BasicMed rules in the FAR/AIM live in two regulatory sections and get only a passing mention in the Aeronautical Information Manual. The operating privileges and limitations are in 14 CFR 61.113(i). The medical exam and education course requirements are in 14 CFR Part 68. The AIM itself is not regulatory, and its closest coverage is Chapter 8, “Medical Facts for Pilots,” which discusses fitness for flight in general terms rather than the BasicMed rules specifically.
If you read only those two regulations, you will have read every binding rule that governs BasicMed.
14 CFR 61.113(i): The Core Operating Rule
Section 61.113 governs what private pilots may do, and paragraph (i) is the provision that authorizes BasicMed. It lets a private pilot fly without a Part 67 medical certificate if the pilot holds a valid U.S. driver’s license, meets the requirements of 61.23(c)(3), and complies with a specific set of conditions.
The conditions in 61.113(i) are:
- The aircraft must be authorized to carry not more than 7 occupants, have a maximum takeoff weight of not more than 12,500 pounds, carry no more than 6 passengers, and must not be a transport category rotorcraft certified under Part 29.
- No portion of the flight may be conducted above 18,000 feet mean sea level.
- Indicated airspeed cannot exceed 250 knots.
- The flight must remain within the United States unless authorized by the country in which the flight is conducted.
- The pilot must have the completed medical examination checklist required by Section 68.7 and the course completion certificate available in the logbook.
Two clauses in that list catch pilots off guard. The aircraft must be “authorized to carry” no more than 7 occupants, a ceiling set by the type certificate or operating limitations; the passenger cap is separately fixed at 6, because the seventh seat is yours. And the geographic rule is not a flat ban on foreign flight. Flights outside the United States are allowed if the destination country accepts BasicMed, which the FAA does not guarantee and which you must confirm before departure.
The flight cannot be for compensation or hire. You may act as pilot in command or serve as a required flightcrew member, such as a safety pilot, provided you meet all other applicable certification and proficiency requirements.
14 CFR Part 68: The Dedicated BasicMed Part
Part 68 is devoted entirely to BasicMed. Where 61.113(i) tells you what you may fly and where, Part 68 tells you what you must do medically and educationally to qualify. It contains six sections.
Section 68.1 — Applicability. States that Part 68 prescribes the medical education and examination requirements for operating under 61.113(i) without a Part 67 medical certificate.
Section 68.3 — Medical education course requirements. Sets what the online course must cover and what documentation the course provider transmits to the FAA upon completion. The course must be repeated every 24 calendar months.
Section 68.5 — Comprehensive medical examination. Requires you to fill out your section of the checklist before seeing the physician, and requires the physician to conduct the exam in accordance with the checklist. The exam is required every 48 calendar months, measured to the end of the calendar month in which the last exam occurred. Any state-licensed physician may perform it; an Aviation Medical Examiner is not required.
Section 68.7 — Comprehensive medical examination checklist. Spells out the contents of the checklist, including which boxes of FAA Form 8500-8 you complete and what the physician must evaluate. The checklist itself is FAA Form 8700-2, the Comprehensive Medical Examination Checklist (CMEC).
Section 68.9 — Special issuance process. Covers the one-time special issuance requirement for pilots with certain mental health, neurological, or cardiovascular conditions. More on this section below.
Section 68.11 — Authority to require additional information. Gives the FAA authority to request more medical information when needed.
Eligibility Prerequisites
Before 61.113(i) and Part 68 can apply to you at all, you must clear two threshold requirements. You need a valid U.S. driver’s license, and you must have held an FAA medical certificate that was valid at any point after July 14, 2006. Any class counts, and it does not need to be current now. What matters is that the FAA had you in its medical system at some point after that date.
Losing your driver’s license ends your BasicMed eligibility immediately. A suspended or revoked license means the prerequisite is no longer satisfied, and you cannot act as pilot in command under BasicMed until the license is reinstated, regardless of the reason for the loss.
Documents 61.113(i)(3) Requires in Your Logbook
BasicMed runs on paperwork you keep, not on a certificate the FAA issues. Section 61.113(i)(3) requires two documents to be available in your logbook whenever you fly:
- The signed CMEC (FAA Form 8700-2), with Section 2 completed by you and Section 3 completed and signed by the examining physician.
- The medical education course completion certificate, generated electronically when you finish the approved course.
An FAA inspector or examiner can ask to see them at any time. If you cannot produce them, you are not in compliance with BasicMed even if the exam and course were actually completed.
Section 68.9 Conditions Requiring a One-Time Special Issuance
Most pilots move to BasicMed with no FAA involvement. Section 68.9 carves out an exception: a history of certain serious medical conditions requires a one-time Authorization for Special Issuance of a Medical Certificate before BasicMed becomes available. An Aviation Medical Examiner cannot grant this authorization; the application is deferred to the FAA.
The triggering conditions fall into three categories:
- Mental health: a severe personality disorder that has repeatedly manifested by overt acts, psychosis, bipolar disorder, or substance dependence within the previous two years.
- Neurological: epilepsy, unexplained disturbance of consciousness, or unexplained transient loss of control of nervous system functions.
- Cardiovascular: heart attack, coronary heart disease that has required treatment, cardiac valve replacement, or heart replacement. Each cardiovascular diagnosis requires its own special issuance.
For cardiovascular conditions, the FAA allows satisfaction of the special issuance through a clinical evaluation without a mandatory waiting period. For mental health and neurological conditions, additional restrictions apply: if a specialist determines the condition prevents safe operation of an aircraft, or if your driver’s license was revoked because of the condition, BasicMed is not available to you. Pilots with these conditions must also certify every two years that they remain under the care of a specialist.
What the 2024 Reauthorization Changed
If you are reading BasicMed rules out of an older printed FAR/AIM, check the aircraft limits carefully. The FAA Reauthorization Act of 2024 raised the caps that appear in 61.113(i)(1). The prior limits were 6 occupants and a maximum takeoff weight of 6,000 pounds. The current limits are 7 occupants and 12,500 pounds.
The FAA published a final rule in November 2024 implementing these changes to 61.113(i)(1). The rule also amended 14 CFR 91.319(j) to allow experimental aircraft carrying up to 7 occupants under BasicMed, and added 14 CFR 61.23(c)(1)(vii), which lets BasicMed pilots serve as designated examiners administering practical tests, provided the flight stays within BasicMed operating conditions.
A printed FAR/AIM that still shows a 6,000-pound weight limit is out of date.
The AIM’s Role
The Aeronautical Information Manual is not regulatory and does not contain the BasicMed rules. Its coverage of medical topics sits in Chapter 8, “Medical Facts for Pilots.” Paragraph 8-1-1, “Fitness for Flight,” is the section most closely related to BasicMed, offering general guidance on medical self-assessment, medication use, and fitness-for-flight decisions. It is useful background, but it is not where you confirm compliance. For that, go back to 61.113(i) and Part 68.
Reading the Current Text
The Electronic Code of Federal Regulations at ecfr.gov carries the current text of every FAR and is updated continuously. Navigate to Title 14, then to Part 61 or Part 68, or search directly for “61.113” or “Part 68.” The FAA also maintains a dedicated BasicMed page with the CMEC form, a list of approved course providers, and a plain-language summary of the requirements. The AIM is published on the FAA’s site in a free HTML version organized by chapter, so Chapter 8 is one click away.