By TOM DOUGLAS Seventeen minutes without a heartbeat set Jim Poling off in a new and life-fulfilling direction. “They say you can only survive 19 minutes with a shut-down heart, so it was a close call,” Jim related recently. “Even so, a stroke suffered on the operating table left me blind in one eye.” The […]
Medical
New recommendations for mental health fitness for pilots
The FAA has released recommendations from an aviation rulemaking committee (ARC) tasked with providing input on how to assess and improve pilots mental fitness for duty. The ARC was empaneled last year in the aftermath of the Malaysia Air 370 and GermanWings 9525 tragedies. In both cases, a depressed member of the flight crew is believed […]
Third class medical reform included in defense bill
Third class medical reform will once again go to the full Senate for a vote, this time as part of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). On May 13, the Senate Armed Services Committee approved the NDAA, including third class medical reform language from the Pilot’s Bill of Rights 2 (PBR2), by a vote of […]
Senate passes medical reform
The U.S. Senate has passed the Pilot’s Bill of Rights 2 (PBOR2). The bill, which includes third-class medical reform, was passed by unanimous consent on Dec. 15, less than a week after it was reported out by the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation. The House of Representatives must also pass the bill before […]
Pilot’s Bill of Rights 2 clears key Senate committee
The Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation has passed S. 571, better known as the Pilot’s Bill of Rights 2, bringing third-class medical reform one step closer to reality. The committee passed the measure on an overwhelming bipartisan vote on Dec. 9. The bill will now go to the full Senate, where it has strong […]
GA advocates urge Congress to support medical reform
On the eve of a U.S. Senate committee’s consideration of the Pilot’s Bill of Rights 2, 17 aviation groups, including the Experimental Aircraft Association, the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association and those representing medical professionals and airline pilots — have signed a letter urging passage of the bill that would bring significant aeromedical reform.The bipartisan legislation, […]
Video: Momentum continues on Pilot’s Bill of Rights
As support for the Pilots Bill of Rights 2 (PBR2) continues to grow, Sen. James Inhofe (R-Oklahoma) has taken to the Senate floor to explain key provisions of the measure (see video below). As of Sept. 25, 67 senators and 140 members of the House of Representatives from both parties had signed on to cosponsor […]
Work on Pilot’s Bill of Rights to continue through August recess
Officials with the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) report they are continuing to push hard to bring the Pilot’s Bill of Rights 2 (PBOR2) to a successful outcome in Congress. Thanks to the flood of calls from EAA members to their senators in support of PBOR2, the number of co-sponsors on the bill increased from 33 […]
GA fires back at ALPA for attacking medical reform
The Experimental Aircraft Association and other general aviation groups have fired back at an inflammatory letter sent by the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) to all U.S. senators that “made numerous false and unsubstantiated claims regarding the efforts to expand freedoms in general aviation and reform aeromedical certification,” according to EAA officials. The letter urged the […]