Question about eligibility

[gliderboy]

There is no such thing. There's a word for Alternative medicine that actually works. Medicine.

Homeopaths, psychics, faith healers, chiropractors and witch doctors are thieves and con men. Go to an actual Doctor to discuss your health and medical needs.

I wasn't suggesting any of the above. I was thinking more about all the 'actual doctors' who prescribed uncounted millions of oxycontin pills, resulting in so much death and suffering, the 'actual doctors' who over-treat so as to bill the insurers for more, and most of all, those 'actual doctors' and their employers who believe that if giving someone a pill makes the problem go away, the patient has been cured.

 

[tiredcfi]

To the OP: Your first problem is that you disclosed that you have anything wrong with you and are taking any medications... With the FAA its better to keep your problems to yourself than to get help.

 

[NickH]

I wasn't suggesting any of the above. I was thinking more about all the 'actual doctors' who prescribed uncounted millions of oxycontin pills, resulting in so much death and suffering, the 'actual doctors' who over-treat so as to bill the insurers for more, and most of all, those 'actual doctors' and their employers who believe that if giving someone a pill makes the problem go away, the patient has been cured.

The only thing a homeopath has ever cured is dehydration.

 

[Jethro1]

All they’d have to do is view my prescription history (which they can and would). But everyone has been helpful and answered my questions.

 

[MidlifeFlyer]

They do. It's called Special Issuance. As my AME said it, the FAA will let anyone fly. You just have to go through the process.

I'm looking into the Sport Pilot certificate route, particularly since the FAA is set to increase the LSA weight limit to 3600 lbs, which will open the door to many of the common general aviation aircraft. My problem is I now have a record of a denied medical, so Sport Pilot certificate may not be available to me.

Yeah, unfortunately, a denied medical pretty much ends it for sport pilot

But no, the FAA will no let "anyone" fly and even Special Issuance has its limits. Seen it.

 

[Pilot Fighter]

I learned today that I don’t qualify for a 3rd class medical because I’m diabetic and take Wellbutrin and seroquel.

Interesting manner of stating this.

An AME would also be interested in the underlying mental health issues that have required medication.

 

[Jethro1]

Anxiety, depression. You know, the things that plague the majority of the population. Again, been on these meds for years and have no side affects or issues since I’m properly treated.

 

[Pilot Fighter]

Anxiety, depression. You know, the things that plague the majority of the population. Again, been on these meds for years and have no side affects or issues since I’m properly treated.

I understand. My point is that there are a number of mental health diagnoses that would be disqualifying if you were seeking a medical, it's not just about getting off the prohibited drugs.

Given your ability to self-certify your medical fitness and the fact that the 8710-11 doesn't dig any deeper, you might not have any problem obtaining a Sport Pilot cert. However, watch your six, the FAA's interest could be stimulated should someone take interest in your medical condition.

"Additionally, if the FAA receives information from another source that a pilot may have a mental health issue, the FAA's Office of Aerospace Medicine can direct the pilot to provide specific documentation and/or a psychiatric and psychological evaluation from a mental health care professional in order to make a determination about the pilot's suitability for certification."

"Certain medical conditions such as a psychosis, bipolar disorder and severe personality disorder automatically disqualify a pilot from obtaining an FAA medical certificate and prohibit them from flying."

I do not know if the FAA has access or reviews CSMD databases managed by each state. I do not know if AME's routinely review the database in their state when issuing medicals.

 

[Pilot Fighter]

If you apply for a medical and are denied, you're ineligible for a sport pilot certificate

FAA publications state that Sport Pilots can pursue a Special Issuance. It's not clear to me if the SI can stand alone or if it must be paired with a 3rd Class Medical.

 

[MidlifeFlyer]

FAA publications state that Sport Pilots can pursue a Special Issuance. It's not clear to me if the SI can stand alone or if it must be paired with a 3rd Class Medical.

It will be paired with a medical, but once it expires (Not revoked ir withdrawn) you are ok with sport pilot without applying for an SI again.

 

[Pilot Fighter]

Learn from my mistake and do not go for an FAA medical unless you know you can pass. I didn’t do this, and now I am permanently disqualified.

What was your mistake? If you needed a medical and your medical condition was disqualifying without the possibility of an SI, what was your mistake, disclosing the condition?

 

[Pilot Fighter]

The mistake was in not assessing my ability to pass the medical exam before I took it. The standards are all right there in Part 67. If I had researched them and assessed my condition, I could have taken steps to correct the problems before I had a rejection on my record. Now I have a rejection on my record, and that hill is much steeper, and more expensive to climb.

In my case, though, the dis-qualifier is not the condition, it's the treatment. They have no problem my condition, just so long as I don't seek treatment for it. That's the practical upshot, anyway.

When you wrote "permanently disqualified" it looked like you were suggesting a disqualifying condition that couldn't be remedied with an SI.

 

[Pilot Fighter]

It can be. The problem is that the remedy requires me to be off medication. The thing that makes me sharper, more focused, and more in tune with my environment is what disqualifies me from flying.

I understand. The way you described it sounded like you regretted not lying. You said "permanently disqualified" so I took that to mean a condition that couldn't be remedied with an SI. If that was the case, the only regret could have been not lying.

 

[Pilot Fighter]

I regret not doing my due diligence. Had I known then what I know now, I wouldn't have gone for a medical. Having it denied emptied the options box for the future as far as Sport Pilot certification is concerned.

My only point here is to allow others to benefit learn from my lesson learned the hard way.

No, you can still get a Sport Pilot cert, you'll just need the 3rd Class and SI. For common issues, getting an SI is just a matter of patiently jumping through the hoops.

I agree, your problem might have been avoided if you were pursing Sport Pilot.

 

[Pilot Fighter]

Unfortunately, I’m in a catch 22. In order to be legal to fly, I have to give up what makes me fit to fly.

It's not a secret that the FAA has been slow to consider many effective treatments because they took a blanket approach to many drug categories.

 

[RetiredATLATC]

now I am permanently disqualified.

I wouldn't take "permanently disqualified" as gospel.

I was once told by the FAA flight surgeon, for the Southern Region, that if I took a certain medicine that I needed after a workplace accident that I would be permanently disqualified from my atc job at ATL Tower/TRACON, and would never get my atc license back.

Took the medicine, was out of work on workmans comp for a while, fought with the DOL-OWCP daily for almost a year, sold almost every item in my life that had worth to continue to be able to put a roof over my wife's/children's heads, had 3 spinal surgeries to fix what almost destroyed me from the workplace accident, went back to work (non-atc), did lots of research which came down to a conference call between my tower chief, the FAA AME and myself.

Tower chief to FAA AME: "well CJ's concern about going back for another physical is that you told him that if he ever took XXX medication he would never get his Class 2 back and would be permanently disqualified from atc forever"

FAA/AME: "we have tell that to everyone because there are a lot of fakers out there trying to get extended time off and a free retirement, so we tell everyone that at the onset".

Me: who had been fighting daily for almost 2 years, undergoing 3 very dangerous spinal surgeries (including the insertion/removal of a spinal cord stimulator), working for worthless dicks (think people that washed out of every facility they ever tried to work at and are now making the rules, and you're now their secretary) in the regional office while I fought to get back to my facility and get my career back.

Went to the physical, passed, got my license back, worked at A80 another 14 years, retired the day I turned 50.

Point being, "permanently disqualified" really, at least in my case, wasn't permanent. The FAA AME are just worthless dicks sometimes.