Employment Question

T

tvalenti

New Member
I have my class 2 medical certificate. I have a mild learning disability, but average IQ. Im wondering how my learning disability will affect my oppurtunities with employment from airlines in the future or if I even have to disclose it at all. It doesnt affect me from completeing any of the tasks that are required from a pilot. Might this stop me from getting a 1st class medical? Any thoughts, or experiences?
Any comments greatly appreciated.
 
Dude, how would the airlines know about such a thing? Is it a medical condition? Are you on medication for it? Did you have to disclose it on your application for a medical certificate?

I say that if the FAA doesn't need to know about it and doesn't already know about it, there's no need to make it important.

That's just me, though - and I'm certainly not saying to lie about anything. . .

FWIW . . .
 
I had to disclose it on my mecial to get a 2nd class. No im not taking medication for it, and it wouldnt affect me from doing any of the duties of a pilot. What do think about it?
Could it possibly stop me from getting a 1st class for the airlines?
 
Ok, I gotta ask. Why would the FAA require you to disclose an unmedicated learning disability for a 2nd class medical? It doesn't affect your ability to physically fly the airplane, so IMO it shouldn't have anything to do with your medical. As far as the airlines go, the only thing I could see a problem with is an intense ground school, but even THAT depends on what the learning ability is. If you've come this far already, you know how to cope with it and know what needs to be done to learn new material.
 
I'm not sure if a 'learning disability' is actually a real medical condition.
 
[ QUOTE ]
I had to disclose it on my mecial to get a 2nd class. No im not taking medication for it, and it wouldnt affect me from doing any of the duties of a pilot. What do think about it?
Could it possibly stop me from getting a 1st class for the airlines?

[/ QUOTE ]

Possibly. Who said you had this LD? Was it a matter of record, paid for with insurance for example? Have you been recently "treated" for it? Have you put the idiots who labeled you with this in your dust?

I'd get with an expert, like AOPA's medical experts and find out how you can get rid of this. Since you have already disclosed it, it may take some handling.
 
The only way you will know if you can go get a 1st class medical is if you go get one.

I recomend all new students go get a first class medical the first time because you wanna know if you can be an airline pilot (medically) before you dump a ton of money into a career. I would rather waist $85 to find out whether or not I can get the 1st class medical than spend thousands on on training and find out when you go get a 1st class for the airlines that you have a medical condition that prevents it.

Go talk to your Medical Examiner about your concerns. He may be able to answer a lot of your questions.
 
[ QUOTE ]
The only way you will know if you can go get a 1st class medical is if you go get one.

I recomend all new students go get a first class medical the first time because you wanna know if you can be an airline pilot (medically) before you dump a ton of money into a career. I would rather waist $85 to find out whether or not I can get the 1st class medical than spend thousands on on training and find out when you go get a 1st class for the airlines that you have a medical condition that prevents it.

Go talk to your Medical Examiner about your concerns. He may be able to answer a lot of your questions.

[/ QUOTE ]

All good advice, except for possibly the last sentance. I'd recommend talking to AOPA first rather than your AME. Anything you tell the Examiner is automatically part of the record and could be used against you. (Kind of like asking a police officer for advice about your driving indiscretions.) Remember that the AME works for the FAA, not for you.

There's another internet source that you might try along with AOPA: Virtual Flight Surgeon
(I don't have any experience with this group, so don't consider this an endorsement, just passing along another possible source of information.)
 
Well heres the story, sonce it is called a learning disability, it is technically a disability. Thus due to the full disclosure information my parents thought it would be a good idea to bring it up. so i check yes to question 18x, and disclosed that i had a mild learning disability, and after he cleared me for my 2nd class medical, which i have now. So in all truth my parents made me bring it up. What my question is, is if i go throught ground school in college, and complete it successfully, and am able to get the ratings, and work up toward my ATP rating, havnt i proved that my learning disability isnt a factor for the airlines thus making it a non issue? What would the airlines say, and how could i get this straightened out?
 
I would think that wasn't something you had to report, but I wouldn't dwell on it. Just try to get your First Class and see what happens. If you get it, I'd say you're good to go.

I don't think the airlines would even find out about it. It's not like they look over everyone's medical applications (well, maybe Eagle and their damn astronaut physical).
smile.gif
 
Seriously, if you want to learn the best way to handle the situation call AOPA on Monday morning. If you're not a member, join up. Ask for their Medical assistance team and they'll walk you through what you need to do.

