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FAA "Courtesy Call" after Basic Med

Flyin'Bryan

Well Known Member
I recently became yet another FAA BasicMed success story, having taken care of it on 9-12-17. Super happy that my doc agreed to participate, and that he understands the intent and has no problems with it.

However, a curious thing happened a couple of weeks ago, when I listened to a message on my answering machine with some sweet sounding young female voice stating that it was the FAA calling to verify my address. has anyone else experienced this sort of thing after completing Basic Med? I'm just wondering if:

1. This was nothing but a total scam call (I never replied to it or called the number she left)

2. if my completion of Basic Med somehow triggered this event from the FAA, because they now need to reflect that I am on Basic Med and not a standard Class 3 Medical anymore. The problem is, if that is the case, why would they want to "verify my address, and not my medical status change?"

Just curious if anyone has experienced this as well after obtaining a BasicMed privileges.
 
Nothing gets submitted to the FAA after a basic med exam, so I would imagine this is coincidence. Though I assume they have access to the records of pilots taking the awareness program from AOPA. I certainly would call them back. I would suspect that little good would come from ignoring the FAA.

Scammers focus their programs towards the masses and very few people interact with the FAA. It is HIGHLY unlikely to be a scam.

Larry
 
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Like Tom said, when you complete the AOPA course and fill out what is required to get your certificate, it sends that info to the FAA.

May have something to do with the recent Equifax data breach. Your credit reports have all kinds of personal info in them and scammers now have this data for over 143 million people. Scammers will use this data to try and trick people into their traps!

I am questioning anything these days that even hint of a scam!
 
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Nothing gets submitted to the FAA after a basic med exam, so I would imagine this is coincidence. Though I assume they have access to the records of pilots taking the awareness program from AOPA.
Not true. Do a search of any pilot with BasicMed on the FAA airman database and BasicMed status will show up:

It is partially true. The FAA gets a list of those that have completed the awareness program. The FAA does not get medically related data from anybody unless specifically requested.

:cool:
 
I would suspect that little good would come from ignoring the FAA.

I'd take exactly the opposite approach...little good can come from *volunteering* information to an enforcement agency.

If they really need the information, you'll get something formal in the mail (probably certified mail).
 
I'd take exactly the opposite approach...little good can come from *volunteering* information to an enforcement agency.

If they really need the information, you'll get something formal in the mail (probably certified mail).

I didn't suggest volunteering information, only calling them back and find out what they want. Ignorance to their position won't likely help. Also, you won't get any mail from them, formal otherwise, if they don't have your current address.

It's quite possible that they scan the basic med data and look for discrepancies between the submitted data and the data on record, such as current address.
 
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Sounds like a scam to me

Sounds like a scam to me. Like stated federal agencies send requests by mail.

I might call just cause I'm inquisitive but I wouldn't volunteer anything. You might actually gather info worthy of reporting to FAA.
 
Actually, in your case, I would check that the FAA registry of your pilot's certificate data base is correct.

If it's correct, then ignore it - hey, your details are right, so no need to telephone to confirm. :)

If the FAA data base has an error, then correct it in the prescribed fashion with a letter to OK City.

It could simply be that the AOPA information sent to the FAA when you filled out the awareness info didn't match what the FAA has for you.
 
It is a requirement to notify the FAA of every address change. Does the address on your certificate match the basic med address?
 
Several good points from all of you about this...

Az and Bugsy have mentioned some things that are also running around in head as well. I will most likely go back to the phone message and probably try to verify the phone number somehow, and also check my credentials in the FAA database. I also thought that perhaps the stuff from AOPA might not match the address that they have on file, and it may be purely innocent.

As far as the question about what the FAA receives from AOPA is concerned: The FAA still has to be aware of your medical issuance status somehow; For example, they still need to be able to determine if you are issued a standard class medical or a special issuance medical, or BasicMed.

I assume they are figuring all that out from the info they get from AOPA, as others have mentioned. SO even if they are not capturing any detailed medical information about you if you go through Basic Med, I think they still need to figure out somehow exactly what TYPE of medical you have, and have to keep that up to date in their records. So I understand that.

But the kicker to all of this for me, as some of you have mentioned, is that if the FAA needed something "official" from me, I usually get that in writing from them, not from a "courtesy call" on the phone - which is why this was so strange to me.

