Sorry, you're too fat to be a pilot. Love, FAA

[martymayes]

Lets keep our eye on the ball. Fatigue is the major reason for sleepy pilots. There is a reason why FBOs have a dark room full of Lazy-Boys. It aint for the folks flying flying their personal planes. You may hear corporate/Commercial pilots use the term "safety nap."

Bob, one of my good friends at work thought he was fatigued from the flying/work schedule. Then he was diagnosed with OSA. He got treatment and now feels 1000x better and is back at work flying the same schedule as before. Maybe it wasn't the schedule after all......That's what we need to find out.

BTW, he said after a week of deep restorative sleep, he said it felt like he was 25 yrs old again. Boundless energy, improved vitals, etc.

[WLIU]

There is a big difference between a chronic condition that deserves a trip to the right physician, and a regulatory requirement that takes away someone's livelihood or even ability to fly recreationally.

Regulations have to serve a purpose and make sense, not just be the latest good idea. In the case of the existing list of disqualifying conditions, each can be clearly explained to have the potential to be suddenly incapacitating, immediately affecting the safety of a flight. The condition that the Aeromedical branch is saying that they are concerned about does not meet that test.

Getting treatment for Sleep Apnea is likely a good idea, but many good ideas make very bad law.

Historically, the making of rules for the sake of making rules just leads to a larger and large population of folks ignoring the rules and doing whatever they want. Aviation is not immune from this part of human nature. We need the rules to make sense. This proposal runs counter to that.

I see that there are rumblings of a political solution. The trucking industry has some muscle in Congress and aviation might benefit from the general push back across all of the industries affected.

I will suggest that beyond the current dustup, all aeromedical changes should go through the formal rule-making process. Every system needs checks and balances and requiring formal notice and comment would be a valuable check on the aeromedical side of the FAA. After all, good ideas should make it through the formal comment process just fine right?

Best of luck,

Wes
N78PS

[pacerpilot]

PacerPilot: I feel your pain. I did the same but broke my neck from, well they never did know from what. Then I crushed vertebrae more then 5 times. Bulging disc's are part of it as are hair line fractures.
They found I have Osteoporosis and have it bad. My T scores are those of a 100 yr old woman some lower then that. Two years ago I had only one good bone inmy body and it was my left forearm or whatever they call that bone. All others where almost off the charts, one hip is gone 1/4 left. I am running on borrowed time but what do you do.
Get a Bone density check ASAP, and don't let them do just the wrest or angle do a complete body scan, takes about 5 mins. I was 42 when this hit me or took my life from me. I have learned to deal with it. Our Lord has been good to me, do not feel sorry for me and I do not feel sorry for myself. I am a lucky man.

Just call me...Osteo-Man...LOL


Tony

YIKES 1600VW!!! You're a good example of why I don't complain about my little issues. I hope you're keeping everything in check. As for your osteoporosis remember, "milk does a body good!". My doc makes me drink a quart a day at least and exercise (that'll take care of that low "T" too). What really bothers me is the FAA aero-med branch doesn't care. Most pilots I know are in reasonably good shape. Better than most non-pilots for sure because we're conscious of the requirements of flight. It has become apparent to me the FAA is only interested in not assuming any liability and reducing the number of pilots.

[1600vw]

PacerPilot: I love milk and drink it by the 1/2 gallons. As for exercise a few years leading to this I would cut and split 10 cords of fire wood a year by hand. I loved doing this, kept me in shape. Then one day everything changed. The doctors told me, you have to exercise. I then told them of my fire wood cutting, and that was only one thing I did. I was a very active person before this hit me. Today not so much.

I try and do what I can, then I have those whom throw it in my face. How can someone whom claims to be on disability do what you do. I hear it all the time. I tell them if you only knew what I use to do before I became ill you would see, really I do nothing compared to what I did do.

Woman are good at saying this to me. I have Osteoporosis and I do not walk with a chain nor am I disabled.

I had a friend tell me he walked into a hobby store here in town, we only have one, and a group of people where standing around talking about me and how I claim to be disabled but I can fly an airplane. They said he don't look ill to us. Lets just say my friend was not happy he knows my condition and what I go through. To look at me you can not see anything is wrong with me, but walk in my shoes for a mile then get back with me.

