Feb AAIB 😥
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Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Down at the sharp pointy end, where all the weather is made.
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I've been discussing this with my AME. Apparently an ECG only shows you haven't or have had a heart attack, not that you might have one in the future.
There is no non-invasive procedure to predict this. It's not just flying instructors who fly with non-aviating people (as this instructor just had prior to this flight). There are plenty of Public Transport operations in the UK flown by a single pilot - in Islanders for one example.
Should we save time, effort and money and do away with ECG? Possibly.
A former colleague of mine was banned by the CAA from flying with students who hadn't already gone solo due to an abnormality with an ECG. This was decades ago and he's lived to a ripe old age. Actually, he took up instrument and twin instruction and found this far more rewarding than ab-initio instructing, so no harm done.
So the take away is: any of us could croak at any time. Nothing can be done about it.
TOO
There is no non-invasive procedure to predict this. It's not just flying instructors who fly with non-aviating people (as this instructor just had prior to this flight). There are plenty of Public Transport operations in the UK flown by a single pilot - in Islanders for one example.
Should we save time, effort and money and do away with ECG? Possibly.
A former colleague of mine was banned by the CAA from flying with students who hadn't already gone solo due to an abnormality with an ECG. This was decades ago and he's lived to a ripe old age. Actually, he took up instrument and twin instruction and found this far more rewarding than ab-initio instructing, so no harm done.
So the take away is: any of us could croak at any time. Nothing can be done about it.
TOO
Interesting, I remember visiting Westair as I think that aircraft had a partnership deal for time-building.
No idea if I met the person concerned, but these things can be very sudden, or come with warning etc.
Alex.
No idea if I met the person concerned, but these things can be very sudden, or come with warning etc.
Alex.
I used to fly Super Pumas in the North Sea. Once after landing on a platform, after a 15 min sector from another platform, it was clear something was amiss in the cabin - I was waiting by the door for pax to disembark. Entering it was easy to spot that one of the pax in the penultimate row, aisle seat, was clearly dead. The neighbours stated he’d boarded normally on the previous stop and almost immediately gone “to sleep”. After buckling up. Nobody realised what had happened until the rear seat guys tried to get past after landing.
It’s shocking how quickly it can happen.
It’s shocking how quickly it can happen.
I am old enough to recall that the medics in 1970s wanted to introduce stress ECGs for aircrew but this was fought off by BALPA at the time. As has been said above a resting ECG only shows whether or not you have previously had a heart attack.
Whilst the stress ECG will show past events, if any, and the present condition under stress, it does not predict the future. As my Cardiologist said to me, with a smile; "you could drop dead before you reach the exit, don't be complacent.", "It is not a guarantee." These tests are usually only prescribed as a result of identified signs or symptoms of the patient. The tests are expensive and probably would not be required if the CAA were paying the bill.
