Aviation Medical "Fraud"

Another way of analyzing it is perhaps these pilots were fit to fly but were
not disabled. Is it possible that the error was not on their flight
physical but on their disablility evaluations.


"Gig 601XL Builder" wrDOTgiaconaATsuddenlink.net wrote in message
...
Larry Dighera wrote:
On Tue, 27 Mar 2007 14:44:39 -0800, Jim Stewart
wrote in :


They compared SSN disability recipents with
pilot's licenses. A few naughty individuals
had disabilities that would prevent them from
truthfully obtaining a valid medical, yet they
had one.

Does it say how many instances of this they found as a percentage of
total current airman certificate holders?

Longer version same story...
_____________________
On Tuesday, House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman
James
L. Oberstar, D-Minn., on Tuesday released a committee oversight report
that
identifies "widespread fraud" among pilots who hide serious medical
conditions from examining physicians to retain medical certification for
their FAA pilot certificates. The report notes that "in July 2005, the DOT
Inspector General found 'egregious cases' of airmen lying about
debilitating
medical conditions on their applications" for FAA medicals. The DOT
watchdog
sampled 40,000 airman's records and found more than 3,200 held current
medical certificates while simultaneously receiving Social Security
benefits, some for medically disabling conditions. Forty people were
prosecuted, but the committee's oversight and investigations staff believe
hundreds more could have been pursued if not for limited resources.
Further,
the research team found "toxicology evidence" of serious medical
conditions
in nearly 10 percent of all pilots involved in fatal accidents during a
10-year period, though less than 10 percent of these medical conditions
were
disclosed to the FAA. "Despite these findings, FAA managers argue that the
problem of airmen falsifying medical applications is negligible," the
report
notes. Committee staff concludes that the FAA's response is unacceptable
and
reiterates the DOT IG's previous recommendation that the agency
"coordinate
with Social Security and other providers of medical disability to identify
individuals whose documented medical conditions are inconsistent with
sworn
statements made to the FAA." The committee researchers opine that this
action would create "incentive for airmen to be more forthcoming about
their
existing medical conditions." Per FAR 67.403, "Falsification of the airman
medical application form 8500-8 may result in adverse action including
fines
up to $250,000, imprisonment up to 5 years and revocation of medical and
all
pilot certificates."
________________________________________


3200 out of a random 40,000 sample is about 8%. The story says that "some
for medically disabling conditions" so the actual percentage that had
medical problems that would not allow them to fly would be somewhere from
8%
down to 0.000001%. I think the much more interesting number is the 10% of
fatals included "toxicology evidence." What isn't said is if the
"evidence"
in this 10% was all non-reported medical conditions. What they are talking
about I would assume is things like heart drugs that indicate a pilot with
a
heart condition. But how many of that 10% had reported the condition and
had
a waiver.

Like so many times it isn't what the news story says but what it doesn't
say.

Howard Nelson writes:

Another way of analyzing it is perhaps these pilots were fit to fly but were
not disabled. Is it possible that the error was not on their flight
physical but on their disablility evaluations.

Or they may have been fit to fly and knew it, but had some condition that they
also knew would disqualify them.

I think relatively few pilots would take real risks, risks that might
incapacitate them in flight and cause them to die. But if they have
conditions that aren't really likely to incapacitate them, and they have a
great love of flying, I can see why some of them might yield to the temptation
to lie about it.

It's also interesting to note that some pilots with perfect first-class
medicals turn out to be in bad shape at autopsy. I recall one report about an
accident in which both pilots were killed, and at autopsy it turned out that
they had severe narrowing of coronary arteries (90% for one of the pilots).
But they had their medicals, and it wasn't the cardiovascular problems that
killed them.

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