Third Class Medical Reform

     The Pilot’s Bill of Rights was passed in 2012, but the FAA didn’t do much in response to it. Three years later in February of 2015, Senator Jim Inhofe brought the Pilot’s Bill of Rights 2 in front of the Senate. “The amendment stands to reduce barriers to medical certification in a manner that allows for the continued safe operation of general aviation aircraft while providing cost savings to both the FAA and the general aviation community” (GA Advocates Urge Congress to Support Medical Reform , 2015).This medical reform will allow pilots who hold a third class medical to not have to go to the aviation medical examiner if they have received their medical within the past ten years. The medical reform includes both regular and special issuance. To this rule, there are some exceptions. If you have not gotten a medical within the past ten years or your medical hasn’t been valid within the past ten years, then you have to go see the examiner just once to receive your third class medical. If you have never received a third class medical, then you have to go see the aviation medical examiner once in order to get your medical. If one were to become diagnosed with certain medical conditions like mental issues, neurological or cardiac conditions, then that pilot will have to get a medical that is special issuance from the FAA only once. “The rule would apply to pilots flying VFR or IFR in aircraft weighing up to 6,000 pounds and carrying up to five passengers at altitudes below 18,000 feet and speeds up to 250 knots” (Tennyson, Full Senate Passes Medical Reform, 2015). With this medical reform, pilots will not have to get recertified for their third class medical, but they will have to see their own doctor every four years. They have to have documentation of it in their logbook, so they have to have their doctor fill out and sign the form. The doctors need to go over the form and make sure they see the pilot as fit to fly.

     The reform in terms of the regulatory process is a bill. It recently has been passed through Senate in December of 2015. Since the Pilot’s Bill of Rights 2 has been passed through Senate, it now has to continue the process to the House. The House will have to look at it, make whatever changes they want if they have any, and then either approve or veto it. One issue that is going on right now is that because the FAA reauthorization bill is occurring right now too and has to be approved as soon as possible, the Pilot’s Bill of Rights 2 might not be looked at right away. “‘We know how important this is to our members,’ said Jim Coon, AOPA senior vice president of government affairs. ‘And getting third class medical reform to the president’s desk as quickly as possible is our top priority’” (Tennyson, Next Steps For Medical Reform, 2016). Although the FAA reauthorization bill may take priority in the House right now, the Pilot’s Bill of Rights 2 is still really important and they want to get the bill looked at really soon. If the House and President pass the bill, “the FAA has up to one year to implement any regulatory changes that comply with the new law” (Tennyson, Third Class Medical Reform FAQs, 2015 ).

     One aspect of the medical reform is how pilots will not have to see the aviation medical examiner and can now see their own personal doctor. This could be really beneficial because they wouldn’t be required to take an exam that is pass or fail. This could relieve a lot of pressure on pilots that go through these exams. Once they have their medical, they will just have to see their doctor and their doctor will go over the necessary form which checks everything that is required by the FAA. Because they are having the exam done by their own personal physician, they don’t have to give all their medical information to the FAA unless they request it. If the FAA requests the pilot’s information, it is usually due to an accident investigation or some type of enforcement action. This can be a positive and a negative thing. Some people may see this as a good thing because then the FAA doesn’t have all the medical details on people, but if the pilot doesn’t need to give the FAA their medical form, how would they know if the pilot is fit to fly. The physician might say they are not fit to fly, but as seen before, the pilot may not let an employer know of what is going on. Another positive thing is that because they do not need to be recertified or have to see the aviation medical examiner, the pilots will have to participate in free online classes to help them understand certain medical factors every two years. “The course will be designed to increase awareness and understanding of medical factors that can affect a pilot’s fitness to fly” (Tennyson, Full Senate Passes Medical Reform, 2015). Another positive aspect of this medical reform and pilots only needing to get their regular or special issuance medical is the time and money that is saved on this. “This legislation will help hundreds of thousands of general aviation pilots by saving them time, money, and frustration while giving them tools they need to take charge of their health and fitness to fly” (Tennyson, Full Senate Passes Medical Reform, 2015)That is a lot of money to spend on a certificate, so it can benefit the pilot community that fit under the given circumstances. One negative thing about going to see their own personal physician is that it is only required every four years. A lot can happen within four years and if the pilot only sees their doctor when it is required, then they may have been putting themselves or others at risk because they may have been considered unfit to fly.

