Originally Posted by
Treble one
If the pilot had suffered incapacitation during the accident manoeuver (something like a TIA - a 'mini stroke'), I would expect that there would be a biochemical marker in the blood to indicate this?
There are apparent biomarkers for ischemic stroke, but I believe they are still at the research stage and not yet used in hospitals (there are myocardial infarction markers used as standard now). Standard approach to TIA/stroke is (I believe) CT scan to rule out haemorrhagic, followed by MRI for better view of infarcts. Depending on other injuries and treatment the pilot may have had cranial CT/MRI, but he may well not have done. If he did and they showed anything I would expect it to be reported on and some sort of action to follow - after all, any diagnosis of a TIA/stroke is an instant 1 month medical driving ban, I can't see why flying would be treated more leniently.
However, not all TIAs show up even on MRI, so unless the patient can remember and report them they remain completely unknown (for "mini-stroke" depends on the definition - some definitions are along the lines of "mini-stroke = a TIA that shows up on MRI").
Source: my own experience and knowledge of the experience of other people with the same rare blood clotting disorder it turns out I have...