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Remember This!
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Talk with pilots and usually the last thing on their mind is losing their medical certification. Yet virtually every pilot who wants to continue to fly will face an issue which will affect their medical. Remember this article when it happens to you. Most of us remember a time we got "behind" the airplane. On my first cross country I discovered how easy it was. Poor planning was the culprit. Between Los Angeles and Palomar Field in San Diego I found storage tanks to be a poor choice for a check point. There are hundreds of tanks among the somewhat confusing borders of Class B Airspace, Military Restricted Areas, and Mexico! Needless to say, it affected my confidence. Forgive the comparison, but planning is also the way to stay ahead of your medical and to assure its security.
You can plan a successful FAA medical exam! Receiving advice prior to medical certificate applications is both legal and free. AOPA (www.aopa.org), EAA (www.eaa.org), ALPA (www.alpa.org) and Pilot Medical Solutions (www.leftseat.com) all provide advice to pilots free of charge. Membership in the "alphabet groups" is a prerequisite, but includes other privileges. Having the benefit of a case manager to retrieve, review, organize, and submit medical records required by the FAA is an additional service, available exclusively from Pilot Medical Solutions.
Could it really happen to you? Last year 194,513 (43%) of the applications for a medical certificate were rejected because of medical or clerical problems. More than nine thousand denial letters were sent, and over eight thousand pilots required Special Issuance medical certificates. Some basic preparation could have spared many of these folks from the frustration denial and lengthy grounding periods. AME's often discover issues which catch pilots off guard and require extensive documentation. The FAA requires them to obtain, review then forward this documentation to Oklahoma City within two weeks.
Getting pre-certification advice and gathering documentation to substantiate your fitness to fly assures that valuable time once lost to deferred or denied applications is minimized rather than commonplace.
Any government office is an easy target for criticism. However, be advised that like many of us, FAA aeromedical managers are just trying to do their job with limited manpower. FAA standards are quite liberal when compared to other nations. If you want to make a non-pilot friend nervous, tell him there are Insulin Dependant Diabetic pilots right now in the sky above them taking their blood sugars. Federal Air Surgeon, Doctor Jon Jordan, and Certification Manager, Warren Silberman, go to great lengths to grant exceptions to Federal Standards when fit pilots apply, but make no mistake, preparation and documentation are critical.
Statistics show the tenacious do have hope, .1% of pilots are ultimately denied, but sadly many pilots suffer needlessly because they don't prepare or take advantage of help which is just a phone call away.
EAA Aeromedical Chairman, Doctor John Hastings, puts it bluntly, "The one person with the greatest interest in you securing medical certification is you, the pilot. Your primary care physician, specialist, and AME may be sympathetic and willing to help, but you alone can keep the process moving and ensure all necessary information is gathered."
REMEMBER THIS, Pre-certification consultations virtually eliminate premature applications which often ground pilots.
Contact Pilot Medical Solutions for a free consultation at 800-699-4457. |
David Hale
DRH@leftseat.com
Director, Pilot Medical Solutions
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