Third Class Medical Reform

At the moment all pilots are required to have at least passed a third class medical. In the past few years there has been a large movement to remove the need of that medical requirement for general aviation operators so more pilots can keep flying. Say the reform passes; it could only be used for recreational purposes. There will be some limitations with altitude topping out at 18,000ft and airspeed up to 250 knots as well as aircraft weighing up to 6,000 lbs. (Tennyson, 2015). Most general aviation pilots never exceed those tolerances anyways.

The Pilots Bill of Rights 2 was passed on December 15 by the senate and has moved to the house (Tennyson, 2015). After it is passed by the House of Representatives it will move to be signed by the President and into law. With the current FAA funding extension ending in March of 2016 it is likely that we will either see another extension to the funding (Tennyson, 2016). It may also be likely that with the funding extension we see a time extension and are left waiting on the FAA.

With the passing of this Pilot's Bill of Rights, many more opportunities will open up for pilots who have been denied their medicals or have quit pursuing it all together out of loss of hope. Many people may be welcomed back to flying as many adequate pilots are out there that have been unable to pass a medical and will hopefully be allowed to fly again soon. This can also save a lot of money and give some personal input with airmen's own personal doctors by dropping the need to see an AME and only being required to see a personal doctor every 4 years and taking an online course every 2 years (Bertorelli, 2015).

The third class medical reform will be a great change in aviation and especially great for GA. It will not just allow older folks to fly again, but will allow competent pilots of any age to fly. Many great pilots who haven't been able to fly have moved down and flown light sport aircraft for years to get around the medical problem. Those pilots will no longer be oppressed by the FAA's medical requirement and I hope this help in growing general aviation.

References

Bertorelli, P. (2015, October 1). In Third Class Medical Reform: Hope's Not Misplaced. Retrieved from http://www.avweb.com/blogs/insider/Third-Class-Medical-Reform-Hopes-Not-Misplaced-224941-1.html

Tennyson, E. A. (2016, January 14). In Next steps for medical reform. Retrieved from http://www.aopa.org/News-and-Video/All-News/2016/January/14/Next-steps-for-medical-reform

Tennyson, E. A. (2015, December 15). In Full Senate passes medical reform. Retrieved from http://www.aopa.org/News-and-Video/All-News/2015/December/15/Full-Senate-passes-medical-reform

Pilots Competing Depression

On March 24th, 2015 I remember walking into the library and seeing all three televisions on the wall tuned to CNN. The title across the screen read something along the lines of plane crashes in alps. That managed to get me more interested so I looked into it a bit further and found out a Germanwings aircraft flew into a mountain, killing all people on board. Later on it became known that the captain had been locked out of the cockpit and the first officer had flown flight 9525 into the ground by his own will.

The captain left the cabin during cruise at 38,000ft (Bureau d'Enquêtes, 2015, pg. 7). Afterwards the first officer had a series of selecting different altitudes from 100 ft to 49,000ft. Not long afterwards the aircraft began leaving the cleared altitude and descending. ATC attempted to make contact multiple times with no response. Flight 9525 increased speed and held around 325 knots. Nearing the selected 100 ft altitude the GPWS engaged and remained engaged until impact with ground soon after (Bureau d'Enquêtes, 2015).

The first officer was known to have a history of depression or mental illness in 2009 for which his 1st class medical was denied while taking medication, but then soon approved with a limitation for regular medical exams (Bureau d'Enquêtes, 2015). He passed all 1st class medicals after 2009. 5 years took place from that point up until the accident which is a significant amount of time to have depression if the illness remained with him up until March 24th, 2015. It is hard to determine if he was still suffering from depression since 2009, but it was said by people close to him that he was stressed out with work.

SilkAir Flight 185 crashed killing all 104 people on board after what was determined by the NTSB as pilot suicide. The investigation did have a lot of conflicts between investigation parties. The NTSC decided that the cause of the accident could not be concluded (National Transportation Safety Committee, 2000). The aircraft entered in a high speed dive soon impacting the ground, but before the non-normal flight characteristics began the CRV and FDR stopped recording.

I do believe that depression is something that most people would not quickly admit to. It is a seriously scary illness for the fact that it causes people to not feel like they are needed. It can cause suicidal thoughts and possibly lead to actions with those thoughts. Although suicidal thoughts are possible with depression it is the suicidal/homicidal thoughts and actions that are bizarre to me. Like Collin Hughes states in his blog, "Lubitz, Pure Evil", people who not only remove themselves, but take other people away from their own lives are the most selfish thing in the world (Hughes, 2015). A cure or treatment for that kind of evil may never be discovered, but depression is treatable. Depression should be something that people should not be scared to admit to and receive aid for. Recently the FAA has allowed the use of 4 different depression medications while flying which is great. It shows that people are seeing that pilots with depression are really just people like everyone else going through tough times.

It seems like the airlines and FAA may be straying from adding pilots with depression to the grounding list and moving towards treating those pilots for their illness. Depression is a treatable disease as long as people know about it. When somebody hides it from others out of fear of losing a job or being scrutinized is when the sickness will grow and become much worse. With more people reaching out and showing empathy for pilots suffering from depression comes the possibility of more of those pilots getting treatment to recover and continue flying just as they would hope.