I was out one evening singing at a Karaoke bar when everyone in the bar turned on me. I thought I was going to get beat, they told me it was people like me that is causing our country to be in the shape it is. The owner had to walk me to my car to keep me from being attached by a mob of people. They would have killed me that night or I thought so as did the owner of the bar. All because I do not look ill and I walk with a cain. I could tell you more stories like this. People judge you by how you look, I look fine or healthy.

The doctors have given up trying to find why I have this and we have given up trying to fight it, they tell me my body is eating its self from the inside and nothing they can do about it.

[pacerpilot]

PacerPilot: I love milk and drink it by the 1/2 gallons. As for exercise a few years leading to this I would cut and split 10 cords of fire wood a year by hand. I loved doing this, kept me in shape. Then one day everything changed. The doctors told me, you have to exercise. I then told them of my fire wood cutting, and that was only one thing I did. I was a very active person before this hit me. Today not so much.

I try and do what I can, then I have those whom throw it in my face. How can someone whom claims to be on disability do what you do. I hear it all the time. I tell them if you only knew what I use to do before I became ill you would see, really I do nothing compared to what I did do.

Woman are good at saying this to me. I have Osteoporosis and I do not walk with a chain nor am I disabled.

I had a friend tell me he walked into a hobby store here in town, we only have one, and a group of people where standing around talking about me and how I claim to be disabled but I can fly an airplane. They said he don't look ill to us. Lets just say my friend was not happy he knows my condition and what I go through. To look at me you can not see anything is wrong with me, but walk in my shoes for a mile then get back with me.

I was out one evening singing at a Karaoke bar when everyone in the bar turned on me. I thought I was going to get beat, they told me it was people like me that is causing our country to be in the shape it is. The owner had to walk me to my car to keep me from being attached by a mob of people. They would have killed me that night or I thought so as did the owner of the bar. All because I do not look ill and I walk with a cain. I could tell you more stories like this. People judge you by how you look, I look fine or healthy.

The doctors have given up trying to find why I have this and we have given up trying to fight it, they tell me my body is eating its self from the inside and nothing they can do about it.

Wow, that's rough man. I think I'd stay out of bars, drink at home and, only sing in the shower!

[martymayes]

I will suggest that beyond the current dustup, all aeromedical changes should go through the formal rule-making process.

Careful what you wish for. The rules can be much, much worse.

[WLIU]

I am very careful what I wish for these days. In this case, the federal formal rule making process requires publishing a proposal in the Federal Register, a comment period where all stakeholders (like us) submit their views, the department that proposed the rule must respond to all inputs, and only then can a final rule be published. This process, which applies to other federal rule making, provides a valuable check and balance and prevents surprises like the one that we have just experienced. Time to apply this standard federal process to the aeromedical branch. I will note that the FDA, that regulates all stuff medical outside aviation, must use this process. And of course the rest of the FAA must follow this process. It is supposed to be hard to create new rules. This allows the really good ideas to move forward and the not so good ideas to die.

Best of luck,

Wes
N78PS

[martymayes]

OSA in airmen will be addressed. The proposed response is manageable. The alternative is unknown. Good luck.

http://www.faa.gov/pilots/safety/pil...leep_Apnea.pdf

[WLIU]

I will suggest that the alternative is very well known. OSA did not start occurring yesterday. It has likely been present in the airman population since shortly after Wilbur and Orville. If it was an issue that was obviously causing accidents the NTSB would have been all over it a long time ago.

So the alternative is what we do today. Pilots that have health issues seek treatment and go fly.

If the aeromedical branch had solid data that there was a safety issue that needed to be solved right now we would not be having this debate.

Best of luck,

Wes
N78PS

[martymayes]

I think the data indicates most OSA is undiagnosed. So pilots are NOT seeking treatment - they don't even know they are affected. The FAS has identified a safety issue (no need for fatalities) and solved it by adjusting the medical standards It will be in effect in < 2 yrs despite rumblings from alphabet groups.