On Thu, 21 Jul 2016 16:53:38 -0400, Vaughn Simon wrote:

On 7/21/2016 3:49 PM, Larry Dighera wrote:
Here's a case in point:

http://www.ntsb.gov/_layouts/ntsb.av...6-17b4751406da
National Transportation Safety Board Washington, DC 20594

OK, but what exactly IS your point?


Jim caught it. :-)


That pilot apparently had a valid medical certificate, which did NOTHING
to prevent the accident, because a cursory one-time physical exam simply
has little chance of predicting a sudden incapacitation event.


See. You got it too.


Wouldn't it have been better to train him to self-recognize dangerous
symptoms in himself? In that case, perhaps he wouldn't have taken that
flight, or perhaps turned around in time?


How do you know Dan wasn't aware of his medical condition?

I recall reading somewhere back then that the postmortem examination revealed
evidence of past cardiac scaring events.


Also, not to belabor the point, but the present system presents a huge
disincentive to pilots who detect symptoms in themselves.


With all due respect, I would say that that disincentive is only present in
those who are unreasonable, but unable to admit it to them selves.


If they go to
the doctor, they run the risk of receiving a diagnosis that will ground
them. So that's an incentive to not go, and just to hope that the
symptoms go away!

The incentive for every _reasonable_ (read: sane) pilot to assure that s/he is
medically fit to assume the duties and responsibilities of Pilot In Command of
the flight upon which s/he is about to embark, is her/his own safety, and that
of her/his passengers and those over whom s/he navigates. The unreasonable
pilot who disregards her/his own limitations when committing aviation will
likely become a statistic of natural selection, hopefully sooner than later.

About 2,016 years ago, a wise fellow said it pretty well:

http://biblehub.com/ecclesiastes/3.htm
"There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity
under the heavens"

When the time comes to cease flying for medical reasons, only a fool (or a
pilot with a vendetta against the IRS[1]) ignores that fact. Does Joe Stack
sound rational to you? Here are his "last words:"
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/pdf/us/20100218-stack-suicide-letter.pdf

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NEl6t2zHtv0

The point is, when a pilot is unfit for duty, her/his time has come to cease
flying despite how difficult it is for him/her to admit the fact.