     I think that that this medical reform has its pros and cons. I think that this could really help out some pilots because it allows them to fly at older ages and it saves them and the FAA a lot of time and money. I think that this can make a lot of people happier because they don’t have to constantly pay a lot of money to pass their medical, but instead they can just see their personal doctor. I also think it is a good idea to have pilots take classes to understand the factors that are associated with certain medical issues. This can help them know if they or maybe someone else may need to see a doctor even if it hasn’t been the four years where they are required to see their physician. One issue I see with this is that the pilot has to have a signed form from their doctor stating if they are fit or not to fly. First off, will these doctors be informed on what to look for or how to determine if the pilots are fit to fly or not according to FAA standards. Does this require more training from the FAA to help these doctors out? Another issue is that if a doctor says they believe they are not fit to fly, how will the FAA or their employer know if it just has to be documented in their logbook and the FAA is said to only look at these forms if they are requested in certain circumstances. I think that overall this can save a lot more time and money for the pilots and the FAA, but there has to be some kind of way to be sure that doctors know how to determine if pilots are fit or not to fly and that there is some way to be sure that pilots don’t fly when they are said to be unfit. Although this can be convenient for a lot of people, a lot can happen within four years that can make that individual unfit to fly. This can pose a hazard to pilots or others who may fly with pilots that only see their doctor when it is required. Something may be wrong, but they don’t know it. Overall, I think that this can benefit a lot of people, but there are some things that need to be worked out such as making sure pilots are still fit to fly and that doctors know how to properly determine if a pilot is fit or not to fly.

References

GA Advocates Urge Congress to Support Medical Reform . (2015, November 17). Retrieved from General Aviation News : http://generalaviationnews.com/2015/11/17/ga-advocates-urge-congress-to-support-medical-reform/

Tennyson, E. A. (2015 , December 9). Third Class Medical Reform FAQs. Retrieved from AOPA: http://www.aopa.org/News-and-Video/All-News/2015/December/09/Third-class-medical-FAQs

Tennyson, E. A. (2015, December 15). Full Senate Passes Medical Reform. Retrieved from AOPA: http://www.aopa.org/News-and-Video/All-News/2015/December/15/Full-Senate-passes-medical-reform

Tennyson, E. A. (2016, January 14). Next Steps For Medical Reform. Retrieved from AOPA: http://www.aopa.org/News-and-Video/All-News/2016/January/14/Next-steps-for-medical-reform

Pilots and Depression

 The Germanwings flight 9525 accident occurred on March 24, 2015. Copilot Andreas Lubitz, 27, was flying the aircraft at the time of the accident. The pilot was locked out of the cockpit when he left to use the bathroom and was trying to get back in. During this time, Lubitz purposefully descended and did not respond to any of the times ATC tried to contact them. “The Airbus 320 from Barcelona to Duesseldorf hit a mountain, killing all 144 passengers and six crew, after an eight-minute descent” (BBC News, 2015). When the pilot was locked out of the cockpit, the altitude was changed from 38,000 feet to 100 feet. After Andreas Lubitz started his training in 2008, he had to stop training because of unknown reasons since Germany has medical laws that protect privacy. It came up that he was battling depression and never informed his company about it. “Prosecutors said a doctor's note stating that Lubitz was unfit to fly on the day of the crash was found at the co-pilot's residence in Düsseldorf, Germany” (Engel & Zhang, 2015). Supposedly this note was from his psychiatrist, but he never brought it to his company to let them know.

     On December 19, 1997, a flight from Jakarta, Indonesia, to Singapore crashed in a jungle in Indonesia which killed 104 people. The pilot, Tsu Way Ming was flying the Boeing 737 when it crashed. They NTSB was called in to investigate since the aircraft was made in the United States at the Boeing Company in Seattle. They believe he was committing suicide because the aircraft was in good condition and nothing was wrong. According to the NTSB, “‘The evidence suggests that the cockpit voice recorder was intentionally disconnected.’ The report said wreckage showed the plane’s engines were set to high power and that controls were set to a ‘nose-down’ position” (Morris, 2000). The Indonesian investigators failed to include the difficulties that Tsu was going through. During the time of the crash, the pilot was going through financial problems and had been in trouble multiple times a few weeks before the accident by management of the airlines. The in-flight data was also disabled, but the NTSB said “‘The airplane was responding to sustained flight control inputs from the cockpit’” (Morris, 2000).  The NTSB stated that the aircraft could have been recovered from the nose-down position and these acts seemed to be intentional. Although it doesn’t say that he had any mental condition, it seemed as though Tsu Way Ming was going through some difficult times which could have caused him to crash the aircraft.

