Healthy GA pilot volunteers are needed this year at AirVenture for computer-administered confidential testing to help the FAA determine when previously injured pilots are safe to return to flying. The FAA requires cognitive screening tests to help determine when a pilot who has suffered a stroke, head, or brain injury can be considered safe to return to the cockpit. The testing project aims to create a set of normative data from a group of healthy pilots that can be adapted and used for comparison against the functionality of previously injured individual pilots. General aviation pilots who participate in the project will receive benefits.
To sign up as a volunteer, pilots will need to stop in at the FAA Safety Center at Oskhosh and look for a “CogSreen-AE” booth where they will be able to sign up. The researchers tell us the FAA will not have access to any individual scores, but “only to the resulting group norms.” Participants will receive “immediate feedback” on their test scores … and also a free CogSreen-AE travel mug. They’ll also be have a chance to win a $25, $50, or $100 Amazon Gift Card, which will be awarded to the holders of the three highest scores achieved during the week. Finally, say researchers, volunteer pilots who participate in the study will gain the benefit of having established a personal cognitive baseline against which can be used for comparison should they ever seek neurocognitive evaluation due to head trauma or other reasons. AVweb was made aware of the project through Dr. Chris M. Font, clinical psychologist, FAA office of aerospace medicine.
