Medical fails may climb

[Flopgut]

Has a plane ever crashed in the United States because one of the pilots died/medicaled out in flight? Has it ever even been close?

Yes. Closest was 1 of the 3 on duty heart attacks CAL had in 2007. The one that landed in McAllen, TX. That happened to be the same year we went to age 65. I'm pretty sure we're only talking about sleep apnea as a result of age 65.

 

[Dan Roman]

The simple fact is a pilot below 60 as overweight as is being targeted here is at much greater risk for inflight health problems than a 65 year old who is healthy.

 

[Carl_Spackler]

We shouldn't form an opinion on this issue until our union tells us what our opinion should be.

 

[Dan Roman]

Yes. Closest was 1 of the 3 on duty heart attacks CAL had in 2007. The one that landed in McAllen, TX. That happened to be the same year we went to age 65. I'm pretty sure we're only talking about sleep apnea as a result of age 65.

He said crashed. You said yes. Which one crashed?
Also, if your trying to make a case against age 65, something that happened the "year the law was changed" would have nothing to due with the results of pilots flying to 65. The year the law was changed everyone was still under 61.

 

[Bringupthebird]

Has a plane ever crashed in the United States because one of the pilots died/medicaled out in flight? Has it ever even been close?

It's not about safety. It's about someone being given power to force you to do what they think is good for you. They were never even challenged for that power.

If it was about safety, they would look at the true sources of fatigue and it isn't snoring!

 

[Flopgut]

He said crashed. You said yes. Which one crashed?

Read it again. He asked if it was "even close", I said "yes" to that. If you knew the whole story on that one you'd share my opinion.

We could have skipped all of this. We had a perfect rule that let all of us live as we wanted (eat, drink, smoke, run, sleep, whatever) and we threw it away.

*and we all could have flown as long as we wanted!! Tell me 60 for FAR 121 (other FAR NO limit!) doesn't look too bad when we're looking at a rule that could ground a lot of pilots a lot earlier. And we know from military practice that the sleep apnea criteria really doesn't work. All of us should take this test, or none of us. BMI is not an adequate indicator.

 

[Flopgut]

Also, if your trying to make a case against age 65, something that happened the "year the law was changed" would have nothing to due with the results of pilots flying to 65. The year the law was changed everyone was still under 61.

Also: I said it just "happened to be." I'm pointing out coincidence Dan, cool it. Btw another coincidence: it's 11 months after the 5 year period Prater had written into the law the statement that no medical changes should be effected. Interesting.

 

[densoo]

If you've got sleep issues (now, with a 17" neck, you apparently do) you need to be screened for depression as well.

"Doctors have known for years that sleep problems are intertwined with mood disorders. But only recently have they begun to investigate the effects of treating both at the same time. Depression is the most common mental disorder, affecting some 18 million Americans in any given year, according to government figures, and more than half of them also have insomnia."

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/19/health/treating-insomnia-to-heal-depression.html

 

[densoo]

Hope they don't look at the Sporty's Pilot Shop database. From the number of people I see wearing a 17" collar on a 15" neck they could wipe out 30% of the pilot group.

 

[Jetjockey]

Perfect timing with the new FAR 117 rest rules.