BMI of >> 40

My Flight Surgeon

My Flight Surgeon

Sr. Aviation Medical Examiner
The Federal Air Surgeon has announced that there will be a new policy soon requiring AME's to calculate every pilot's BMI and report it on the medical exam. It looks like a BMI of 40 or greater will result in a required sleep study for issuance of a medical certificate.

Once they have checked all pilots with a BMI of 40, they will start to lower the threshold down to 30. This will affect a lot of you. :)

Here is my take:
If you have a BMI of 40 or greater and have never had a sleep study, get one before your medical and take the results to the AME so he can document whether or not you have sleep apnea.
If you have a BMI of 40 or close to it, start on a healthy lifestyle program (low carb diet and exercise) to lose weight before your next medical.
 
Thanks for passing along what you know so far. I have always struggled to sleep in uncomfortable conditions, i.e. anything other than a hotel or my bed. I have a feeling a sleep study would not go well, but I feel well rested on a regular basis. Thoughts on this? I'm not in either of the categories of neck size or BMI but just thinking ahead.
 
Doctor, I get paid leave while all of it is sorted out if I'm not issued a medical, so I'm not inclined to spend money on the sleep study ahead of time. Not to mention that I can expense it if the AME requires me to get it, but I can't if I get it beforehand on my own. So some guys may be better served to wait until they're actually denied the medical, based upon what their contracts say.

But here's my question: let's say I go to the AME in June, and he tells me that I need a sleep study because my BMI is about 42 and my neck size is 18. I get the sleep study at his direction, and I'm diagnosed with sleep apnea. What happens at that point? Is it possible to get a medical with sleep apnea? What's the process? Is it different for a 1st, 2nd, or 3rd class, or is the standard the same for all of them?

Thanks for your help.
 
ATN_Pilot said:
Doctor, I get paid leave while all of it is sorted out if I'm not issued a medical, so I'm not inclined to spend money on the sleep study ahead of time. Not to mention that I can expense it if the AME requires me to get it, but I can't if I get it beforehand on my own. So some guys may be better served to wait until they're actually denied the medical, based upon what their contracts say.

But here's my question: let's say I go to the AME in June, and he tells me that I need a sleep study because my BMI is about 42 and my neck size is 18. I get the sleep study at his direction, and I'm diagnosed with sleep apnea. What happens at that point? Is it possible to get a medical with sleep apnea? What's the process? Is it different for a 1st, 2nd, or 3rd class, or is the standard the same for all of them?

Thanks for your help.
Click to expand...

I suppose it's a bit trivial, but if you go in and he requires you to go get a sleep study, what happens in the interim? These sleep studies are hard to get set up, maybe needing a month or two notice depending on your location. Are you denied a medical until you get one?
 
Doctor, I get paid leave while all of it is sorted out if I'm not issued a medical, so I'm not inclined to spend money on the sleep study ahead of time. Not to mention that I can expense it if the AME requires me to get it, but I can't if I get it beforehand on my own. So some guys may be better served to wait until they're actually denied the medical, based upon what their contracts say.
But here's my question: let's say I go to the AME in June, and he tells me that I need a sleep study because my BMI is about 42 and my neck size is 18. I get the sleep study at his direction, and I'm diagnosed with sleep apnea. What happens at that point? Is it possible to get a medical with sleep apnea? What's the process? Is it different for a 1st, 2nd, or 3rd class, or is the standard the same for all of them?

Thanks for your help.
Click to expand...

If you have sleep apnea and are treated, the FAA will grant a Special Issuance medical certificate. This is the same for all classes of medical.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Be aware that the current processing time for a deferred medical is currently about 10 weeks. If you want to be out for that long, wait to get the study done.

The rules re not published yet but I would bet there will be a deferral until the sleep study is done. If it does not show sleep apnea, the AME will probably be able to issue the medical, of it shows sleep apnea then it becomes a spec issuance case and the clock tick on.
 
Thanks for the info, Doctor. I don't think I'll ever be close to 40 or even 30 but great information to have!
 
It's that BMI of 30 that will be an issue for me I think. What table do they use to determine this? Is it a simple height vs weight chart?
 
I have a BMI lower than 30, exercise a lot and have an SI for Sleep Apnea. I think this is going to affect a lot of folks................:(
 
What about the whole neck thing? I thought I read somewhere that more than 17 inches triggered something? I'm not especially worried because if I ever got to 30, I'd shoot myself. That aside, I do wear a 15.5 inch collar, which isn't too far from 17, I'm not sure how much weight I'd have to gain to put 1.5" in my neck though.
 
So if you have to do a sleep study, "pass" the sleep study do you have to do one every year then?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top