"Jon Woellhaf" writes:

Jeff Dougherty wrote
... The third class medical doesn't do much more than
make sure you won't have a heart attack or seizure at 5,000 feet ...

I believe the third class medical -- or even the first class medical --
provide no assurance whatsoever that you won't have a heart attack on the
way from the doctor's office to your car.

Indeed. In the Canadian regulations someplace, they describe the
intent of the medical exams as to reduce the probability of an
in-flight incapacitation to something like 1%. For the higher levels
of certificates, this is assumed to be under conditions of higher
stress/intensity/endurance - considering commercial pilots as flying
harder (physiologically speaking) than private pilots.


- FChE