Aeromedical

At least 33 passengers on a Ryanair flight to Croatia were treated in hospitals for bleeding ears, mouths and noses when the packed Boeing 737-800 was put into an emergency descent for a pressurization problem. The aircraft was carrying 189 passengers when it dove for breathable air early in the flight from Dublin to Zadar. […]

Air China will take a “zero tolerance” approach to its investigation of a first officer’s apparently bungled attempt to sneak an in-flight vape aboard one of its Boeing 737s last Tuesday. The FO is reported to have meant to shut off the air recycling system aboard the aircraft while it was at cruise to cover […]

New research from Harvard University’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health suggests that flight attendants are at a higher risk than the general public for several forms cancer. To gather data, the Harvard Flight Attendant Health Study surveyed U.S.-based flight attendants and compared the results to non-flying groups of similar ages and genders. The study […]

Healthy Pilot has been covering the BasicMed checklist in the past few installments, but we will be departing from that protocol in coming issues to cover health problems that impact the population in general and pilots in particular. Sleep disorders are up first, a condition that seems ubiquitous. For pilots, fatigue caused by sleep problems […]

It’s only within the last 20 years that scientists have identified depression as the precursor to a host of physical ailments—from heart disease to sensitive gut. Whether depression is the cause or depression is the consequence, there is no doubt that feeling low impacts health in negative ways. For BasicMed, the FAA bundles depression, anxiety, […]

The FAA has issued a Supplemental Type Certificate (STC) that will allow pilots to fly two larger Piper aircraft under BasicMed medical certificates. Under BasicMed, pilots are restricted to aircraft certified to carry six or fewer people. Senecas and most Cherokee Six aircraft and their derivatives are certified as seven-seat aircraft although few actually have […]

While there are some rare instances when a history of seizures, paralysis or other neurological events won’t be disqualifying, any presentation of a neurological disorder is usually met by an adverse FAA decision. Neurological disorders are item 18L on the Basic Med checklist. The FAA’s Guide for Aviation Medical Examiners is helpful if you think […]

The design of today’s cockpits can lead to “cognitive overload,” especially when things go wrong and it’s not immediately clear to pilots what the problem is or how to fix it, according to recent research at Drexel University. “Unfortunately, many human-machine interfaces expose users to workload extremes, diminishing the operator’s attention and potentially leading to […]

The whole-body impact of type 1 or type 2 diabetes can affect eyesight, heart function and kidney output. It can lead to fatty liver disease, skin infections, osteoporosis and even dementia. No other disease–except perhaps an autoimmune disorder–carries this kind of whole-body risk. Clearly, losing any of these capacities risks your pilot privileges, let alone […]

You’ve focused intently on pre-flighting the airplane, and you’ve paid attention to passenger safety and comfort. But that twinge in your lower back as you line up on the centerline gives you a moment’s pause. Taxi back to the ramp or press on? If it’s a kidney stone, and the pain only gets worse at […]