     As I was reading an article about the Germanwings accident, I came across how Lufthansa handles their psychological testing. “Lufthansa does not have standard psychological testing for pilots once they are hired. The company considers an applicant's psychological state when hiring, he said” (Levs, Smith-Spark, & Yan, 2015). For this process, I think that it is important to make sure that the companies keep up with the psychological state of each other their employees on maybe a yearly basis. They should have some kind of updated medical records to make sure that their employees are cleared to fly. In this instance where Lubitz had a medical note and never gave it to his employers, maybe some type of communication with the psychiatrist and the employers is important. Everyone goes through hard time that can affect them in negative ways which can lead to situations like these.

     As a result of the Germanwings flight in 2015, the Aerospace Medical Association created a group to examine the mental health of pilots. The group concluded there needed to be “greater attention given to mental health issues by aeromedical examiners, especially to the more common and detectable mental health conditions and life stressors that can affect pilots and flight performance. They encouraged this through increased education and global recognition of the importance of mental health in aviation safety” (Scarpa, n.d.). I think that this is very important because some people do not know the signs to look for if people may be depressed. I think that educating pilots and others on the importance can help.

     The FAA has medical examiners that look for “disturbing signs — including erratic behavior, medications and family histories — during regular checkups” (Chan, 2015). Anyone who is older than forty has to be examined at least twice a year and those that are younger than forty have to be examined one a year. At each examination, the pilots must pass the exam to keep their medical certificate. During these examinations, they test the health of each individual, which doesn’t cover the psychological state of these individuals. The medical examiners “ask questions about psychological condition as part of his/her assessment” (Chan, 2015). If they believe the individual needs to get further testing, they can let them know that they need to get it done before they can receive their medical. Pilots are supposed to inform examiners or their employers of any type of physical or psychological problem. If they fail to do this, then they will be charged a fine. I understand that it can be really hard to examine pilots for mental issues, but I think that they should have to go through a psychological exam every year or every other year at least, not just when the medical examiner finds something wrong. The amount of stress that pilots can go through can start to wear on them, especially as they age and fly more. I think that giving exams to pilots could maybe help find things that regular exams cannot. The only thing is that the professional has to have some way of informing the employer if they have found any sort of mental condition that doesn’t allow the pilot to fly just in case the pilot doesn’t inform them.  

     From the FAA and the airline perspective, if they had a more liberal approach, I can see the challenges coming into play with if people report their mental illness or not. If pilots report that they have been experiencing a mental illness, they will most likely lose their license because they are seen as unfit to fly. Because of this, pilots may not want to inform their employers or even seek help. If the FAA and airlines were to help pilots out, they could have some sort of program that allows for pilots to let their employers or the FAA know of their condition and not suspend their license right away. One exception is the pilot has to complete a psychological examination within a certain period of time. During the time they have to complete the examination, the pilots could have limits set on maybe the amount of hours they can fly or the routes they can take.

     If the pilot fails to complete the testing, they automatically lose their license until they get an examination done. When they have an examination done, the professional will help determine if the pilot is fit or not to fly. If they believe it isn’t too serious, then they can keep their pilots license, but will have to be watched carefully for some time and have to return to their examiner every so often for a checkup. If they fail the test or the professional thinks they are not fit to fly, then the FAA or airlines can talk to the professional and the pilot to figure out ways to help them so they can get their license back. A problem with this though is if the public finds out that the FAA allows people who have a mental illness flying, no matter if they have been cleared to fly or not by a professional, the public will most likely still not tolerate that and will feel unsafe. There needs to be some sort of system that allows for pilots to feel comfortable with informing employers or the FAA about their mental illness and not be so worried about if they will lose their license or not.

References

BBC News. (2015, March 27). Germanwings Plane Crash: Co-pilot 'Wanted to Destroy Plane'. Retrieved January 24, 2016, from BBC News : http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-32063587

Chan, M. (2015, March 26). FAA Does Not Require Psychological Tests for Pilots . Retrieved January 24, 2016, from Daily News : http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/faa-not-require-psychological-tests-pilots-experts-article-1.2163359

Engel, P., & Zhang, B. (2015, March 30). Here's Everything We Know About the Crash of Germanwings Flight 9525. Retrieved January 24, 2016, from Business Insider: http://www.businessinsider.com/everything-we-know-about-germanwings-flight-9525-2015-3

Levs, J., Smith-Spark, L., & Yan, H. (2015, March 26). Germanwings Flight 9525 Co-Pilot Deliberately Crashed Plane, Officials Say. Retrieved January 24, 2016, from CNN: http://www.cnn.com/2015/03/26/europe/france-germanwings-plane-crash-main/

Morris, R. (2000, December 15). SilkAir Crash Was Probably Intentional. Retrieved January 24, 2016, from ABC News: http://abcnews.go.com/International/story?id=81919&page=1

