Part 5: The FAA's Rube Goldberg Machine

In my last blog entry, we reviewed the FAA policy that permits the renewal of a pilot’s or ATC’s license without an extended review.  It’s unlikely, but possible.  There are a lot of hoops to jump through and very few people will meet the criteria.  So, the great majority will get deferred.  What happens then?

New FAA policy dictates precisely what the AME is to do when a pilot admits to taking a prescription antidepressant. It is fairly straightforward:  They get deferred and they are offered a choice: (1) Either stop the antidepressant or (2) continue using it.

Part 4: The FAA's Not So Fast Track

This is Part 4 of my series looking at FAA policies with regards to the mental health of Pilots and Air Traffic Controllers.  If you have been following my comments, you’ll know I consider the system deeply flawed.  Current policies encourage vast underreporting of medical issues, resulting in large amounts of untreated depression among pilots and ATCs. 

We can do better.

Today, I am going to discuss some of the most recent FAA attempts to address the problems we have been discussing. Specifically, the FAA has modified the processing of Deferred cases and, in a second policy change, may allow an Aviation Medical Examiner (AME) to approve licensure where, in the past, a Deferral was mandated.

Nuclear Weapons Flight Incident - 1950s

Another brief departure from the FAA.

I just read a book, "Shards: Dialogues of War" by a very close friend, George Heuston.  He just published it.  The book is a collection of interviews with Vets coupled with a reading of his great-great-grandfather's Civil War diary.  It was a great read and I congratulate George on this, his fourth book.  

One of his stories, in particular, shocked me.  I have read a lot of about accidents and mishaps involving nuclear weapons but I had never heard this story.  I am wondering if we can somehow verify it.  It seems important.

Part 3: Deferring Timelessly

Let’s dig deeper. 

When a pilot sees an Aviation Medical Examiner (AME), there are three possible outcomes:  They can get their renewal, they can be banned from flying planes, or their pilot license can be deferred. 

A renewal is good for a certain amount of time.  It differs according to your age and the classification of the pilot. Commercial pilots have more frequent renewals than, say, someone driving a piston aircraft.  And older pilots have their medical clearances expire sooner than their younger colleagues. 

But regardless of when the medical exam is due, all pilots are supposed to report to an AME if they develop a new health condition, no matter where they are on the AME timeclock.  They usually don't, but policy is that they should. 

Technically Alive

 Quick break from pilots and the FAA...

It's been 24-hrs since the election and, well, I have had several friends independently call me...each  discussing cryonics.  They would like to freeze themselves for 4 years, and then wake up.  Some sort of collective fantasy.

When I went to Afghanistan, I remember Obamacare was being debated, endlessly, in the House.  When I returned some 4-months later, it was as if time had stopped.  Everyone was still debating the exact same issue, same exact arguments, same exact tone.  I believed the rest of the world had been cryogenically frozen while I was in the desert.

  

Part 2: The FAA, Pilots, and Air Traffic Controllers: The French Mountain

To understand the FAA’s current policy governing the licensing of pilots, one must understand the history involved.

Part 1: The FAA, Pilots, and Air Traffic Controllers

The odds of developing clinical depression over one’s lifetime are, roughly, 30%.  The odds of a relapse, once you have experienced depression, is about 50%.  And, at any one time, perhaps around 5% of people suffer from depression.  So, depression is common and prevalent. 

All that is to say that if you happen to be a Pilot or an Air Traffic Controller and have the misfortune to get depressed at some point in your career…you are fairly screwed.  Now, before I describe why, for simplicity’s sake let’s just talk about pilots; essentially everything I am about to say would apply equally to an Air Traffic Controller.  And simplicity, in this case, is a blessing; the FAA regulations are so complex that they will make your head spin.