Irregular Heartbeat and FAA medical

[ms6073]

Hmmm, then if you continue to read 61.111 (b) it says:

"A person applying for first-class medical certification must demonstrate an absence of myocardial infarction and other clinically significant abnormality on electrocardiographic examination....."

Would you argue that since he's not applying for a medical he can skate on 61.111 (b), or that his diagnosis is not a significat abnormality????

I think it also says that in 67.111:

(3) Coronary heart disease that has required treatment or, if untreated, that has been symptomatic or clinically significant;

Oops, I dont recall that you specified if this was a clinically significant abnormality during the initial post so I appologize if my post came across as an attempt to contradict. In my own experience, even though I had to be waivered for flight and parachute status while I was in the military, it has been a non-issue in that there was never even a mention of it during any EKG's for my FAA medical! I imagine that should my condition ever become symptomatic, then things will get complicated for me also.

 

[RockyMnt1]

ultrarunner,

That sounds like a prudent approach to take.

aggiepilot87,

Let's see if I can clear up some of the muddy waters that I created.

Point #1

Good suggestion on the caffeine/life style effects. I hadn't thought of that route. I hope that that is all it is!!!

Point #2

"BTW, please don't lecture on reporting medical issues"

The point that I was trying to make was that, to you, it might seem like lecturing about when a pilot should/shouldn't fly due to medical reasons. To others, it is new and valuable information. You need to realize that there are pilots spanning the whole spectrum (from students to ATPs) reading this forum.

Point #3

A pilot flying commercial activities during a period with a known (or even a questionable) medical disqualification would easily fall into the FAA catch all category of careless and reckless operation if not other categories (Not a lecture, infomational for other folks). If an accident were to happen during this time, the medical records would not be difficult to obtain because the FAA ME and personal doctor were the same person. Dates and notes of visits would verify that the pilot knew (or suspected) that there was a problem, but he/she continued to fly anyway. The safe thing to do would be to ground oneself until the cause was determined or the condition improved. It wouldn't be a large leap for a lawyer to convince a jury that the pilot had a willful disreguard for the wellfare of his passengers (and/or was responsible for the damaged caused) and was liable for the results.

 

[mooneydvr]

Tell your friend to go look at http://www.virtualfs.com/. They have lots of info for irregular heartbeats. One thing is clear. Go to an AME that knows what he is doing when it comes to supplying required tests to the FAA. I was diagnosed with a 1st degree AV Block. My current AME didn't know what to do with it and I lost my medical for a couple of months. It took finding an AME who was also a cardiologist to get it straight. He was pissed that the FAA was putting us through so much trouble over an AV block (a pretty benign condition).

MS6073 is right. Skipped beats are very common. It is not suprising that the AME told him to keep flying. Additional tests would not be indicated by even multiple occasional instances of skipped beats. There would need to be other symptoms before further tests would be needed which could include tight or pain in the chest, shortness of breath, and so on.

Good luck