Any "Latest & Greatest" about Delta?
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FAA to Check Obese Pilots for Sleep Apnea
By ABC News
Nov 20, 2013 8:05am
Obese pilots and air traffic controllers will soon need to be screened over concerns that their weight is causing them to lose sleep and negatively affects work performance, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
FAA flight surgeon Fred Tilton said Tuesday that under the new policy all pilots and air traffic controllers with a body mass index (BMI) over 40 or a neck measurement of more than 17 inches will have to be checked by a sleep specialist before they can get their medical certificate to work.
The issue, Tilton says, is obstructive sleep apnea, which “is almost universal in obese individuals.”
“Obstructive sleep apnea in obese patients is a common condition, and it results in lack of enough sleep or quality sleep. As a result they remain sleepy during the day,” said Dr. Gholam Motamedi, a neurologist at Georgetown University Medical Center.
Eventually, the plan will move to test all pilots and air traffic controllers with a BMI of 30. Body mass index calculates weight divided by height. That means a 6-foot tall man with a BMI of 40 would weigh nearly 300 pounds. With a BMI of 30, that same man would weigh 220 pounds.
This plan comes five years after two pilots aboard a Go Airlines flight between islands in Hawaii fell asleep and overshot the airport. The flight eventually landed without further incident but the National Transportation Safety Board launched an investigation.
The captain, according to the NTSB, was obese and later diagnosed with apnea.
Former fighter pilot and ABC News consultant Stephen Ganyard said lack of sleep or quality of sleep can affect a pilot’s ability.
“It really has the same physiological effects as drinking. And so you don’t want a drunk pilot flying your airplane any more than you would want a pilot who hasn’t had appropriate sleep flying your airplane,” Ganyard said.
By ABC News
Nov 20, 2013 8:05am
Obese pilots and air traffic controllers will soon need to be screened over concerns that their weight is causing them to lose sleep and negatively affects work performance, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
FAA flight surgeon Fred Tilton said Tuesday that under the new policy all pilots and air traffic controllers with a body mass index (BMI) over 40 or a neck measurement of more than 17 inches will have to be checked by a sleep specialist before they can get their medical certificate to work.
The issue, Tilton says, is obstructive sleep apnea, which “is almost universal in obese individuals.”
“Obstructive sleep apnea in obese patients is a common condition, and it results in lack of enough sleep or quality sleep. As a result they remain sleepy during the day,” said Dr. Gholam Motamedi, a neurologist at Georgetown University Medical Center.
Eventually, the plan will move to test all pilots and air traffic controllers with a BMI of 30. Body mass index calculates weight divided by height. That means a 6-foot tall man with a BMI of 40 would weigh nearly 300 pounds. With a BMI of 30, that same man would weigh 220 pounds.
This plan comes five years after two pilots aboard a Go Airlines flight between islands in Hawaii fell asleep and overshot the airport. The flight eventually landed without further incident but the National Transportation Safety Board launched an investigation.
The captain, according to the NTSB, was obese and later diagnosed with apnea.
Former fighter pilot and ABC News consultant Stephen Ganyard said lack of sleep or quality of sleep can affect a pilot’s ability.
“It really has the same physiological effects as drinking. And so you don’t want a drunk pilot flying your airplane any more than you would want a pilot who hasn’t had appropriate sleep flying your airplane,” Ganyard said.
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Personal drop question. Say you need the first day of a four day off, is it possible to put in the drop request for the rotation number and only the first day and drop the whole trip, then pick up a trip on day two or three? Thanks
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Hey, it was great seeing you the other day, NERD! We ended up laying over in MLB and I think the broken airplane finally went out late in the afternoon the next day...
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Not having a crystal ball is a poor excuse for inadequate analysis and planning. I don't work in crew resources nor am I the FAA expert on 117 but anyone even slightly familiar with the situation realized the new rules were going to require some more bodies. His post made no reference to this just applying to DAL, but this is a thread about DAL so that's the usual topic. Being overly defensive seems to have blinded you to his point and that the decision to delay hiring when they knew 117 was on the way is now causing some of the pain. That's not to say the same decision would not have been made by the company in hindsight: there were objectives they were seeking and those might not have been realized had they hired sooner. Sometimes it's OK to accept the facts as they are; it doesn't mean you're anti-company, or anti-union, just pro-reality.
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Wait a minute. I know who this is. ![Smile](https://www.airlinepilotforums.com/images/smilies/smile.gif)
I had a lot happen between the time you told me and now. Starting with the fact that I made it from JFK gate B36 to LGA in less than 30 minutes.![EEK!](https://www.airlinepilotforums.com/images/smilies/eek.gif)
That's enough to erase anyones memory, Mr. Kung Fu.
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I had a lot happen between the time you told me and now. Starting with the fact that I made it from JFK gate B36 to LGA in less than 30 minutes.
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That's enough to erase anyones memory, Mr. Kung Fu.
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I'm paying for my sins good Capt...if you could see my December line you'd cry WITH me. As usual, Scambo1 was right... Cheers H
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