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.
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.