On 20 March 2008 Sky Dancer said:
the FAA medicals and the exams are a joke.....
I guess you'd better define "joke" for me.
The exam does seem less extensive than in other countries. I'll note that if something suspicious is found, that situation can quickly reverse. In NG Expat's case, they gave him a chance whereas in other countries he'd just be summarily grounded. In his case grounding doesn't seem justified.
Now last I looked there were about 1 million licensed pilots on this earth. Approximately 800,000 hold US licenses. A`few are "foreigners" who have since gone back home ("dual" licenses, as we see in India often). The vast majority are flying in the US only. Activity is defined mostly by whether the pilot's medical is current.
I don't know the exact percentage, but I'd say most of these are 2nd or 3rd class medicals - even less stringent than my 1st class. If my medical is a joke, than the 3rd class medical is Johnny Carson's (my favorite stand-up comic, God rest his soul) monologue on speed! Note that the glider guys and gals don't require a medical AT ALL!
For all that, one almost never hears of a pilot becoming incapaciataed in flight in the US. It happens, but it's rare. I think the last I heard of one anywhere was a BA f/o recently who, unfortunately, died (correct me if I'm wrong). Presumably he was flying on one of the "unfunny" medicals. Didn't help (and I'm not "crowing" - it's a sad thing all around). I do remember a Continental pilot who died in January of last year (f/o landed safely), but before that I can't think of one, even in GA.
So is the FAA medical a joke, or are the others ridiculous overkill? We can all pick over statistics and argue endlessly, but I'll defend the FAA's procedure. It's worked well for a long time. Just my two cents ...
