I know a pilot who lost enough weight for his sleep apnea to disappear. I on the other hand can only fly sport and do when I can find a plane to rent. Risk is inherent in everything humans do whether they are operating a car, a boat, an airplane or a train. Does the FAA really pull your medical permanently? I am very curious. Logic dictates that if the medical requirement did not exist, the number of incapacitations would be somewhat higher. The medical only looks at your health at the point in time. Manage it and you will not have to lie to the FAA, or your AME, or your PCP. Type II diabetes, coronary artery stents, history of myocardial infarction (heart attack), various cancers, and several other diseases are disqualifying, but Special Issuance can be obtained by doing the hoop jumping that the FAA requires, such as providing a statement from your treating physician, listing the medications that you take, do you have any side effects from the medications, do the medications actually work. Having people squeal on them? Im an AME. Your, AME will review your MedXPress application. WOW they had a conniption, and I lost my ticket for several months while they dithered. I just recently got my Cat 1 medical, and honestly the doctor is pretty thorough when it comes to examining his patient, everything from blood pressure to ECG. PER your admission the need for a medical is a mute issue I drive there for I fly. A medical exam is required for a Commercial Driver License and for working on a commercial boat carrying passengers. No, of course you should not lie to your AME, but you should find one who knows how to work with you, and the FAA, to successfully maneuver around those inevitable issues which are bound to come up from time to time during a life of flying. Bottom line, you are better off disclosing to the FAA if you want a 1st, 2nd, or 3rd class medical certificate. Misdiagnosed with epilepsy. Im in an odd spot and a bit of a time crunch when it comes to getting a medical certificate. Friend of mine had a partner in his business who owned a beautiful Cessna 182. If you qualify for an FAA medical certificate, they will issue it to you at the end of your appointment, document your exam findings, and transmit your application to the FAA. Also the FAA does check your National Driver Register/Record so make sure you keep your driving safe. Fly over open country and probably be able to put the plane down in a field if there were trouble but the FAA has a BIG resounding NO for that. You may think you told the truth but you absolutely did not. I am an AME and 4,000 hour pilot. the third class should go away. Or have a child die and see a counselor of any sort. I know there are very experienced Senior AMEs out there who may have more influence with a phone call to Oklahoma City. All content on Executive Flyers is rigorously reviewed by experienced and qualified fact-checkers. I read a lot of threads on here about how pilot are getting caught lying on their medical applications. He proceeded to read off the list and after a half dozen items to which I responded No, he said You wouldnt tell me if you had any of these, would you? Back when I was an F/O we flew in airplanes with single head radios. What does this mean? Certification of employees to preform tasks, medical and eye examinations are normal in the Aerospace industry. Coud be they are asking to much, to elimate the third class medical?. Needless to say, I have never taken a $100 Hamburger flight. In the FAA world view you are not telling the truth. Unfortunately, nuts-deep in lighting nowwhoo.. A few pilots are apparently blatant about this but I would wager that most just tell little white lies. So, easing up on the medical requirements would be based on real world situations. So at least the medical makes we go for a check up. That cost me about six months of flying. I dont care who you are if you tell me that you have never been diagnosed with anything then you are the liar. This is one of those typical government deny-theres-a-problem attitudes that eventually comes to a head when something major and catastrophic happens. The FAA will catch the application when it comes across due to the flags. Those are hard to fake. First class medical exams can cost up to $200. Major unions have lost court cases and in one instance suffered severe financial damage in the process. But with such a vague statement, you can see why many pilots may unintentionally get themselves into trouble. This applies to ANY wildcat actions, including slowdown, work-to-rules, withdrawal of enthusiasm (WOE), sickouts, etc. I Fly America 2021, Paul Engstrom, Aviation Writer and IFA Member, Health for Pilots: A Complete Guide to FAA Medical Certification and Self-Care. It is already hard enough to convince the FAA that you are healthy enough to fly after dealing with lifes curve balls. If they have any concerns about your eligibility to hold a medical certificate, AMEs can also deny your application or defer your certification to the FAA for further review. If you don't disclose it the likelihood that they find out about it are pretty slim, though. By the way a friend of mine died 2 hours after acquiring his 2nd class medical. I can understand, in the last 5 years, but most of my things are now 20 years old and I still have to report them-no change. The premise of someone getting over long-term depression is laughable. If you think your AME charges too much, find someone else. One just hopes that the untruths are regarding minor medical issues they feel will disqualify them that wont compromise their safety as well as all others around them. He petitioned the FAA to remove his special issuance for that disorder and supplied a letter from his treating physician, and the special issuance requirement went away. The states set the standards for driver licenses and the Feds set the standards for pilot medical certificates and pilot certificates. Duuuuuuuuuh do fat babies fart? Auto correct makes illiterates