notorious 18(v).
In fact, the FAA once analyzed question
18(v) and found that a reader would need
more than 20 years of education to properly
understand it. Despite knowing this,
despite the Government Accountability
Office and the NTSB recommending that
the FAA revise the application for clarity,
despite AOPA providing comments to the
FAA on the need to improve the application
(and receiving no response), despite
Congress reminding the FAA that the application
should be " subject to a minimum
amount of misinterpretation and mistaken
responses, " and despite the database
of NTSB opinions being replete with cases
CONTACT AOPA
ADDRESS CHANGE?
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AOPA membership number:
421 Aviation Way
Frederick, Maryland 21701-4798
Fax: 301-695-2375
aopa.org
TOLL-FREE PILOT
INFORMATION CENTER
800-USA-AOPA (872-2672)
pilotassist@aopa.org
AOPA FOUNDATION
800-955-9115
aopafoundation.org
AOPA AIR SAFETY INSTITUTE
800-638-3101
airsafetyinstitute.org
106
AOPA PILOT / April 2022
CREDIT CARD PROGRAM
The best card for pilots.
877-787-3171
aopa.org/creditcard
AIRCRAFT FINANCING
800-627-5263
finance.aopa.org
PERSONAL INSURANCE
800-USA-AOPA (872-2672)
aopa.org/membership/personal
PILOT PROTECTION
SERVICES
800-USA-AOPA (872-2672)
aopa.org/pps
TRAVEL DISCOUNTS
aopa.org/cars | aopa.org/hotels
BY IAN ARENDT
Pilot Protection Services
against airmen for answering the question
incorrectly, the FAA has refused to meaningfully
revise the application. Instead, the
FAA has further complicated it by including
additional information [+] boxes following
each of the medical history questions and
adding 856 words to the application. You
must answer " Yes " if any of the following
has ever occurred in your life:
1. You were arrested, detained, or taken
into custody by any law enforcement or
military authority under the suspicion of
driving while intoxicated by, impaired by,
or under the influence of drugs or alcohol
(even if you were not charged or convicted
and even if your record was expunged).
2. You were convicted (i.e., adjudicated
guilty based on a jury, court, or military
verdict or by a plea of guilty or nolo contendere/no
contest) of any offense relating
to driving while intoxicated by, impaired by,
or under the influence of alcohol or drugs
(even if you were not arrested, even if you
were not sentenced, even if the conviction
is being appealed or was overturned, and
even if your record was expunged).
AOPA PILOT
INFORMATION
CENTER HOURS
Do you have questions or
need information about an
aviation topic? Access the
team of aviation experts in our
Pilot Information Center. Call
800-USA-AOPA (872-2672)
Monday through Friday, 8:30
a.m. until 6 p.m. Eastern time,
with your questions.
Visit aopa.org/membership
to learn about upgrading
to our higher levels of
membership with Pilot
Protection Services coverage
included.
3. You were arrested for, convicted of,
or subject to an administrative action based
on any offense that resulted in the denial,
suspension, cancellation, or revocation of
your driver's license or driving privileges
in any state or country (even if the offense
had nothing to do with alcohol or drugs).
4. You were arrested for, convicted of,
or subject to an administrative action based
on any offense that resulted in attendance
at an educational or rehabilitation program
(even if unrelated to alcohol or drugs).
The FAA has no guidance for how to
correct a mistake if you have answered a
question incorrectly in the past. If you have
made a mistake, you should consult an
experienced aviation attorney. Ian Arendt
is an in-house attorney with the AOPA Legal
Services Plan.
aopa.org/pps
AV I AVT ION F INANCE
Adam answers /
BY ADAM MEREDITH
President, AOPA Finance
Q I had a Chapter 11
bankruptcy and it's been
discharged. Is it possible to
get financing for an aircraft?
A Bankruptcies are
difficult to recover from.
There are different types
of bankruptcy (Chapter 7,
11, and 13) and lenders
view each differently.
What's least offensive to
the lender is if your debts
were eventually repaid. A
lender will also ask whether
your case has been finalized
in bankruptcy court and
that you've been able to
reestablish some credit.
Finally, the more time since
bankruptcy finalization
(along with reestablished
credit) the better. Every
case is going to be a one-off
decision by the lenders.
aopafinance.org
800-62-PLANE (75263)
http://www.aopa.org/pps http://www.aopa.org/creditcard http://www.aopa.org http://finance.aopa.org http://www.aopa.org/membership/personal http://www.aopa.org/membership http://www.aopafoundation.org http://www.aopa.org/pps http://www.aopafinance.org http://www.airsafetyinstitute.org http://www.aopa.org/cars http://www.aopa.org/hotels
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2022
