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Kevin,
Being on a Disability pension don't stop you flying a
plane. It may make it harder to get a medical clearance and you won't get a
clearance if your on Medication, such as mind bending drugs e.g. Pilots with
past Depression and Bipolar can get Medicals - Paranoid
Schizophrenia is only controlled by mind bending drugs, so that one's a NO
NO!
One must be upfront with the details however - some have
suggested that it's easier to lie than get a medical with past medical
conditions. I notice a lot of chaps losing their medicals for Diabetes and Blood
Pressure etc.
However you can still drive a car and fly Light Sport
Category.
George ( down under)
Saw this in today's _New York Times_.
July 20, 2005
U.S. Says
46 Pilots Lied to Obtain Their Licenses
By CAROLYN MARSHALL
SAN
FRANCISCO, July 19 - Prosecutors in Northern California have
charged 46
pilots with lying to federal authorities to obtain airplane
licenses, in
most cases not disclosing debilitating illnesses that
should have kept them
grounded.
The pilots, who were indicted this week by grand juries in
the eastern
and northern federal districts of California, were identified
during
an 18-month criminal air traffic safety investigation by
the
Department of Transportation and the Social Security
Administration
that looked into licensed pilots who were also receiving
disability
benefits and payments from the government.
The
investigation, initiated in July 2003, included a review of more
than
40,000 pilot licenses issued in Northern California to determine
whether
there had been any misuse or abuse of Social Security numbers.
The
authorities reviewed licenses held by both commercial and private
pilots
and found that some license applicants claimed to be medically
fit to fly
an airplane yet were simultaneously receiving
disability
benefits.
"The fraud and falsification allegedly
committed by these individuals
is extremely serious and adversely affects
the public interest in air
safety," said Nicholas Sabatini, an associate
administrator with the
Federal Aviation Administration.
Charles H.
Lee Jr., an assistant inspector general for investigations
at the
Department of Transportation, said the reviewers first focused
their
investigation on 48 pilots, most of whom were receiving
disability payments
for illnesses like paranoid schizophrenia, bipolar
disorder and disabling
heart conditions.
One case, Mr. Lee said, even involved someone who
exhibited severe
suicidal tendencies.
"To get their certificates,
these people had to lie or falsify
paperwork," Mr. Lee said. "The F.A.A.
has rules and regulations
regarding medical conditions and deemed that all
48 had medical
disabilities that would have disqualified them from holding
pilot
certificates."
Two cases were dropped, Mr. Lee said, one
because the pilot died. He
declined to comment about whether similar
investigations were under
way in other states.
Of the 46 pilots that
Mr. Lee said were charged, 7 held commercial
pilot certificates that would
have allowed them to fly as well as
carry cargo; another 4 pilots held air
transportation pilot
certificates which would let them transport
passengers.
Of the remaining indicted pilots, 28 had private pilot
licenses, and 7
had student licenses.
A charge of lying to the
federal authorities carries a penalty of up
to five years in prison and a
$250,000 fine. A charge of falsifying
records carries a penalty of up to
one year in prison and a $100,000
fine.
According to court
documents, the pilots who were indicted failed to
provide accurate medical
history forms, as required by the F.A.A., in
some cases lying about a
previous illness or claiming that there had
been no previous medical
diagnosis or treatment for conditions that
the pilots knew they
had.
Laura Brown, a spokeswoman for the F.A.A., said that pilots
could
obtain a license only after they submit oral and written tests
and
current medical certificates. Those certificates can be issued only
by
an aviation medical examiner registered with the agency.
Certain
medical conditions would disqualify an applicant from receiving
a
license.
"The reason we have disqualifying conditions is to ensure
that pilots
are not a danger to others, in the air or on the ground," Ms.
Brown
said.
Ms. Brown said that the pilots were charged with either
making false
statements to a federal official or delivering to a federal
official a
false written record. She added that 14 of the pilots held
active
pilot licenses, which were immediately revoked.
The remaining
pilots had licenses that had either lapsed or were
missing current
information, which would not prevent them from flying
a private
plane.
"It's similar to when people go out and drive cars without a
license,
or drive cars when intoxicated," Ms. Brown said. "It's illegal
but
they do it."
At least one of the indicted pilots appeared in
Federal District Court
in Sacramento on Tuesday. The remaining pilots will
be arraigned
individually in the coming weeks.
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