References

Bureau d'Enquêtes et d'Analyses pour la Sécurité de l'Aviation Civile. (2015, March 24). Preliminary Report. Retrieved January 24, 2016, from http://www.bea.aero/docspa/2015/dpx150324.en/pdf/d-px150324.en.pd

Hughes, C. W. (2015, March 27). Lubitz, Pure Evil. In Prozac Pilot - Pilots With Depression - Pilots on Antidepressants. Retrieved from http://www.prozacpilot.com/2015/03/lubitz-pure-evil.html

National Transportation Safety Committee. (2000, December 14). Aircraft Accident Report SILKAIRFLIGHT MI 185. Retrieved from http://www.fss.aero/accident-reports/dvdfiles/ID/1997-12-19-ID.pdf

Air Traffic Control Privatization--Current/Next Gen

There has been talk for years of changing the ways ATC functions. Possible privatization of ATC as a whole and finally the installing of Next Gen. Currently the United State's Air Traffic Control System is radar based, whereas upon the installment of Next Gen ATC, air traffic control will become satellite based. The Next Gen system will replace the older and outdated use of primary radar and VORs/NDBs. Currently air traffic follows routes along VOR radials, vectors and arrival and departure procedures which can be far from direct at times causing higher fuel burn and longer flights. By switching to a heavier dependence upon satellite systems, air traffic will be able to follow more direct routes and maintain a closer separation to cut back on route diversions all while continuing as safe and if not safer than before.

In addition to Next Gen, there is possibility of ATC becoming privatized which will have advantages and disadvantages. A few advantages are the probability of costs being reduced, increasing the speed of ATC system modernization such as implementing Next Gen and to stabilize funding (Sclar). Many General Aviation leaders and organizations have concerns about implementing a privatized ATC. While saving money for the government, the money to replace government funding will likely come from user fees on top of the fuel tax. This can lead to a pay to use policy causing many pilots to pass up ATC aid for flight planning, flight following and the like to save money even though it can increase their risk to danger from weather or a high traffic volume (Wood, 2015). The EAA (Experimental Aircraft Association) has very large concerns with ATC privatization along with other GA organizations, while the airlines are pushing for a non-profit privatization (Grady, 2015). The airline industry seems to be leaning towards a private ATC, with some spokesman stating that having a private industry will hasten the implementation of technology improvements that take too much time with the current system.

The most well known country with Air Traffic Control in the private sector is Canada. There are many articles stating that Canada has done what the U.S. should be doing because of the FAA's history of failing to meet deadlines, going over budget and failing to implement technology upgrades.
As stated earlier, a privatized ATC will be funded by user fees which is either a good or bad thing depending on what part of the industry you are working in. Canada has roughly 12 million flight operations annually while the United States ATC runs around 50 million annually (Mark, 2012). Although many people will argue that Nav Canada's (Canada's private ATC structure) implementation has been a success, their current air traffic is much less than that of the United State's. There would definitely have to be some major differences with implementing a similar private Air Traffic Control into the U.S.

A privatized Air Traffic Control could be what this country needs. It would certainly need input from the entire spectrum of aviation personnel. The country has a lot of traffic with many needs and different motives, but a properly functioning privatized ATC could lead the aviation community much faster and further than the current structure all while maintaining the same safety standard.

References

(2014, September 18). In Air Traffic 101. Retrieved from http://www.faa.gov/air_traffic/briefing/

Grady, M. (2015, December 2). Airlines Push For ATC Privatization. In AVweb. Retrieved from http://www.avweb.com/avwebflash/news/Airlines-Push-For-ATC-Privatization-225300-1.html

Mark, R. (2012, January 1). Canada’s Private ATC System Offers Alternative for Cost-cutting Nations. In AINonline. Retrieved from http://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/aviation-international-news/2012-01-01/canadas-private-atc-system-offers-alternative-cost-cutting-nations

Sclar, E. (n.d.). In Pitfalls of Air Traffic Control Privatization. Retrieved from http://www.controladoresaereos.org/wp-content/uploads/pitfalls-of-atc-privatization.pdf

Wood, J. (2015, July 8). Call to action issued over ATC privatization. In General Aviation News. Retrieved from http://generalaviationnews.com/2015/07/08/call-to-action-issued-over-atc-privatization/

Personal Introduction

The first job I wanted, was to be a firefighter. I am sure I was right alongside many other young kids wanting the same thing in kindergarten. Afterwards I moved onto a police officer, but reaching middle school we had to do these career building exercise things, where we (students in middle school) took quizzes to see what interests us and then after completing around 40-60 questions you would get a list of 40 jobs that may or should interest us. At the top of the list of Coast Guard Captain and Pilot. Both of those sounded very appealing to me so I continued researching through the years about how to get started in those professions. 

In 8th grade I took my first flight and I knew that was what I wanted. Since then it has stuck and I am continuing to pursue a career in the aviation field. 

I am pursuing the Aviation Flight Technology degree at Eastern and I just started my senior year so I hope to be completing my degree in the fall of 2016. 

I am currently working on CFI training and after obtaining my certificate I would like to flight instruct to gain more experience. Afterwards I would like to find a flying job in Alaska at either a small airline, charter and/or possibly bush operation.