Congress Examines Pilot Medical Record Fraud

On Sat, 21 Jul 2007 11:59:10 GMT, "Vaughn Simon"
wrote in
:

According to statistics that were presented at the hearing, only 0.25 percent of
all general aviation accidents were caused by medical incapacitation, and only
nine accidents in nine years were caused by the incapacitation of a pilot flying
with a fraudulent medical certificate.

I haven't seen a transcript of the hearing. Are you able to provide a
link to it?

It has been pointed out that collecting SSI benefits and holding a
valid medical certificate are not mutually exclusive. There was an
analysis of GA accidents (I posted the URL on the weekend insurance
thread, don't have it handy now) that looked at the causes of GA
accidents, and I don't remember medically unift pilots being high on
the list.

It may be a case of someone with authority solving a non-problem.

Tina

In article ,
Larry Dighera wrote:

On Sat, 21 Jul 2007 04:31:14 -0700, Denny wrote
in . com:

There is no pilot medical record fraud other than the isolated
incident that will always pop up now and then...

This government document seems to contradict your subjective
assessment of the issue:

"seems" is an important word here.

caveat: I'm not defending anyone falsifying information on their
medical application. My primary motiviation in this response is
to try to point out the egregious misuse of statistics and lack of
useful information in the hearing document.




http://transportation.house.gov/Medi...7/SSM71707.pdf

In July 2005, a Department of Transportation Inspector General
("IG") investigation uncovered "egregious cases" of airmen lying
about debilitating medical conditions on their applications for
Airmen Medical Certificates. In a sample of 40,000 airmen
certificate-holders, the Inspector General found more than 3,200
airmen holding current medical certificates while simultaneously
receiving Social Security benefits,

Which is not proof of a problem since receiving social security
benefits is not necessarily inconsistent with holding a valid medical
certificate.

including those for medically
disabling conditions.

What would be much more useful would be the number of those
with medically disabling conditions. Unfortunately the IG apparently
didn't bother to count those, implying that all 3200 had disqualifying
conditions. I hope people can understand that this is not necessarily
true.

The hearing document references a research study (without attribution)
where approximately 9% of the toxicology reports from fatal accidents
indicate an airment with a serious unreported medical condition. One flaw
in the document is that it doesn't indicate whether or not the fatal accident
was a result of the unreported medical condition. A second flaw is that
it doesn't indicate if the serious unreported medical condition should have
disqualified the airman from having a valid medical. A third flaw is that
there is no discussion of whether or not the unreported medical condition
had existed prior to the airmen's last medical (e.g., was the condition new?).

In any case, the document indicates some 9% of the pilots in fatals accidents
had a unreported serious medical condition. Then the document makes the
claim that since ~1/3 of the pilots held first or second class medical
certificates that "the falsification issue is not limited to recreational general
aviation pilots." The reality is that there is insufficient information
presented to determine whether or not ANY of the pilots with first or second
class medicals falsified anything. In fact, there isn't sufficient information
presented to determine if any of the "recreational" pilots falsified anything.
Someone had the information, why didn't they indicate how many people
with first class medicals failed to report their serious medical condition?
How many with second class failed to report? How many with third
class? And how many of each these contributed the fatal accident?

If that pdf file is representative of the information that will be provided
at the hearings and used for future policy changes (if any), then I have
zero confidence that anything of any value will come of the hearings.

--
Bob Noel
(goodness, please trim replies!!!)

On Sat, 21 Jul 2007 04:31:14 -0700, Denny wrote
in . com:

There is no pilot medical record fraud other than the isolated
incident that will always pop up now and then...

This government document seems to contradict your subjective
assessment of the issue:


http://transportation.house.gov/Medi...7/SSM71707.pdf

In July 2005, a Department of Transportation Inspector General
("IG") investigation uncovered "egregious cases" of airmen lying
about debilitating medical conditions on their applications for
Airmen Medical Certificates. In a sample of 40,000 airmen
certificate-holders, the Inspector General found more than 3,200
airmen holding current medical certificates while simultaneously
receiving Social Security benefits, including those for medically
disabling conditions. While the U.S. Attorney's Office ultimately
prosecuted more than 40 cases, the IG believes that hundreds more
could have been pursued if the U.S. Attorney's resources had not
been constrained. These cases involved pilots with a variety of
medical conditions including schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.
The extent of the problem of falsified Airmen Medical Certificate
applications is unknown beyond the initial IG investigation.


On Sat, 21 Jul 2007 13:05:19 -0000, Tina wrote
in m:

It has been pointed out that collecting SSI benefits and holding a
valid medical certificate are not mutually exclusive.

