by Charles Davidson
What a great year. Thanks to your airplane, efficient business travel has made your business grow 100 percent in the last two years. And now comes the reward: Youve just inked the paper to trade your old starter airplane on a new Cirrus with a glass panel. Life is good. But a routine appointment with your Aviation Medical Examiner (AME) knocks the edge off your euphoria. The doc says youre blood pressure is not just high but really high and he sends you off to the family doctor for evaluation. The news get worse. You now learn that you have elevated blood glucose and cholesterol levels and your ECG shows signs of a possible heart attack some time in the past.
A follow-up with your AME yields the not-too-surprising word that hell have to defer issuance of your medical certificate to the FAAs Aeromedical Certification Division (AMCD). He says hell have to monitor how your blood pressure and elevated glucose meds are working for two months and adds that you’ll get a letter from the FAA telling you how to get your medical re-issued.
The Rabbit HoleWelcome to the modern equivalent of Alice slipping down the rabbit hole. This sort of thing happens hundreds of times a year as aging pilots-some not all that old-find themselves wrapped up in what can be a frustrating and confusing special issuance medical certification process. Questions abound.
When will you get this letter from the FAA? What if the pills don’t work? What numbers for blood pressure and glucose will the FAA accept? Where do you turn for answers and assistance?
In this case the AME deferred the issuance of the medical, leaving further evaluation to the AMCD in Oklahoma City. Certification denial is usually not a decision made at the AME level. Because deferral of certification by the AME is hardly uncommon, there’s a niche market for companies that propose to act as the pilots agent, focusing their medical and bureaucratic expertise on helping pilots get back into the FAAs good graces, medically.
Researching the Web and popular aviation magazine advertising, we found three companies who offer medical certification assistance: ARMA, Pilot Medical Solutions and Virtual Flight Surgeons. But before even considering these, know this: With prodding from the alphabet groups, the FAA has dramatically improved its turnaround time on special issuances. Its much easier than it used to be.
ARMAARMA Research is the smallest and most recently established of the companies providing assistance to pilots. Its run by Arthur J. Risser from his home in Wisconsin. Risser established his company three years ago after having problems getting his own certificate. As with many inventions, the genesis of ARMA was the usual there-must-be-a-better-way ethos that drives all innovators. Risser determined that a great deal of the difficulty in special issuance circumstances is data acquisition and processing. He and his small staff help the pilot determine the information the AMCD requires, obtain that information and forward it to the AMCD.
Risser informs the client early on that he has no medical training or background, but he has researched the information openly available with regard to certification requirements. Rissers background includes about 35 years designing computer-based systems for manufacturing companies as a director of information services. He contends that his knowledge of large and complex administrative systems, the minute attention to detail and data gathering required in systems design and the ability to present a plan to senior management all relate directly to the process of steering a special issuance medical through the FAA maze.
Risser says he discusses the case with the pilot and can provide an assessment of how successful his efforts are likely to be in getting the pilot his certificate. He turns down about 50 percent of potential clients because he doesnt believe that their money will be we’ll spent and that FAA approval is unlikely due to their medical situations.
If a pilot decides to employ ARMA to assist, the company charges a flat fee of $990 for all services. Risser says this fee covers his services throughout the process, even if it carries through to an appeal to the NTSB, which is usually the court of last resort for pilots seeking re-issuance. Risser says the small staff and home office allow ARMA to keep its costs down and therefore theyre able to contain the fee to the client. He says there are no circumstances where they go back to the client for more money.
Pilot Medical SolutionsPilot Medical Solutions (PMS) was founded by company president, David Hale, a graduate of the University of Oklahoma and an exercise physiologist. He worked in the cardiology department at Cedars Sinai Hospital in Beverly Hills and in the early 1990s, he provided fitness training for pilots and others with cardiovascular conditions. A native of Oklahoma, he eventually moved the company to Oklahoma City, where the FAAs AMCD is headquartered. Hale is a commercial-rated pilot and a licensed skydiver.
The PMS staff includes a clinical advisor, Dr. C. Joseph Wine, who is board certified in otolaryngology-head and neck surgery–and who provides assistance in specific examinations. There’s also an expert witness staff and several members of an administrative staff in Oklahoma City. PMS retrieves, reviews and submits documentation directly to the FAA for pilots worldwide. PMS has an informative Website with several tools for the pilot in reference to choosing an AME and posts answers to frequently asked questions.
In the hypothetical case we posited here, Hale explained that PMS would “quickly retrieve the essential records and petition the FAA to get the pilot flying fast.” Hale states that while third-party reimbursement is often available, the client is billed directly. A fee is determined after initial consultation and before the company begins work on the case. Fees vary with the service provided. PMS offered no typical prices.
Virtual FligHt SurgeonsVirtual Flight Surgeons (VFS) is a Denver-based company thats associated with Aviation Medicine Advisory Service (AMAS), which works with airline pilots and their unions on medical certificate issues. While AMAS was founded in 1969 and aims at the professional pilot market, VFS serves the private sector, having been launched in 1997. Combined, AMAS and VFS employ seven board-certified aerospace medicine physicians, two case managers, an FAA liaison and seven administrative specialists. Four of the physicians are pilots, two are flight instructors and one is a designated pilot examiner.
Dr. Phillip Parker is vice president of military and general aviation safety and like the other VFS physicians, his background includes years of experience in aerospace and/or military medicine. He told us that although the majority of the companys business comes from contracts with pilot unions and aviation associations, the individual client business is growing. Some 9000 aviation professionals seek direct assistance from AMAS yearly. At present, about 20 percent of their business is from individual airmen not associated with a group or union.