From AOPA.org:
[ QUOTE ]
Contact AOPA
8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Eastern time, Monday through Friday.
AOPA, 421 Aviation Way, Frederick, Maryland 21701.
Phone: 301/695-2000 Fax: 301/695-2375

[/ QUOTE ]
 
[ QUOTE ]
So in all truth my parents made me bring it up. What my question is, is if i go throught ground school in college, and complete it successfully, and am able to get the ratings, and work up toward my ATP rating, havnt i proved that my learning disability isnt a factor for the airlines thus making it a non issue? What would the airlines say, and how could i get this straightened out?

[/ QUOTE ]

The mistake was getting diagnosed, followed by disclosing it.

No, the airlines won't hire you if they know that you have this in your record. You need to talk to an expert and see if you can get this off of your record and handle it to the point where you can truthfully say you haven't been diagnosed with a LD. Fortunately you didn't get drugged so this may not be an insurmountable problem.

Again, this is a lesson to those out there with kids. DO NOT let your kid get saddled with one of these goofy labels!
 
[ QUOTE ]
Again, this is a lesson to those out there with kids. DO NOT let your kid get saddled with one of these goofy labels!

[/ QUOTE ]

AMEN!!!!!! I spent probably 7-8 years as a ritalin kid, and it royally sucked. It was a label and I actually used to get asked as a 3-4th grader if my parents had given me my 'pill' that day.

And sure, maybe I don't like sitting and reading for hours about instrument errors from the Jepp book, maybe you could diagnose me as ADHD, but put me in the plane and I got it nailed. I refuse to let some label that some shrink stuck me with when I was 8 affect me now. I set my own limitations, not someone else. If you choose to let someone else define that for you, good luck with life my friend.....

Look at it this way my friend God (or whatever higher power you choose to believe in, or not) made you different from everyone else. Same with me, and with all of us. Embrace the differences, learn to deal with them, and move on. If you have the intelligence to ask the question, you have the intelligence to work with it and accomplish ANYTHING you want to.

CJ
 
ok so ill call the aopa on monday, and with reasonable assurance, your saying that it will be easy for them to delete the record of my learning disability becuase i havnt taken medication for it. If i dont get it removed, i will be at risk for NEVER landing a job with a major airline. Would a regional airline have an issue? and if by some chance im not able to get it removed, i should look for another job becuae no one will look at my application. Although i thought that having an accomplishment like recieving your ATP rating would show that you were able to do everything a pilot is required?
Any lasts word of advice i could use for the AOPA on monday?
Thanks
 
I respectfully disagree with flyover. I take it you're in high school? When I was in high school, I wanted to be a pilot. I wore glasses and my vision was 20/200 uncorreced. This was worse than allowable for me to get a first class. I had to take a special test from an eye doctor but he helped me apply for what, at that time, was called a waiver, or SODA (statement of demonstrated ability). Once I initially got that approved by the FAA, there were no problems.

Back in those days, some airlines wouldn't take you if you had a waiver and some wouldn't take you unless you had perfect uncorrected vision. I pressed on because, to be perfectly honest, I never figured I was good enough to fly big jets. Just couldn't imagine such a thing. I loved flying enough that I would have been happy shooting for corporate in a Lear, or something.

Delta had the highest standard for the longest time.
Over the years, the airlines have relaxed their vision standards a lot. Delta even hired people with glasses. The FAA reduced their vision standards, too.

So, I wouldn't sit here and tell you no airline will ever hire you. If I had talked to an airline pilot in 1977, it's very likely that they may have told me that.

There are too many things left out of your story that we don't know, and too many things that could change in the future So I think it's wrong to just sit back and say you have no chance. Unless flyover is an AME who specifically understands you exact condition, that is.

AOPA is a good place to start. Tell them the story like you told us. Ask them if you could take some special tests or something. Ask them if maybe the plan might be to stick with the second class for a while and once you have proven yourself, perhaps be able to get a first class.

I knew this kid once who wanted to be a pilot. He had some MAJOR vision problems. Like, his uncorrected vision was off the chart and he had to wear special glasses, big huge coke bottle leses, that made his eyes look huge. Poor kid really looked kinda funny. I didn't want to tell him to not bother being a pilot cause no airline would ever hire a guy an eye problem like that...think of the looks on the passengers faces when they saw how messed up his eyes were. I figured, maybe he could get on at some freight company where nobody cared. So, he got his waivers and special tests done. Last I heard, he had built his way up to 1200 total as a CFI and was looking for a cargo job. Bottom line, he was happy as heck about it.
 
The reason I say talk to your AME is because if you have a cool AME (like Dr. Ritter in PRC), he will give you advice. It's only on the record if you are filling out the forms. If you consult him on it, he can't run to the FAA and "tattle" on you. I have an awesome AME who would gladly consult you on your medical questions before you put them down on the sheet.

