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.