Safety: Fit for Flight

October Safety 2022

October Safety FAASTeam Topic of the Month: Aerospace Medicine and You

Welcome to the Safety Section of the Flying Clubs Newsletter, Club Connector!

Each month we provide resources for flying club safety officers so that they can keep their clubs informed and safe.   We also include links to the FAASTeam Topic of the Month PowerPoint slides providing talking points for your next safety brief.  Along with the slides, we often provide links to relevant articles, videos, and other media that you may also find helpful.  To learn more about this section, be sure to check out Episode 15 and 15b of Flying Clubs Radio! 

If you are interested in using the FAASTeam WINGS program with your flying club, feel free to contact Steve, who is a Lead Representative and WINGSPro, and uses the program in his club.

More on WINGS for Clubs can be found here in Flying Clubs Radio Episode 8 and the May 2020 Question of the Month.

Before we get to this month’s Topic of the Month, let’s do a quick reminder of just some of the resources available to all pilots:

1. The FAASTeam website is the portal to a vast array of courses, videos, links, and much more.Remember that WINGS not only encompasses “knowledge” activities, but also flight activities.Use the various search options to narrow done, to, say flight activities for a basic phase of WINGS and you’ll be able to find a syllabus and often a worksheet for each flight activity.

    

2. AOPA’s own Air Safety Institute, which by the way, is funded by the AOPA Foundation just like the You Can Fly program, is packed with amazing content, including exceptional videos, podcasts, accident analysis, online courses, recorded webinars and more.Completing these activities may also earn WINGS credits.Of particular interest to flying club safety officers is the recently updated Safety to Go section.Here, you can download a selection of topics, each coming with PowerPoint slides and speaker’s notes!

Alright then, let’s get on with this month’s safety topic!

October Safety FAASTeam Topic of the Month: Aerospace Medicine and You

A GAJSC (General Aviation Joint Steering Committee) study of General Aviation Loss of Control Accidents show that a significant number of pilots in those accidents were operating with a known medical deficiency and/or impaired.

Aerospace Medicine and You

• FAA’s Office of Aerospace Medicine provides medical certification guidance and medical

  information to pilots.

• BasicMed – an alternative to traditional pilot medical certification is available to most pilots

  who are not engaged in flying for compensation or hire.

• The effects of commonly prescribed and over-the-counter drugs can comprise pilot’s ability

  to fly safely.

• Pilots must consider the effects of combinations of drugs. This is difficult to do without

  consulting a physician. AMEs are the best source for the effects of drugs and combinations of drugs.

• Pilots must disclose all of their medical issues to their AMEs in order to receive a

  comprehensive assessment of their medical condition and fitness to fly.

• Pilots must truthfully report all medical conditions and drug use on their medical application forms and should consult their AME with respect to all medical conditions and drug use before flight.

References:

Medications and Flying – FAA Brochure

NTSB Safety Alerts (SA-037)

October Topic of the Month: Aerospace Medicine and You