Scarpa, J. P. (n.d.). Pilot Mental Health. Retrieved January 24, 2016, from Aerospace Medical Association: http://www.asma.org/publications/pilot-mental-health

ATC Privatization

     ATC serves all the different aviation industries, but the biggest industry they serve is the airline industry. Our current ATC system “relies on ground-based radar for surveillance and navigation, and voice communications to relay instructions between controllers and pilots” (May, 2009, p. 2). The communication between ATC and pilots is very important because this is the guidance that is given to pilots to help them have the safest flight possible during all phases of flight. Air traffic is managed by several different facilities that each serve a different purpose during different phases of flights. These different facilities include “Local Control Towers, Flight Service Stations, Air Route Traffic Control Center, The Terminal Radar Approach Control (TRACON), and The Air Traffic Control System Command Center (ATCSCC)” (Air Traffic Management System , n.d.). On the other hand, NextGen is satellite-based instead of ground-based. This helps to monitor and track where aircraft are more accurately than the system we are using right now. It is supposed to help make traveling more convenient and safer while also saving time and money by reducing delays, time in the air, fuel, and exhaust emissions. “NextGen enables the sharing of real-time data about weather, the location of aircraft and vehicles, and conditions throughout the National Airspace System” (Huerta, 2014, p. 3). With the data being real-time, it gets information to the people who need it at a better time allowing them to make better decisions and make these decisions faster. Another advantage to NextGen is that it allows ATC and pilots to use a proactive approach to finding issues and being able to take action to mitigate and reduce the risks that could be caused by hazards surrounding them such as weather. NextGen also allows flights to have a flight path that is more direct allowing travel times in the air to be reduced. “Automatic Dependent Surveillance–Broadcast (ADS-B) is crucial to the transformation of the NAS from a radar- to satellite-based system. ADS-B uses GPS signals to determine an aircraft’s location” (Huerta, 2014, p. 11). Through ADS-B, pilots can now communicate data such as where they are or how fast they are going to other aircraft and ground stations that have the ADS-B equipment. NextGen is trying to make the flying public happier by increasing safety while reducing their wait times, delays, and actual time in the air.

     General aviation has spoken against privatization of ATC because if they become privatized, ATC will no longer be under the FAA or be funded by the government. The general aviation population is not for raising taxes. General aviation would not be able to cover all their costs by increasing the taxes that people pay or even the fees that would need to be charged. Unlike the airlines, they wouldn’t be able to generate enough revenue to cover the costs they have by creating more user fees from those who fly. AOPA is one organization that has an opinion on privatization of ATC. “The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, or AOPA, which represents more than 400,000 general aviation members, has repeatedly attacked attempts to establish aviation user fees. The head of AOPA described the user fee proposal as ‘a serious assault on general aviation’” (DeGood, 2015). Due to the fact that they cannot generate enough revenue to cover their costs, they wouldn’t have the money to implement the use of NextGen. Another group that is against privatization of ATC is the National Business Aviation Association or NBAA. “NBAA has taken a position against privatization with the stance that it could create less access to airspace and airports than is currently available” (Bellamy III, 2015). The general aviation population doesn’t want to lose access to airspace so they cannot fulfill their daily tasks or flights. 

     There are quite a few countries that have ATC privatized. “The International Civil Aviation Organization, whose principles are the basis for aviation safety regulation throughout the world, has since 2002 directed member countries to achieve such independence, and the European Union requires it by law. The United States is one of the only advanced industrial countries in which air traffic control is still both operated and regulated by the same agency” (Robyn, 2015). Europe isn’t the only place that has privatized ATC. Canada has privatized ATC which is known as Nav Canada. “Since the users manage the system, self-interest drives them to keep costs low and to invest in capital at the optimal level despite the lack of competition” (Robyn, 2015). This means that people are a lot smarter about what they spend money on and how they try to invest. This could work for them because there isn’t a lot of competition, but it could be harder for places like the United States where there is a lot more competition and there is a lot more takeoffs and landings that occur. The costs are potentially higher due to these factors. There is a lot more traffic that occurs in the United States than there is in Canada.  

     ATC privatization was introduced “by House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee Chairman Rep. Bill Shuster (R-Pa.), when he intended to introduce legislation to create an independent ATC corporation that would be funded by user fees and separate from the annual budget process” (Wood, 2015). The proposal would have to go through Congress and an aviation committee to be approved. There is no decision right now, but the idea has been brought up to be talked about.  

