U.S. to screen obese pilots & controllers for sleep apnea

[Airspeedintervention]

FAA Medical Chief Targets Fat Pilots And Controllers - AVweb flash Article (http://www.avweb.com/avwebflash/news/FAA-Targets-Fat-Pilots-And-Controllers220978-1.html)

[Machaca]

Reuters reports: (http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/11/20/us-usa-aviation-obesity-idUSBRE9AJ14N20131120)

U.S. to screen obese pilots, controllers for sleep apnea

Overweight U.S. pilots and air traffic controllers will soon need to be screened for sleep apnea, a condition that can cause daytime sleepiness and potentially jeopardize passenger safety, according to a new federal policy.

The Federal Aviation Administration's chief medical officer told physicians in a recent memo that they will shortly be required to calculate the body mass index (BMI) of pilots and controllers and send those with a BMI of 40 or more to be evaluated by a sleep specialist.

[mad_jock]

At 40 BMI i hope the specalist is at top of 6 flights of stairs.

[loveflyingalways]

About time

[flarepilot]

this is nuts

I know one guy who is 5'11'' and weighs 180 lbs...HE HAS SLEEP APNEA.

I know another guy who is 6'2'' and weighs 300 lbs...HE DOES NOT have sleep apnea or any other disqualifying disease.


both are pilots for the same airline.

[Airbubba]

Here is Dr. Tilton's 'memo' on page 2:

http://www.faa.gov/other_visit/aviation_industry/designees_delegations/designee_types/ame/fasmb/media/201304.pdf