An AME does not work for the FAA, he is certified to give medical exams by the FAA. We, as pilots, are certified by the FAA to fly airplanes, we don't fly for the FAA. They are doctors and can not disclose information to the FAA unless you are filling out the form for the medical. Some AMEs will actually answer your questions on if you should disclose something to the FAA before you put it on the form.

AOPA is a good place too... I forgot about that one.
 
[ QUOTE ]
...It's only on the record if you are filling out the forms. If you consult him on it, he can't run to the FAA and "tattle" on you....

[/ QUOTE ]

I wouldn't bet my ticket on that.
smile.gif


The AME that I use is a good guy also. He gave me a heads-up once that saved me some paperwork headache, and I'd probably trust him enough to ask his advice in some situations. That being said, I was discussing something with AOPA a while back and they flatly advised me not to discuss or chat with the AME "off-the-record", because they (the AME's) have some responsibilites in their relationship with the FAA that can, in certain situations, come back to haunt the pilot. I think it is better to err on the side of caution, at least until you have developed a good working relationship and know where you stand with your AME.
 
I would think that that would directly violate patient/doctor confidetiality, which is against the law. A doctor could be fined greatly for breaking that. But that is just what I thought...
 
[ QUOTE ]
I would think that that would directly violate patient/doctor confidetiality, which is against the law. A doctor could be fined greatly for breaking that. But that is just what I thought...

[/ QUOTE ]
Here is a quote from AOPA's Medical FAQ that, while not directly answering what we are talking about, at least sheds a little bit of light on the subject:
[ QUOTE ]
Can I use my family doctor as my AME instead of having to see two different physicians?

Yes, you can, but we don't always recommend that. Your AME is an FAA designee, so if you go to him/her as a patient with a medical problem that you don't yet wish to reveal to the FAA, you just did. Even though the AME may not pass that information on to the FAA, that does happen, and it creates a potential problem that you have to deal with sooner than you might normally have to. Most AMEs would agree that it's best not to place them in a position of having to wear the two hats of personal physician and aviation medical examiner when you see them.

Since the AME/family physician plays different roles when you are a patient, the confidentiality that exists between the two of you may not exist any more because of the AME role. It's generally better to use your AME only for your FAA examination and have a more comprehensive annual physical with your family practitioner, as well. The FAA exam is not intended to take the place of regular physician visits, although some potentially serious medical problems have been discovered by AMEs in the process of doing the FAA physical.

[/ QUOTE ]

Here's the link to the site. (You have to be an AOPA member to access it I think.) AOPA Medical FAQ's
 
This comes from Pilot Medical Solutions, Inc. - Guide for Aviation Medical Examiners. Here is the link... AME GUIDE

"4. PRIVACY OF MEDICAL INFORMATION

Within the FAA, access to an individual's medical information is strictly on a "need-to-know" basis. The safeguards of the Privacy Act apply to the application for airman medical certification and to other medical files in the FAA's possession. The FAA does not release medical information without an order from a court of competent jurisdiction, written permission from the individual to whom it applies, or, with the individual's knowledge, during litigation of matters related to certification. The FAA does, however, on request, disclose the fact that an individual holds an airman medical certificate and its class, and it may provide medical information regarding a pilot involved in an accident to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) (or to a physician of the appropriate medical discipline who is retained by the NTSB) for use in aircraft accident investigation.

The Examiner, as a representative of the FAA, should treat the applicant's medical certification information in accordance with the requirements of the Privacy Act. Therefore, information should not be released without the written consent of the applicant or an order from a court of competent jurisdiction. In order to ensure that release of information is proper, whenever a court order or subpoena is received by the Examiner, the appropriate Regional Flight Surgeon (see Appendix C), or the Aeromedical Certification Division, AAM-300 (see address below), should be contacted. Similarly, unless the applicant's written consent for release is of a routine nature; e.g., accompanying a standard insurance company request, advice should be sought from the FAA before releasing any information. In all cases, copies of all released information should be retained.

5. RELEASE OF INFORMATION

Except in compliance with an order of a court of competent jurisdiction, or upon an applicant's written request, Examiners will not divulge or release copies of any reports prepared in connection with the examination to anyone other than the applicant or the FAA. A copy of the examination may be released to the applicant upon request. Upon receipt of a court subpoena or order, the Examiner shall notify the appropriate Regional Flight Surgeon. Other

Guide for Aviation Medical Examiners | Page 5"
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top