FAA Report To Call For Overweight Pilot Sleep Evaluations, More Manual Training
WASHINGTON (CBS DC) – The Federal Aviation Administration is set to announce that medical examiners will be evaluating overweight pilots and controllers for sleep problems as part of a series of commercial airline policy changes.
The FAA announced the change in policy in response to concerns that overweight commercial pilots – defined as anyone with a BMI over 40 or someone with a 17-inch neck circumference — will have to be evaluated by a sleep specialist.
Weight issues are commonly tied to sleep apnea and daytime sleepiness issues that could easily hinder pilot performance.
Fred Tilton, the FAA’s air surgeon announced the “major” change to policy in the wake of a series of high-profile crashes suspected of being a result of pilot error: the Asiana crash landing in San Francisco, the Air France 447 disaster in 2009 and the accident in Russia last week that killed 50 people.
http://washington.cbslocal.com/2013/11/20/faa-report-to-call-for-overweight-pilot-sleep-evaluations-more-manual-training/