FWIW, if this happens to anybody else, just be aware I guess, and proceed with caution due to the present "personal information" situation we all currently find ourselves in. I'll update the thread once I get the "rest of the story."

Goooooood day! (I miss Paul Harvey)

Thanks again for all the input.
 
Hopefully your address is current in the FAA database. Remember you have 30 days to report an address change. If the address provided for the OPA course is different than the k e in the registry, it may trigger questions about not having reported a move.
 
Bryan,

I have to disagree with the first part about the FAA knowing about your medical status. I have an Air Force flying medical which covers me under third class. No where in the regs have I seen that I have to alert the FAA that I hold such a medical.

14 CFR 61.23(b) Operations not requiring a medical certificate. A person is not required to hold a medical certificate?
(9) When a military pilot of the U.S. Armed Forces can show evidence of an up-to-date medical examination authorizing pilot flight status issued by the U.S. Armed Forces and?
(i) The flight does not require higher than a third-class medical certificate; and
(ii) The flight conducted is a domestic flight operation within U.S. airspace.
 
too look up a maybe "scam" phone number , i use . www.411.com..., it is free......, but i have never looked up a government phone number,... but it does work for me , with the standard "scam" phone calls that , i do get.....
...
..
.
good day , good luck /rick
 
I'm MIA!!!

Yikes! :eek:

I went to the FAA Airman database inquiry link provided in Post #3 and discovered I'm not listed!! My deceased brother and my son who has been inactive for over 15 years are both listed but not me.

Then when I tried to send them a message using their inquiry link, it indicated it was not available and I should try again later! :confused: [Update: Found an email link, and it apparently worked. We'll see how long it takes for it to get straightened out! Hopefully I won't receive a phone call, because I only answer familiar callers or those who leave messages.]

Communication with the government is so much fun! (I shouldn't be surprised, I work for the guv'mint!) :(
 
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FAA Airman Certificate database all messed up!

I did a quick validation of information in the FAA Airman Certificate database.

Folks you should check your information.

I queried the database for some pilots that I personally know and got varying results.

In my case and in a few other's, we don't exist in the database. But for other pilots, their information is INCORRECT (e.g., BasicMed information)! And for others there is a lot of information (difficulty with the vision color tests!) that is not consistent from pilot to pilot. Some is correct and some is incorrect.

[P.S.... CORRECTION: I stand corrected. Please see later Post Nos. 19 and 24.]

I suspect the FAA has hired a contractor to build this database, and either they went online too soon (to meet a contract deadline) or they are combining information from several databases, or they just goofed! It appears it's going to take a lot of work to get it sorted out.

In any case, I would recommend you check your information for accuracy, and let them know (there is an email link) if it's wrong.
 
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Mine is okay, although I noticed updates are slow; e.g., I renewed my cfi certificate on 8/2/2017, it took 7 weeks to show up on-line.
I also see they no longer ask you to identify yourself to gain access.
 
My information shows that I have been a pilot since 2006 rather than the actual 1985. 21 years of flying time gone.
 
Twice called

I have recieved two separate calls from the ATL FSDO to verify information. One was to make sure I had in fact recieved my SAC card and the other was to verify information. The local offices are in fact staffed by nice folks that actually want to help us out sometimes. Call them back and ask what they eant.
 
My information shows that I have been a pilot since 2006 rather than the actual 1985. 21 years of flying time gone.

It has always been true that they only show the "date of issue". You probably got a re-issue in 2006 to remove your SSN or something. Go get a commercial certificate next month and all your history will disappear.
 
Date???

My information shows that I have been a pilot since 2006 rather than the actual 1985. 21 years of flying time gone.

Did you get another certificate or rating in 2006? I think the data base only shows the date of the most recently issued certificate. In my case they lost 38 years!!
 
Thanks

...Note to "rv7boy": Don, you're in the database. You also elected to remove your address from the database. You have a valid 3rd Class Medical and BasicMed. ;) (It's scary what you can dig up on the internet by piecing together a little info!)

Thanks, Carl. I believe this is the second time you have bailed me out. I guess I "owe you one." I am reminded of the comic strip character Pogo who said, "We have met the enemy, and he is us."

So hey, everybody. Make sure you know how to access your info on that web site!

Feeling a little embarrassed, but educated.

[10/3/17 P.S. Just to follow up, a man in the FAA Airman Certification Branch did reply to my email, and I thanked him for it.]
 
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The rest of the story.....

