Federal authorities have been probing roughly 5,000 pilots suspected of withholding major health issues that could imperil their ability to fly safely::Nearly 600 of the pilots who are being investigated have licenses to fly the general public on passenger airlines, according to The Washington Post.
I got my pilots license in Canada. Even at the nonprofessional level the community is rife with unaddressed medical issues. I tried to do the right thing by disclosing to the regulating body and got my license suspended because of a fuck up on my aviation doctor’s side. I can’t even imagine the pressures for nondisclosure and keeping it private if your whole livelihood depended on it. Also pilots, they’re their own breed and the personality types already lean towards over confidence and risk taking. It’s a dangerous combination. I’m not sure what the fix is. Better social programs? Less black and white regulations about health? More investment in aviation doctors that focus on treatment and reintegration rather than just diagnoses that spell permanent doom for someone’s career?
No easy solution.
It’s easy to ask that professionals who are not medically qualified step down, but what are those people to do with their months (years) of training and certifications? We can’t realistically reimburse them for their time and money spent. Those skills may or may not be applicable to a similar compensating job. Losing their job in many areas leads to loss of health care options.
Add to that the existing and forecasted pilot shortages…
I think an off ramping program which turned medically-disqualified pilots into trainers with some sort of state sponsorship could help ease many of these concerns. Might look like a national pilot school or a 5 year contract for providing training at local private schools.
I went through a somewhat similar situation to you it seems. I’m a pilot in Canada who had some medical issues and wanted to do the right thing and report it. Talked to my aviation medical examiner and he said it should be resolved within a month or two but it would need to be reviewed by the provincial head aviation medical examiner as it was a unique case. They came back wanting me to have 2 years of tests done costing $10k+ per year and monthly appointments to confirm I was fit to fly, and even after that I wouldn’t be allowed to fly alone to start which was required for the training I was doing at the time. So sadly I no longer fly. I tried taking it to a tribunal but that process was so disgusting slow it didn’t make a difference, lawyers could have helped but I didn’t have enough funds for one, my training was interrupted and it would have taken years to fight it. In terms of solutions, I really have no idea what can be done without a complete overhaul in the aviation medical system. The current system essentially requires a perfect health pilot or you don’t get a medical and it just encourages people to hide issues. It’s probably the major reason why alcoholism is so high among commercial pilots, it’s one of the few things that doesn’t put their career in danger as long as they stick to the rules.
This marketable skill you spent years building, you can’t use it anymore, you’re fucked, goodbye. That’s a hard sell. Getting people to volunteer to become unemployed is a really hard sell.
If we had real social safety nets, where being unemployed isn’t dreadful, we might reduce the rates.
But this is definitely a sector of trust but verify, that’s why you have third-party doctors actually do the verification. Yes people withhold things that the doctors can’t see immediately, but that’s human nature
Because the FAA has outdated policies on health issues.
I’d say the FAA has outdated policies in general
This is the best summary I could come up with:
Federal authorities have been probing roughly 5,000 pilots who officials believe may have falsified their medical records to hide that they were earning benefits for significant health issues that could imperil their ability to fly safely, The Washington Post reported.
FAA spokesman Matthew Lehner told The Post that the agency had been probing around 4,800 pilots “who might have submitted incorrect or false information as part of their medical applications” and indicated that roughly half of the cases were closed.
The spokesman also said 60 pilots who “posed a clear danger to aviation safety” were — for the moment — barred from the cockpit while their records were being looked over by officials.
Nearly 600 of the pilots who are being probed have licenses to fly the general public on passenger airlines, according to individuals with knowledge of the cases who spoke to The Post.
And the FAA is reliant on pilots disclosing conditions that officials may not be able to pinpoint, including depression or post-traumatic stress, according to doctors who spoke to the newspaper and oversee the exams.
Mangini has been unable to fly for his position at a cargo company after his medical certificate lapsed last month; he had not revealed a sleep apnea condition, for which he received benefits from the VA.
The original article contains 718 words, the summary contains 215 words. Saved 70%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!
Don’t even get me started on the rampant alcoholism across the entire industry, globally. If even the US public knew how likely any given flight was to be crewed by still-inebriated pilots, et al… 🤦🏼♂️
Removed by mod
Given the amount of airports Pilots go through daily they must be some of the most Covid infected people on the planet. I bet they suffer a lot more Long Covid complications than most people.
