Amy Wilder is a private pilot with more than two decades of experience as a writer and editor in a career spanning journalism, marketing, and communications. 
She has worked in aviation journalism since 2023, combining a lifelong passion for flight and a love of the aviation community with a penchant for storytelling. As a licensed pilot, she brings firsthand insight to the stories she covers, lending an authentic, on-the-ground perspective to industry coverage.
She holds a Master of Arts in Eastern Classics and a Master of Arts in Liberal Arts, both from St. John&#039;s College in Santa Fe, New Mexico, along with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Visual Culture.

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Amy Wilder

The FAA today issued a <a href="https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2026-09-04/html/2026-18162.htm">notice of proposed rulemaking</a> that would allow aviation medical examiners (AMEs) to evaluate and certify applicants with non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) at the time of their medical exam, removing the automatic requirement for special-issuance review by the agency for many applicants. Public comments on the proposal are due October 5.
Under current regulations, an applicant with a medical history of diabetes requiring insulin “or any other hypoglycemic drug” is automatically disqualified and must go through the special-issuance process under FAR 67.401, and the Federal Air Surgeon then determines whether the applicant can perform their duties safely.
The proposed rule would replace the hypoglycemic-drug language with a standard that requires “no established medical history or clinical diagnosis of diabetes mellitus that requires insulin for control.” Insulin-treated diabetes would continue to require special-issuance review, and AMEs would retain discretion to refer higher-risk NIDDM cases to the FAA.
According to the FAA, the change reflects improvements in diabetes management since the current standard was adopted in 1959. In a review of 51 fatal accidents from 2008 to 2025 involving non-insulin diabetes medications, the FAA found diabetes-related factors an unlikely contributor in 50, with one still under investigation.
Roughly 3,000 applicants would receive certification annually without special-issuance deferral under the proposal, the FAA estimates. Combined industry and FAA cost savings over five years were projected at $39.70 million (low-case) to $80.19 million (high-case); the FAA’s share of those savings was estimated at about $835,000.

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