FAA unfair?? Help!
Hello,
I'm an F/O for a commercial airline.
Approximately 2 months ago I got sick on a flight (on duty) coming from SYR going to ORD. It was overcast when we took off from SYR and it was my leg, and everything was normal. We were climbing and after we got above the overcast clouds, something started happening to my vision. something like a dot of light was in the middle of my sight. I thought it was caused buy the very bright light coming from the sun so I didn't pay too much attention about what was happening. We cruised along and we started our descent to ORD and it was my time to brief the approach. I took out my approach plate and I was about to start talking but I couldn't. The only thing I was able to say to the cpt was:" take the plane, I am confused". He asked me what was happening to me and one again, I couldn't say much. I got worried and asked me if he had to declare emergency and I couldn't really answer so he did.
As soon as the airplane's door open I was completely fine. No vision distortion, no speech problem. I got off the airplane and they took me to the hospital with the ambulance and I stayed there for 2 days. While I was there I did all different kind of tests, to make sure that it wasn't a TIA(stroke). Every single test was negative. I have been diagnosed with Migraine with Aura. I must say that I did have previous episodes of Aura before. I had them since I was 10 or so but the where very, very rare like, one a year. They started to get more frequent the week before I got sick on the plane. The cause could be:stress, tiredness, lack of sleep, bad diet, bright lights.. so a bunch of factors.
I would like to say that I commute from SEA to ORD. It is a very difficult commute. Two days before I got sick, it took me 8 hrs to find a flight from SEA to ORD and I ended up going from SEA to DFW, got there at 11pm and I took one of the firs flight of the day to go from DFW to ORD and then I flew to SYR. 8 hrs to find a flight, going up and down, from terminal to terminal, from gate to gate, just to find an open seat.
I have been prescribed Propranolol from my Neurologist here in Seattle and I have been taken one pill every morning for the past 2 months
Now, I have been working with ALPA and they have been very helpful. They helped me gathering all my medical records that needed to be sent to the FAA and they have been dealing with the FAA as well.
The FAA came back with this:
By virtue of your migraine headaches with visual changes and aphasia, it has been determined that you are not qualified for any class of medical certificate at this time[...] ..you may wish to voluntarily surrender them for cancellation[...] ...you may request reconsideration after a 12-month observation period from the day of the event.
The ALPA doctor thinks that the FAA has been unfair with the 12 months stop period and he said that the usual "observation" period for migraines is 6 months which would mean 3 and a half more months to go without flying. ALPA gave me a doctor's number that could help me with my case but so far I was not able to contact him. I actually called him but I only got to speak with his secretary.
I'm pretty sure that I'm not the only pilot with this problem. I'm 26 years old, I studied in an aeronautical high school in Italy and I came to the States in '06 to become a pilot. So I have been studying airplane stuff for the past 10 years and flying a plane is pretty much the only thing that I can do. I applied for different kind of jobs since I got sick but with no luck.
I am wondering if anyone can help me find a way to get back in the air. So far the company has been waiting for me but I don't think that they are gonna wait for 10 more months.
Thank you all.
Last edited by N2740RPettinato; 8th May 2012 at 17:46.