I'm aware of that. Unfortunately, it does not address the issue
raised in the article to which I was following up. (I have included
that article above for your convenience.)

There was an analysis of GA accidents (I posted the URL on the weekend insurance
thread, don't have it handy now)

Would that be this one?:
http://www.hf.faa.gov/docs/508/docs/gaFY04HFACSrpt.pdf

that looked at the causes of GA accidents, and I don't remember
medically unift pilots being high on the list.

The issue I followed up was 'pilot medical record fraud' not the cause
of GA accidents.

It may be a case of someone with authority solving a non-problem.

It may be a case of someone in authority unearthing fraudulent airmen
medical certificate applications.

While those alleged, or real, cases of omitting required information
on airmen medical certificate applications may not result in a
significant number of aviation accidents, they none the less
apparently do constitute chargeable offences.

You aren't attempting to make a case for relaxing federal judicial
statuates against fraud, are you?

Airmen who willfully violate federal law for their own self-interest
do not possess the sort of character worthy of airmen.

On Sat, 21 Jul 2007 09:46:27 -0400, Bob Noel
wrote in
:

In article ,
Larry Dighera wrote:

On Sat, 21 Jul 2007 04:31:14 -0700, Denny wrote
in . com:

There is no pilot medical record fraud other than the isolated
incident that will always pop up now and then...

This government document seems to contradict your subjective
assessment of the issue:

"seems" is an important word here.

caveat: I'm not defending anyone falsifying information on their
medical application. My primary motiviation in this response is
to try to point out the egregious misuse of statistics and lack of
useful information in the hearing document.


The hearing document was written by politicians not scientists or
scholars. Granted it seems to make some implications that may or may
not be relevant to fraudulent airman medical applications:

The purpose of this hearing is to examine the Federal Aviation
Administration's oversight of the Airman Medical Certification
process. Pilots who are physically or mentally unfit not only
pose a danger to themselves and the flying public, they also
jeopardize the lives and safety of anyone in their flight path.

It merely raises an issue of fraud, and calls for a hearing.


http://transportation.house.gov/Medi...7/SSM71707.pdf

In July 2005, a Department of Transportation Inspector General
("IG") investigation uncovered "egregious cases" of airmen lying
about debilitating medical conditions on their applications for
Airmen Medical Certificates. In a sample of 40,000 airmen
certificate-holders, the Inspector General found more than 3,200
airmen holding current medical certificates while simultaneously
receiving Social Security benefits,

Which is not proof of a problem since receiving social security
benefits is not necessarily inconsistent with holding a valid medical
certificate.

It's not indicative of a "problem" concerning the cause of aviation
accidents, perhaps. But it is apparently indicative of criminal
fraud, isn't it?

including those for medically disabling conditions.

What would be much more useful would be the number of those
with medically disabling conditions.

Why? It would seem that such information would be beyond the scope of
the hearing document.

Unfortunately the IG apparently didn't bother to count those, implying
that all 3200 had disqualifying conditions.

Unfortunately we don't have a copy of the July 2005 DOT IG's
investigation, so don't know what the IG did.

But the hearing document indicates that forty pilots were charged,
fined, and placed on probation for falsifying their FAA airmans
medical certificate applications. That is a small subset of the 3,200
to which you refer, and seems to demonstrate the DOT IG's intent not
to imply that all airmen receiving disability benefits are guilty.
Perhaps your misconception is a result of your not having access to
the IG's investigation.

I hope people can understand that this is not necessarily true.

Those who read the DOT IG's investigation probably figured that out.

The hearing document references a research study (without attribution)

Here's what was written in the Committee on Transportation and
Infrastructure, Oversight and Investigations Staff Subcommittee on
Aviation Hearing on "FAA's Oversight of Falsified Airman Medical
Certificate Applications" document:


http://transportation.house.gov/Medi...7/SSM71707.pdf
The FAA's own researchers have documented hundreds of fatal
accidents where pilots failed to disclose potentially
disqualifying medical conditions on their Airman Medical
Certificate applications. In a research study that analyzed the
post-mortem toxicology reports in every fatal accident (386)
during a ten-year period (1995-2005), the FAA research team found
toxicology evidence of serious medical conditions in nearly 10
percent of pilots. Fewer than 10 percent of these medical
conditions (or medications used to treat the conditions) were
disclosed to the FAA. Furthermore, of the 386 pilots included in
the FAA study, 38 percent (147) were rated for Air Transport or
Cargo operations. Fifty-seven percent (219) were private or
student pilots. Of the total number of pilots involved in fatal
accidents, one-third (127) held first or second class medical
certificates. These statistics imply that the falsification issue
is not limited to recreational general aviation pilots.

where approximately 9% of the toxicology reports from fatal accidents
indicate an airment [sic] with a serious unreported medical condition. One flaw
in the document is that it doesn't indicate whether or not the fatal accident
was a result of the unreported medical condition.

