UK Pilot Medical Declaration (PMD)

The Pilot Medical Declaration (PMD) is a way for certain UK private pilots to satisfy the medical requirement for their licence without visiting an Aeromedical Examiner or holding a formal aviation medical certificate. Instead of an examination, the pilot makes and signs a declaration that they reasonably believe they meet the medical standard equivalent to a UK DVLA Group 1 (private car) driving licence, and that they are not taking medication for any psychiatric illness. It is administered by the UK Civil Aviation Authority as part of the UK's independent framework.

The PMD is a genuine self-declaration, not a lightweight examination. The pilot completes the declaration through the CAA's system and prints and countersigns it — signing a statement confirming the printout applies to them and is correct — which lets the CAA check the signature against the licence. There is no requirement to see a doctor to make the basic declaration, although pilots with certain conditions may need to consider whether the DVLA Group 1 standard is actually met.

The PMD carries operational limits that reflect its self-certified nature. It can be used for flying aircraft up to a maximum take-off mass of 5,700 kg, for which the pilot holds a valid class, type, or group rating, in visual meteorological conditions — with the UK Instrument Meteorological Conditions (IMC) rating privileges available on NPPL(A) or PPL(A) as an exception. It can be used by holders of the National Private Pilot Licence and the UK Private Pilot Licence, and by pilots training toward those licences, among certain other UK licence holders.

The PMD is best understood as the UK analog to the FAA's BasicMed, but the mechanism is distinct and the two should not be conflated. BasicMed, under 14 CFR Part 68, requires a physician-conducted comprehensive medical examination checklist every four years plus a recurring online course, and it applies within the US system. The UK PMD, by contrast, is a self-declaration benchmarked to the DVLA car-driving standard with no mandatory aviation medical exam at all. It is also different from an EASA LAPL medical, which is a doctor-issued certificate rather than a self-declaration. Each system built its own answer to the question of proportionate medical requirements for recreational flying, and the eligibility, thresholds, and paperwork do not cross over. A pilot cannot use a UK PMD to satisfy an FAA or EASA medical requirement, or vice versa. It is equally important not to confuse the PMD with a full UK aviation medical certificate: a pilot who wants to fly heavier aircraft, fly outside the PMD's visual-conditions limits, or exercise privileges the declaration does not cover has to hold the appropriate class of aviation medical instead.

For UK flying clubs and light-aircraft rental operations, the PMD lowers the barrier to recreational flying and is common among members flying simple aircraft. But because it is self-certified, the operator carries a real verification burden: the desk needs to confirm that a member relying on a PMD actually has a current declaration, and that the aircraft and flight fall inside the PMD's mass and VMC limits.

The distinction between a PMD and a full aviation medical also matters when a member wants to step up — to a heavier aircraft, to instrument flying beyond the IMC-rating exception, or to any operation the PMD does not cover. Confusing a self-declaration for a Class 2 medical, or letting a declaration quietly expire, is the kind of gap that undermines an otherwise well-run club, and it is easy to miss because there is no physical medical certificate to inspect.

Aviatize treats the medical basis as a structured attribute of each pilot, so a Pilot Medical Declaration is recorded as its own regime — distinct from a UK Class 1 or Class 2 medical, an EASA LAPL medical, or FAA BasicMed — with its own validity dates. The system knows a PMD is not the same thing as an aviation medical certificate and applies the appropriate limits.

The Compliance & Auditing and Smart Planning & Booking modules then enforce those limits automatically, flagging an expired declaration and blocking a booking where the aircraft or the intended operation falls outside what a PMD permits. Instead of relying on staff to remember the mass ceiling and the VMC restriction for every self-declaring member, the platform checks it at the point the booking is made.