News: An Epileptic Pilot Could be Flying You

Posted by Matthew Justice on Nov 14, 2007

Desperate situations seem to call for desperate measures. Faced with a shortage of qualified pilots in the country, a low-cost airline based in north India has thrown caution to the winds and allowed two of its commanders to fly despite medical conditions that deem them unfit for the cockpit job.

The more blatant of the two cases is that of an Indian commander in his forties. He lost his Airline Transport Pilot's License after failing an EEG (the test needed to verify if a person is prone to epileptic fits) but then rejoined the airline with a fresh license that was issued in the United States. The pilot who rejoined the airline armed with an American license took advantage of one simple rule: aspiring pilots did not have to undergo an EEG test for clearing the medicals in the US.

“They do not have an EEG for a pilot's medical test in the US. He also probably did not mention his medical condition in the test there. What is shocking is that the airline, despite knowing that the pilot was prone to epileptic attacks, took him back,” an airline official said.

Aviation industry insiders say the growing demand for experienced pilots will only prompt airlines to be more lenient in such cases. Airline industry insiders admit it is a blatant case of bending the rules with impunity. “DGCA had cancelled his license to fly because of his epileptic condition. But the airline recruited him again last month despite knowing his medical condition,” an airline official said.

Source Non-Mobile: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/...

Tags: Airlines, Flying, Legal, Safety
Technorati Tags: Airlines, Flying, Legal, Safety

1.  Capt'n Chris on Nov 14, 2007

Although I get the point of the article, this statement threw me...

'The pilot who rejoined the airline armed with an American license took advantage of one simple rule: aspiring pilots did not have to undergo an EEG test for clearing the medicals in the US....'

Here's the reg:
§ 67.111 Cardiovascular.


Cardiovascular standards for a first class airman medical certificate are:

(a) No established medical history or clinical diagnosis of any of the following:

(1) Myocardial infarction;
(2) Angina pectoris;
(3) Coronary heart disease that has required treatment or, if untreated, that has been symptomatic or clinically significant;
(4) Cardiac valve replacement;
(5) Permanent cardiac pacemaker implantation; or
(6) Heart replacement;

(b) A person applying for first class medical certification must demonstrate an absence of myocardial infarction and other clinically significant abnormality on electrocardiographic examination:

(1) At the first application after reaching the 35th birthday; and
(2) On an annual basis after reaching the 40th birthday.

(c) An electrocardiogram will satisfy a requirement of paragraph (b) of this section if it is dated no earlier than 60 days before the date of the application it is to accompany and was performed and transmitted according to acceptable standards and techniques.

So the line 'aspiring pilots did not have to undergo an EEG test for clearing the medicals in the US' would seem not totally correct since this guy was in his forties and according to the article I would have to assume he had tried to also obtain an ATP in the US? But I'm going to have to deduce that instead he got a commercial with a second class medical. But then again, I've been flying for the airlines for so long that my CFI skills are a bit rusty, so I may be off about everything.

Either way, yes India is struggling to find pilots as the rest of the world is, the US to a lesser extent then everywhere else but, and that's a strong but- Within 5-10 years the pilot shortage in the US is projected to hit record levels never seen before...