Frequency of convictions for lying on FAA medical form

But if the pilot dies, he won't be prosecuted. That was the
point.



"Ron Natalie" wrote in message
m...
| Jim Macklin wrote:
| Just ask the FAA, statistics must be reported.
|
| But like most FAA enforcement, investigations follow
| accidents. They don't have convictions or civil
penalties
| for dead pilots, although there may be torts for
innocent
| losses.
|
| Doesn't need to be a dead pilot, just a fatal accident
(someone
| other than the pilot may have died)...

On Mon, 22 Jan 2007 07:49:58 -0800, Sally Grozmano wrote
(in article ):

Hi,

I am familiar with the potential penalties for lying on the FAA medical,
but was curious if anyone had any stats on *actual* convictions that have
occured for this, and what the associated penalties were? It seems to be
"common knowledge" that many pilots do lie, but I never hear of actual
convictions.

I would expect convictions to be rare. It is difficult to prove, since your
medical records are confidential. Usually, if drugs such as anti-depressants
show up in your medical tests they just deny a medical certificate.

One problem is just remembering when you went to the doctor to see if that
mole had grown any three years ago. Filling out those medical forms implies
that you have either a perfect memory or that you keep far better medical
records than the average Joe.

That said, you are playing with your own life and with the lives of others if
you are not medically fit to fly.

--
Waddling Eagle
World Famous Flight Instructor

C J Campbell wrote:
One problem is just remembering when you went to the doctor to see if that
mole had grown any three years ago. Filling out those medical forms implies
that you have either a perfect memory or that you keep far better medical
records than the average Joe.



Then there's guys like me who work in a hospital and see doctors every day. I
haven't been in a doctor's office in well over a year. I usually get my minor
ailments treated as a courtesy by the docs I'm friendly with. No bill / no
record. Fortunately, there have been no major problems in quite a while.


That said, you are playing with your own life and with the lives of others if
you are not medically fit to fly.


No question about that. Now can somebody who's recently gone for a flight
physical tell me: do they ask for any changes since the last flight physical or
are you expected to regurgitate your entire history every time you go in. Mine
is quite extensive and I'm not sure I can remember all of it at this point.
I've had numerous I&Ds, skin grafts, orthopedic procedures and redoes in the
past. Please tell me I'm not going to have to tell them all that crap all over
again. OTOH, just asking for changes in the last couple of years is fair
enough... especially since there's been none.


--
Mortimer Schnerd, RN
mschnerdatcarolina.rr.com

No question about that. Now can somebody who's recently gone for a flight
physical tell me: do they ask for any changes since the last flight physical or
are you expected to regurgitate your entire history every time you go in. Mine
is quite extensive and I'm not sure I can remember all of it at this point.
I've had numerous I&Ds, skin grafts, orthopedic procedures and redoes in the
past. Please tell me I'm not going to have to tell them all that crap all over
again. OTOH, just asking for changes in the last couple of years is fair
enough... especially since there's been none.


I recently went and had to reenter all the info from the last medical.
Good thing I brought the copy of the prior application for reference.
One bit of good info is that you ALSO mark a box that says previously
reported. As such, no other questions were asked about those items.

I did notice it was diffictult to remember all the visits ... when/why
etc. In preperation for the NEXT medical, I will be keeping a folder
where I can enter all that info for next time... Kinda like a flight
log for my Dr visits I guss.

Mike Alexander
PP-ASEL
Temecula, CA
See my online aerial photo album at
http://flying.4alexanders.com

Since you brought up anti-depressants...

Am I the only one here who finds it ironic that you can't get a medical if
you have your depression treated and control it with medication, but someone
running around with an untreated problem can?





"C J Campbell" wrote in message
e.com...
On Mon, 22 Jan 2007 07:49:58 -0800, Sally Grozmano wrote
(in article ):

Hi,

I am familiar with the potential penalties for lying on the FAA
medical,
but was curious if anyone had any stats on *actual* convictions that
have
occured for this, and what the associated penalties were? It seems to be
"common knowledge" that many pilots do lie, but I never hear of actual
convictions.

I would expect convictions to be rare. It is difficult to prove, since
your
medical records are confidential. Usually, if drugs such as
anti-depressants
show up in your medical tests they just deny a medical certificate.

One problem is just remembering when you went to the doctor to see if that
mole had grown any three years ago. Filling out those medical forms
implies
that you have either a perfect memory or that you keep far better medical
records than the average Joe.

That said, you are playing with your own life and with the lives of others
if
you are not medically fit to fly.

--
Waddling Eagle
World Famous Flight Instructor

Since you brought up anti-depressants...

Am I the only one here who finds it ironic that you can't get a medical if
you have your depression treated and control it with medication, but
someone
running around with an untreated problem can?


Ironic is the word.

Actually, a lot of this thread would be funny--but it is too depressing.

Peter

Bill Denton wrote:
Since you brought up anti-depressants...

Am I the only one here who finds it ironic that you can't get a medical if
you have your depression treated and control it with medication, but someone
running around with an untreated problem can?

Exactly. I'd prefer to fly with a pilot who
is taking Prozac than one who should be taking
it and isn't.

Hello, fire department? Hey, we have a little smoke here.
If you get some time later today, could you, perhaps stop by
and see what is going here?



"Jim Stewart" wrote in message
.. .
| Bill Denton wrote:
| Since you brought up anti-depressants...
|
| Am I the only one here who finds it ironic that you
can't get a medical if
| you have your depression treated and control it with
medication, but someone
| running around with an untreated problem can?
|
| Exactly. I'd prefer to fly with a pilot who
| is taking Prozac than one who should be taking
| it and isn't.

"Jim Stewart" wrote in message
.. .
Bill Denton wrote:
Since you brought up anti-depressants...

Am I the only one here who finds it ironic that you can't get a medical
if
you have your depression treated and control it with medication, but
someone
running around with an untreated problem can?

Exactly. I'd prefer to fly with a pilot who
is taking Prozac than one who should be taking
it and isn't.

So, like, no one here actually knows the answer to the original question -
or did I miss it somewhere?

But, now that we have wandered off into never-never land, ADD is another
example - you can get a ticket and all the medicals you want as long as it's
undiagnosed and untreated.

--
Geoff
The Sea Hawk at Wow Way d0t Com
remove spaces and make the obvious substitutions to reply by mail
When immigration is outlawed, only outlaws will immigrate.

Jim Stewart wrote:
Bill Denton wrote:
Since you brought up anti-depressants...

Am I the only one here who finds it ironic that you can't get a medical if
you have your depression treated and control it with medication, but someone
running around with an untreated problem can?

Exactly. I'd prefer to fly with a pilot who
is taking Prozac than one who should be taking
it and isn't.

There is a counter argument...

Somebody who is chronically depressed and unmedicated is firstly
perhaps unlikely to be flying anyway becuase they simply don't want to.
A depressed pilot is probably less depressed when flying.
Medications for the treatment of depression can have undesirable
psychological effects for pilots. Two people died here locally in
exactly this way, pilot was on some anti-depressant, which had known
sideeffect of feelings of invincibility (of course this isn't the
technical description but you get the gist), pilot didn't tell anybody
nor disqualify himself, took one too many risks because he felt like he
could get away with it, stall-spin-splat, pilot and passenger both bit
the big one.

Sometimes the treatment can cause more problems from a safety
standpoint than the disease.