Pilot’s Health Assessment

Being a pilot is not normal. Flying as a way of life, is not normal. As you can imagine, a pilot’s health standards are also not normal.

A pilot must be able to perform all duties related to a safe operation of the aircraft…

Here is the standard for pilots that work for commercial airlines: a pilot must be able to perform all duties related to a safe operation of the aircraft, for the maximum federally approved duty length (i.e., 16 hours), and then have a serious emergency (on the 16th hour) at the end your duty period and be fully fit to handle that emergency.

As a consequence of the different health standard that applies to pilots, in addition to a medical examination every 6 to 12 months depending on age, each pilot should conduct a personal assessment each day prior to starting his/her day of work. The assessment carries an acronym, as do most things in aviation, and goes as follows:

1.     I – Illness: You cannot fly with any illness that will impact the standard set above. Consider this: you cannot fly congested, as the change in pressure can cause serious long term health problems (i.e., ruptured ear drum).

2.     M – Medication: You cannot fly while taking any medication that will negatively impact your capacity to safely operate the aircraft. There is a long list of prohibited medications on the FAA website.

3.     S – Stress: There can be no factors outside of work, that are causing such tremendous stress, that will degrade your capacity to focus on your job (i.e., divorce).
4.     A – Alcohol: You cannot operate an aircraft while under the influence of alcohol. The range varies from a BAC of 0.00 with certain companies to the maximum of 0.04% per the FAA. Additionally, a minimum of 8 hours from finishing your beverage to operating an aircraft, maybe more depending on your company.
5.     F – Fatigue: You cannot operate an aircraft if your level of fatigue is such that, it will negatively impact your capacity to operate the aircraft. Fatigue must be managed in order to never infringe upon the standard set above.

6.     E – Emotions: Your emotions must not interfere with your capacity to focus on the task at hand (i.e., death of a close relative). 

It is paramount that every pilot starts their day well rested, and, ready to tackle the entirety of their schedule and any unforeseen emergency that may occur throughout their entire duty period.

Fly safe!