Aeromedical

Third class medical reform finally staggers across the finish line and now what? I find myself in a binary state of mind. On the bright side, I’m enthusiastic and grateful for the work that went into getting this legislation passed—by Senator Jim Inhofe and co-sponsors and by the advocacy groups. They deserve recognition for the […]

Third-class medical reform is on its way to becoming law after the Senate voted this afternoon to approve the measure as part of a short-term funding bill for the FAA. The legislation, which won House approval on Monday, is expected to be signed by President Obama before the FAA’s current authorization expires on Friday. Many […]

A Delta Air Lines flight from Atlanta to Denver was diverted to Tulsa Saturday after up to 15 of the 150 passengers got sick. The passengers displayed symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning including headache, nausea and dizziness. Firefighters later reported finding elevated levels of CO. Tulsa Fire Captain Stan May told reporters that once the […]

The FAA will get a 14-month funding extension that includes third-class medical reform as part of joint approvals announced Wednesday by House and Senate transportation committees. The extension (PDF) would take effect when the FAA’s current authorization expires on July 15 and continue through the end of the fiscal year on Sept. 30, 2017. Medical […]

FAA Administrator Michael Huerta said Thursday that U.S. airline pilots will not have to undergo psychological testing, at least not in any formal way. At a news conference Huerta said aviation medical examiners have been given extra training to spot potential mental health issues in pilots but there will be no structured testing program. Huerta […]

As he promised in February, Pennsylvania Rep. Bill Shuster appears intent on trying again to convince his fellow lawmakers to privatize air traffic control in the U.S. With just six weeks left in the short-term FAA funding authorization that was approved March 15, Shuster is reportedly gathering support, Washington style, for the privatization plan, which […]

Third-class medical reform could get another chance of making it to a congressional vote via a defense funding bill that moved through the Senate’s Armed Services Committee this week. The committee voted 23-3 in favor of the bill, which would authorize $602 billion for the Department of Defense and other national security programs. It includes […]

If the increasingly strident messages from the FAA about ADS-B equipage have you feeling the slightest pangs of guilt that you haven’t written the check yet, take heart. The agency doesn’t seem to be in too much of a hurry to get its own aircraft in compliance and it’s shopping around. As every aircraft owner […]

We can argue about a lot in aviation, but one thing we rarely dispute is the unwritten rule that your AME and your doctor shouldn’t be the same person. Unpack the logic of that and two things become implicit: We don’t trust the government with our medical data (rightfully) and, if we’re honest, we want […]

The Arizona flight school where Andreas Lubitz took primary flight training may face one of the massive lawsuits that will flow from the young Germanwings pilot’s intentional crash of an A320 in the French Alps last year. Lubitz took his primary flight training at Lufthansa’s Airline Training Center in Goodyear, near Phoenix. According to the […]