How FAA Medical Policies INCREASE Risk

[VWGhiaBob]

Three years ago, I experienced some headaches and as a precautionary measure, I had a brain scan, which turned out 100% normal. The headaches went away shortly after the scan.

Well, for the FAA, this was a MAJOR event. Since then, I have had to prove that it was nothing...written lab results, copies of actualy scans (which they lost once), and two letters from my doctor stating I am completely normal.

This time around, they inquired again and again I sent copies.

So what's the lesson learned here? For me, it's "be careful what you tell your doctor, and don't get tests unless things are really bad."

I am extremely healthy, though technically I get a special issuance due to pre-diabetes that's now undectable. The FAA's policies make me think twice about reporting anything to my doctor.

Yes, I know my health is more important than flying. But whereas I always erred on the side of over-reporting before, now I think, "Should I mention this to my doctor, given the FAA will be right behind me questioning my health?"

 

[Jim Logajan]

I am replying to the post as both a physician and a pilot of high performance aircraft including jet warbirds. I have recently been diagnosed with a medical condition that while not life -threatening will 100% result in denial of my next 3rd class medical certification until the condition has been totally resolved and I am off all medication. My perspective on life and it's priorities have changed and I cannot find any fault in the FAA's concern that pilots health is not a factor in their ability to fly responsibly. Being able to drive safely has no comparison with being able to fly safely. After all - one can easy pull over if one feels ill but that would be impossible flying at 30,000 ft and 300 kts

Sorry to read of your medical condition. Best of health to you.

I suspect most private pilots who have an interest in this subject rarely fly above 12,500 ft or faster than 180 kts. Your flying isn't typical of many of us flying folk.

With respect to feeling ill in an airplane vs a car - the issue would seem to boil down to how quickly one goes from realizing a problem has occurred to incapacitation. I am just a layman in these matters, so I only know of medical crisis that seem to fall into two groups: ones where tens of minutes are available and ones where incapacitation happens in seconds. In the latter group I think one finds the cases where the crisis would be fatal even in one's easy chair at home, or those sad cases where cars run off roads due to incapacitation, with often fatal results. With tens of minutes the pilot's options for safely stopping aren't too much worse than the car driver's. (Ballistic parachutes have been used to perform the equivalent of an emergency pull-over, so there is that option short of grounding.)

Since the biggest killer of pilots and their passengers is pilot error, it is clear to me that there is nothing rational about, nor statistical support for, a fixation that has prioritized even minimal resources to examining the health of private pilots. Private pilot's don't need their bodies examined, they need their heads examined.