wrote:
On Thursday, July 21, 2016 at 9:24:56 AM UTC-4, Vaughn Simon wrote:
On 7/20/2016 8:44 PM, wrote:
There is no data showing having all GA pilots take a 3rd class medical
has accomplished anything.

That's the real take-away point. After doing this for (what? a half
century?) there is no data that shows that the third class physical does
anything to reduce accidents. At the same time, we have parallel
populations of pilots, glider pilots in particular, that have long
operated perfectly well without any requirement for physicals.

People who got turned down due to medical reasons, and then later
dropped dead at the grocery store, aren't statistically charted
by someone who follows their lives and makes an FAA report after
the fact. Same for mentally unstable. If they commit suicide, no
one calls the FAA about a non-pilot. In flight medical emergencies
being a small percentage anyway, would appear to be a non-issue
among a smaller population of flyers. Should that population
significantly increase, and should there be no oversight, then
logically it will become an issue.

I watched a guy in his 40's drop dead while sipping a cup of coffee
the day after an extensive physical; a physical in general is no
guarantee of much of anything, and particularly a 3rd class physical.

There never has been any test of mental stability for civilian pilots.

A lot of peiple are missing the point that you do still need to take
a physical, just not one with the FAA paperwork burden in front of an AME.



--
Jim Pennino