of us all. Responding to a letter from the FAA about your medical certificate almost always requires you to provide detailed notes from your treating physician(s) and other objective evidence to show you are safe to fly. To self certify? Before every flight (sometimes several per day) I self qualify myself THAT IS MY RESPONSIBILITY AS PIC!!! They came within 2 weeks of revoking my medical. The word EVER in the forms will toss you through a buttload of psychological tests you will be sorry you were ever honest. Just do want everyone does to get into the military hide the truth. The FAA revised 61.53 to include under this prohibition sport pilots who use a current and valid U.S. drivers license as medical qualification.. Its not a profession which that college students wake up and decide they want to fly a plane. Question 18m. I sympathize with you. With a second class medical, itll be 12 calendar months, and if you start with the third class medical, itll be for 24 calendar months. This is very true if you were to tell them everything that has happened to you in the past medical histories etc. Sorry for apparently differing from the crowd on this, but I think people are nuts if they are lying. Anyway I am long through flying now. Requesting Medical Records. Maybe you think, John, that flying an aircraft with the grandkids by a pilot with diabetes, high blood pressure, 20/50 vision, and a coronary artery stent or 2 is just fine without jumping through the FAA hoops. He knew it. One may invoke Fifth Amendment rights, but not outright lie. This is a bit off the subject of lying on the 8500-8, but it addresses another approach to not requiring a medical examination for certain types of flying. KL, However, my pilots do. Remove the AME from the loop, and there is no one but the pilot to judge whether the above situation is safe. FAA Current Detailed Clinical Progress Notes. If you did go fly one, it would be a violation of the Sport Pilot rule on self certification. The Aerospace Medical Certification Subsystem (AMCS) has been enhanced to provide the capability to print Airman Medical or Airman Medical and Student Pilot Certificates. . The FAA Cannot possibly know all the doctors or hospitals you have ever been to unless you tell them. People, in general, are in better health than they were 20-30 years ago, largely by not smoking, watching their weight, eating less fatty foods, etc. , you can navigate the process efficiently. Brian, what about a medication that was rx when you were eight and havent taken for 20yrs? The system is imperfect in many ways and should be fixed, I do not disagree with that. I agree that the FAA has an interest in regulating commercial pilots but anyone else should have to produce a drivers license. There are about 450-500 fatalities per year in all of GA. 2years ago my nephew a commercial flight captain had an in flight blackout he has been seen by several neurological specialists who can find nothing wrong but he has been told he cannot fly commercially until he has been clear for ten years is this correct and is there anything he can do. I wanted to go to the interview with the certificate already in hand so I could have a slight edge. should also be aware that the FAA now routinely cross-references your VA disability rating when determining your eligibility for a medical certificate. Its sad. Ask your AME to call Oklahoma City and ask to speak with a physician about your case. PERIOD. Wouldnt tell you if I had a peg leg and a glass eye. If they find any issues, they will ask for more information. There are more boating accident deaths (650 or so), motorcycle deaths (4500), automobile (35,000). Meanwhile the FAA now sits on thier collective thumbs deciding what to do. However, the overriding principle here is that if you intentionally falsify your medical and are discovered, then you are done permanently. We can never win with you, only lose. But sharing them with the FAA is detrimental to your health. But, it was not the fault of the FAA, it was mine for not verifying the doctors statement before submitting it. (And not be able to go to the interview next month with the cert in hand). Simply having an assault on record does not by itself result in denial. I am now 75 years old, and the FAA continues to demand increasily more stringent testing to get the isssuance. They, and AOPA, worked with me to get it corrected. Required fields are marked *. Two of the pilots I know of with these problems have Class 1 Medical Certificates. Did you know that most of the articles at Air Facts are written by readers like you? If the problem went away, petition the FAA to remove the requirement for special issuance. Over forty years I have watched the change from Aryan superman standards to wheelchair/ limbless PPL pilots. Question 17 can identify for the FAA that an individual is currently taking a disqualifying medication such as Adderall, Ritalin, Concerta, Strattera, etc, commonly used to treat ADHD. Does anyone really believe that this is also not true for pilots and in fact is probably much higher, given the hard working conditions. Trying to fix an accidental lie on my medical. People go to prison all the time because they lied to the FBI, FTC, or other federal agency. That is an entirely different responsibility that warrants a real physical exam. Every single pilot lied on their medical form. Your signature at the bottom authorizes the FAA to search the National Drivers Registry for violations involving alcohol or illegal drugs, for instance, so you may want to think twice about trying to conceal a drunk driving conviction. The FAA will then require more detailed medical information before they can determine if you qualify for a medical certificate. From the archives: how valuable are check rides? Governmental overkill? After you complete your MedXPress application, you will need to schedule an FAA flight physical with an Aviation Medical Examiner (AME). 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