Thanks to those that provided the lookup info on the FAA site, I was able to verify that my info is there, and as far as I can tell it all looks correct - even the dates that they entered for the Basic Med.

I did not use 411.com as others suggested to try to verify the phone number that was left on my answering machine, but instead I just entered it as a standard search in Google - took me right away to the Medical Certification Contact Info page for the FAA. SO the number appears to be valid, and it is coming from OKC - not my local FSDO.

SO this does appear to be related to some effort to do "something" with my info in OKC. The fact that they said it was a "courtesy call to verify my address" still leaves me suspicious that they are really trying to verify other things as well as part of their effort to update their records. SO I will probably call on Monday to follow up, to make sure they don't mess anything up.

One other possibility that I thought might be a reason for the call was that I also renewed my CFI certificate recently, and I am currently within that 120 day waiting period to receive the new card. As far as verifying addresses is concerned, I noted that they have started putting the 4-digit zip code extension on the end of our zip codes. My temporary CFI cert does not have the 4 digit extension number on the end, so I though perhaps this could be the reason why they are calling to "verify my address." Since my address has remained the same for years, I still find this phone call a bit ridiculous.

All that logic goes out the window now, since the phone number they left was from the OKC FAA medical certification office, which is a separate division from the airmen certification branch. All I can figure is that maybe they share the same database for name, address, etc.

SO it looks like I have one more thing I have to do with the FAA to make sure nothing gets screwed up I guess. I never thought that this would spark as much discussion as it has. I was just curious if anyone else had received a similar phone call because it just seemed so odd.

As a result of that, in our present day circumstances with risks of compromised information and ID theft, combined with new FAA programs that require new record keeping, etc., it may be a good idea to add a checklist item to lookup your FAA info periodically, just as you do for your RV condition inspection and other checklists that you follow during the course of the year. Add it to your checklist, and make sure that the FAA has it right.
 
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Call them!

You know, there is a lot of speculation going on here when a simple phone call would provide the answer. Why is everybody keyed to think the FAA is out to get them? Do you think they are going to pull your ticket if you call?
If they really have a valid problem, they are not going to go away just because you ignored their civil request.
 
+1. Similar to 'anoynomous mode' UAT. What are people doing that they feel they have to hide (not that it will do them any good)?
 
Made the call - issue is still strange

Jerry and Bob - I don't think they are out to get me, and I am not hiding anything. That was not the reason for this post. I was simply concerned that a spam effort may have been underway due to the strangeness of the call I received, and wanted to know if anyone else was getting the same type of call. As others have mentioned, I don't get calls from the FAA - only snail mail, so I found it to be suspicious.

So after confirming that the phone number was indeed a "valid" FAA phone number, I called the FAA medical certification branch, and was told that they have been trying to send me a letter, and it keeps getting rejected as "undeliverable" by the post office.

So yeah, I verified my address with them - it's the same one that they have had for years, and it was the same one that was on the envelope that they were trying to send. So now apparently the Post Office down there is having some sort of a problem. To top it all off, the reason that they are sending me this letter also does not make any sense either. No need to go into that.

Anyway, apparently there is no harm or foul to me, and it wasn't some bogus spam call or attempt to manipulate my FAA information, but there are still some messed up things going on down there. This leaves me wondering if I will ever get my permanent CFI certificate back from them this time..........
 
, but there are still some messed up things going on down there. This leaves me wondering if I will ever get my permanent CFI certificate back from them this time..........

I just got my renewed cfi card in the mail, after a 7 week wait-the longest it has ever taken. No idea why things are slow.
 
You know, there is a lot of speculation going on here when a simple phone call would provide the answer. Why is everybody keyed to think the FAA is out to get them? Do you think they are going to pull your ticket if you call?
If they really have a valid problem, they are not going to go away just because you ignored their civil request.

Doesn't mean we have to volunteer information that may be used against us, either.

Simple phone calls or conversations often lead to problems when regulatory or policing agencies are involved. Ask any lawyer :).

E.g., What's the first thing a FSDO or ATC facility will ask you, e.g., when calling about an airspace violation? If you were the PIC of some flight on a certain day. Now what do you do? Admit it, and thus the violation? Or lie about it, which has its own consequences?