I don't see that as a flaw in providing evidence of airman medical
certificate application fraud; it's another issue entirely, and is
being (erroneously?) used to justify the hearing.

A second flaw is that it doesn't indicate if the serious unreported medical
condition should have disqualified the airman from having a valid medical.

While your "second flaw" is meritorious in its intent to ascertain the
IMPACT of airman medical certificate application fraud on aviation
safety, it doesn't address the issue the DOT IG is raising: the fact
that airman medical certificate application fraud is occurring.

A third flaw is that there is no discussion of whether or not the unreported
medical condition had existed prior to the airmen's last medical (e.g., was the condition new?).

That is apparently true, and relevant.

In any case, the document indicates some 9% of the pilots in fatals [sic] accidents
had a [sic] unreported serious medical condition. Then the document makes the
claim that since ~1/3 of the pilots held first or second class medical
certificates that "the falsification issue is not limited to recreational general
aviation pilots." The reality is that there is insufficient information
presented to determine whether or not ANY of the pilots with first or second
class medicals falsified anything. In fact, there isn't sufficient information
presented to determine if any of the "recreational" pilots falsified anything.

The hearing document's conclusion seems to be based on a lot of
possibly erroneous assumption, not hard fact. But it indicates that
there is probable cause adequate to hold a hearing on the issue.
Presumably, the "faults" you raise would be addressed in that hearing.

Someone had the information, why didn't they indicate how many people
with first class medicals failed to report their serious medical condition?
How many with second class failed to report? How many with third
class? And how many of each these contributed the fatal accident?

The Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, Oversight and
Investigations Staff Subcommittee on Aviation Hearing on "FAA's
Oversight of Falsified Airman Medical Certificate Applications"
document is not a definitive study; it is a call for a hearing. You'd
have to have access to the DOT IG's investigation to see if the issues
you raised were addressed by the IG.

If that pdf file is representative of the information that will be provided
at the hearings and used for future policy changes (if any), then I have
zero confidence that anything of any value will come of the hearings.

It is disappointing to see the hearing document with its flaws, but
airmen are used to seeing that all the time in the news media. I
guess we should expect a little more insight from those congressmen
who write the laws.

Unfortunately, my expectations of congressmen have fallen
substantially in light of the absolute crap (Terri Shivo resolution,
....) and fraud (Abramoff, Cunningham, De Lay, ear marks, ...)
occurring in that branch of our government. But I digressed.

There is fraud occurring on airman medical certificate applications,
and it should be addressed, or the application process should be
changed.

Larry Dighera wrote:
http://transportation.house.gov/Medi...7/SSM71707.pdf

In July 2005, a Department of Transportation Inspector General
("IG") investigation uncovered "egregious cases" of airmen lying
about debilitating medical conditions on their applications for
Airmen Medical Certificates. In a sample of 40,000 airmen
certificate-holders, the Inspector General found more than 3,200
airmen holding current medical certificates while simultaneously
receiving Social Security benefits, including those for medically
disabling conditions. While the U.S. Attorney's Office ultimately
prosecuted more than 40 cases, the IG believes that hundreds more
could have been pursued if the U.S. Attorney's resources had not
been constrained. These cases involved pilots with a variety of
medical conditions including schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.
The extent of the problem of falsified Airmen Medical Certificate
applications is unknown beyond the initial IG investigation.

This is OLD news and contains the _deliberately_ misleading statement "the
Inspector General found more than 3,200 airmen holding current medical
certificates while simultaneously receiving Social Security benefits,
including those for medically disabling conditions."

It is deliberately misleading because the only important number, for
"including those for medically disabling conditions," was excluded. If they
had an estimate, they refused to disclose it. If they didn't have a number,
that didn't stop them from deliberately impugned the reputation of
thousands of retired aviators for their private political gain. It is
disgusting motivation and they should be held to account for it.

The closest the U.S. AG comes to stating the important number is where they
state "the IG believes that hundreds more could have been pursued...." So
the it appears even the IG believes the number is probably under 1000. That
means about 2.5% tops.

Jim Logajan wrote:
This is OLD news and contains the _deliberately_ misleading statement
.....

Argh. Please try to disregard the posting referenced above since it is
redundant to what others have already written and debated.