"Frank Whiteley" wrote in message
oups.com...
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There is really no correlation between medical status and certification as
far as I can see. It is well documented that very few accidents have been
attributed to a pre-existing medical condition.

You never know your moment when flying. One day I was duty instructor at
Husbands Bosworth and I was sitting in the back seat of our Ka2, cable
connected, all out given, when the wing tip holder suddenly collapsed and
dropped the wing. I released the cable at once, and fortunately the tug
pilot was a bit slow to open up and there was no damage done. The wing tip
man (who was NEXT to fly with me) had had a heart attack and in spite of our
best efforts we could not revive him and he died at the scene. Very sad. I
count myself very lucky that this event occurred when it did, and not twenty
minutes later when we would have been airborne.

There was no way that this episode could have been predicted or prevented as
in those days only instructors had to hold a medical certificate which was
annually renewed. My own doctor just used to look at me and sign, as it was
the only time I ever visited his surgery. As it happens I am going to do a
bit of gliding this summer, and as I am now 74 not un-naturally the club
concerned has asked for a medical certificate in case I get to fly solo. My
doctor on this occasion did in fact do a fairly detailed check of my vital
functions but as he was basically doing only the same tests as those
required for renewal of a driving licence after an illness I don't really
feel that it tells us very much about my medical state.

Alistair Wright