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IF you LOSE your medical, you can NOT indeed drive your
car and still fly a sport/light. If your medical is revoked you are through
flying anything but 103 ultralights. This is going to get a LOT of guys fried.
If you have a know diagnosed illness that would preclude you getting a medical,
you CANNOT fly a sport/light even if you have a drivers lisence. If you have a
medical and fly with a know deficiency, it is the same as NOT having a medical,
even if you do not see a doctor. Fair or not, that's the rules and those who try
to skirt the rules and get caught are going to be in a hell of a mess.
Mike C.
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Wednesday, July 20, 2005 7:09
PM
Subject: [FlyRotary] Re: FAA - we're here
to help you
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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