Maybe it's paranoid, but I'd recommend being very cautious when engaging with government regulatory/police personnel unless and until one knows why they're interested in you.
 
incorrect info

I completed BASICMED a couple of months ago, overseas, with a family practice doctor in a military facility, and placed the completed and signed checklist in my log book at my current and FAA-reported address. the FAA database, however, shows my latest third class medical from 2013 and NONE under BASICMED. why should i correct it? i have complied with the regs, can prove such if i need to, and see no benefit to assuring that their info is up to date. the whole idea of BASICMED was to minimize upkeep, paperwork, unnecessary effort, right?

as for privacy, as an aside, i am probably in so many databases that have already been hacked that i no longer have much of an expectation of personal information privacy. comments?
 
I completed BASICMED a couple of months ago, overseas, with a family practice doctor in a military facility, and placed the completed and signed checklist in my log book at my current and FAA-reported address. the FAA database, however, shows my latest third class medical from 2013 and NONE under BASICMED. why should i correct it? i have complied with the regs, can prove such if i need to, and see no benefit to assuring that their info is up to date. the whole idea of BASICMED was to minimize upkeep, paperwork, unnecessary effort, right?

as for privacy, as an aside, i am probably in so many databases that have already been hacked that i no longer have much of an expectation of personal information privacy. comments?

Did you complete the online course and take the test? The last part of the test asks you to put in the date of your physical and neither date gets updated in your record until it has been completed. In fact, it took a few days to update, but if it's been a couple of months then you should probably look into it because the FAA probably considers you non-compliant. Just having the checklist is not enough.
 
why yes, but...

i took the test long before i had the exam and completed checklist. guess that's why! will figure out whether and how to get compliant in the eyes of father FAA as soon as i am back in the states.
thanks!
 
i took the test long before i had the exam and completed checklist. guess that's why! will figure out whether and how to get compliant in the eyes of father FAA as soon as i am back in the states.
thanks!

Yes, you did it backwards. Exam first, then on-line 'test'.
 
Curious how you could have done it that way

i took the test long before i had the exam and completed checklist. guess that's why! will figure out whether and how to get compliant in the eyes of father FAA as soon as i am back in the states.
thanks!

Flion is correct, as is Bob. At the end of the online course from the AOPA site you are required to enter the information for your medical exam completion date, doctor's name, etc. before you are allowed to obtain your course completion certificate and officially "finish" the course. So my question would be did you complete this form at the end of the course? if you had not yet completed the exam with your doctor you would not be able to complete this information on the form at the end of the course.

That would be about the only way I could think of that your Basic Med info has not been updated by the FAA, short of them not getting it entered properly or there being some issue with the transfer of the info from AOPA to the FAA. So if that is what happened, then yes, you should take the online course and make sure you fill out the info on the form at the end and ensure it has been saved and sent to the FAA. I believe also states that you need to keep the record of both the completion certificate AND your signed doctor visit completion form with your logbook (I might be wrong about that, but I think that is the case.)

As an aside update to my original predicament - I still have not received my mystery snail mail from the FAA. Gotta love it!
 
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Flion is correct. At the end of the online course from the AOPA site you are required to enter the information for your medical exam completion date, doctor's name, etc. before you are allowed to obtain your course completion certificate and officially "finish" the course. So my question would be did you complete this form at the end of the course? if you had not yet completed the exam with your doctor you would not be able to complete this information on the form at the end of the course.

That would be about the only way I could think of that your Basic Med info has not been updated by the FAA, short of them not getting it entered properly or there being some issue with the transfer of the info from AOPA to the FAA. So if that is what happened, then yes, you should take the online course and make sure you fill out the info on the form at the end and ensure it has been saved and sent to the FAA. I believe also states that you need to keep the record of both the completion certificate AND your signed doctor visit completion form with your logbook (I might be wrong about that, but I think that is the case.)

As an aside update to my original predicament - I still have not received my mystery snail mail from the FAA. Gotta love it!

Make sure your doctor provides their license number. I had to ask my doc's office staff a couple of times to include it on the signature page. IIRC, the on-line certificate stuff needs that data.
 
I knew there was something else I was forgetting

Joe you are correct - you do also need to enter your doctor's state issued license number on the online form, and this comes from the form that the doctor signs after your exam.

And while we are on that subject, if you are ever checked or asked by the FAA to produce your Basic Med credentials, the doctor's signature and his license number and the date of the exam need to be on that hard copy record that you show to them. So be sure to tell your doctor to fill all that out when they do your exam.

You know - i's dotted and t's crossed, numbers entered and all that stuff....
 
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