     

     I think that the current ATC system is more efficient than if it were privatized for now. I think that even though safety is not supposed to be compromised through privatizing ATC, it still is always uncertain, especially with how much traffic goes on within the United States. Being under government regulation makes sure that they are following and working at or above standards that are set by the FAA. I think that there are still a lot of questions that need to be answered and solutions that need to be figured out especially relating to how this will affect other organizations within the aviation industry. I think that they need to make sure that companies can afford to cover costs and be able to expand and advance their technologies if they take away the government funding that will help them to keep up with safety standards.  

References

Air Traffic Management System . (n.d.). Retrieved January 16, 2016, from Virtual Skies : http://virtualskies.arc.nasa.gov/atm/index.html

Bellamy III, W. (2015, May 21). Aviation Groups Express Support, Opposition to ATC Reform. Retrieved January 16, 2016, from Avionics: http://www.aviationtoday.com/av/topstories/Aviation-Groups-Express-Support-Opposition-to-ATC-Reform_85072.html#.Vpvb7yorLIU

DeGood, K. (2015, May 5). 4 Essential Questions About Air Traffic Control Privatization. Retrieved January 16, 2016, from Center For Aviation Progress: https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/economy/report/2015/05/05/112406/4-essential-questions-about-air-traffic-control-privatization/

Huerta, M. P. (2014, August). NextGen Update 2014. Retrieved January 16, 2016, from NextGen: http://www.faa.gov/nextgen/media/NextGenUpdate2014.pdf

May, J. C. (2009, March 18). Air Traffic Control Modernization and NextGen: Near-Term Achievable Goals. Retrieved January 16, 2016, from ATA Testimony: https://www.whitehouse.gov/files/documents/cyber/Congress%20-%20NextGen%20ATS%20HouseAvSubc_090318_ATAWritten_FINAL.pdf

Robyn, D. (2015, September 28). It's Time to Corporatize Air Traffic Control (The Right Way). Retrieved January 16, 2016, from Brookings: http://www.brookings.edu/blogs/fixgov/posts/2015/09/28-corporatize-air-traffic-control-robyn

Wood, J. (2015, July 8). Call to Action Issued Over ATC Privatization . Retrieved January 16, 2016, from General Aviation News: http://generalaviationnews.com/2015/07/08/call-to-action-issued-over-atc-privatization/

Introduction

     I started to have an interest in aviation probably a lot later than everyone else. I’ve always enjoyed traveling when I was younger, especially when I got to fly to places. It always interested me and I always found it so fascinating how everything worked. I never really thought about an aviation career until I was a senior in high school. I was applying to college and my dad was talking to me about what I wanted to do when I was older. I really wanted to study criminal behavior, but my dad talked to me about really researching jobs that I could get. He continued to explain to me how I don’t want to come out of college with a lot of debt and not be able to get a job. I would struggle to pay back student loans and possibly have to go back to school or work a job I may not want. He continued to tell me about air traffic control and their need for employees. I realized that there were limited jobs, but I still wanted to try anyways. It was something I was always interested in for a long time. My freshman year, I decided I would take classes for a criminology major, but also try out an aviation course. I realized that the criminology major wasn’t what I expected and I found the aviation course really interesting. I decided to take another course the following semester and I really enjoyed it and I stuck with it ever since.

     I am currently an Aviation Management major and I am expected to graduate April of 2016. I am very close to start working in the aviation industry and I am still kind of unsure of what I want to do. I have had the thought of doing Air Traffic Control for the past two to three years, but recently I have found an interest in the business side of aviation. I wouldn’t mind staying in the business side and working as a manager. I think if I were to stick with ATC, I would love to be at a larger airport somewhere out west or maybe even more east, but still staying in the United States. I want to get out of the Midwest area, so I wouldn’t mind working at McCarran in Las Vegas or working at Denver International Airport. I have been looking more into staying on the management side of things, but still applying to become an ATC. If I were to get accepted, complete training and become certified, I would try it out to see if I like it. If I were to find out that it wasn’t for me, my goal would be to become a manager or work in management for either an airline or for the airport itself. I usually fly Southwest and I really like their customer service and their love for their job. If I could pick any airline to work for, I think I would want to work for Southwest.

     Areas of interest that I would like to be represented by guest speakers would probably be ATC or anyone in the management side of aviation. For the management side of aviation, this could be in relation to an airline, a small or large company, or anyone working for an airport. Two current aviation topics that would be of interest to me would be stress on air traffic controllers and ways to try to limit that stress. Another topic that would be interesting to talk about is the UAVs. We talked about this in the regulations class last semester and they never came out with their final regulations by the time our class was finished, so it would be interesting to finish that conversation. I have seen some things online and on the news about it over break, so it would be interesting to talk about the regulations regarding them.