Definition
An FAA-issued medical certificate that confirms a pilot meets the medical standards required to exercise commercial pilot privileges. It is issued by an Aviation Medical Examiner (AME) after a physical examination and is the medical class required for pilots flying for compensation or hire (other than airline transport operations, which require a first class).
Plain English
A medical certificate from the FAA that says a pilot is healthy enough to fly for pay. It sits between the first class (required for airline captains) and the third class (used for private flying).
Context Anchor
You see this term when learning which medical certificate is required for private, commercial, or airline pilot operations.
Derivation
Certificate comes from Latin roots meaning “to make certain” or “to certify.” That fits the aviation use: the document is the FAA’s formal confirmation that the pilot met a required medical standard.
Why Pilots Care
It sets the medical standard required to exercise commercial pilot privileges, allowing compensated flying but not airline transport pilot duties.
Intuition Check
“Second class” does not mean poor quality or second-rate. Here it means the middle FAA medical category: more demanding than third class, less demanding than first class.
Example Sentence 1
Before starting his job flying skydivers, Marcus had to visit an AME and obtain a second class medical certificate.
Example Sentence 2
Holding a second class medical certificate allows the pilot to fly for hire but does not qualify him for airline transport operations.