Human Factors: Introduction

You don't have to fly the latest jet fighter to experience G forces, vertigo, hypoxia, motion sickness, and other side effects of flight. Every pilot should understand these phenomena and know how to avoid or compensate for them.

Pilots also bear the legal responsibility to avoid flying whenever they have a temporary condition that affects the safety of flight or whenever they cannot meet the standards of their medical certificate (FAR 61.53).

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Basic Medical Requirements

In the U.S. and Canada, regulations require most pilots of powered aircraft to hold a medical certificate as well as a pilot certificate. Aviation Medical Examiners (AMEs), physicians certified by the FAA and MOT, issue medical certificates. An airline pilot must get a new medical certificate every six months and undergo a more rigorous examination than a private pilot, who must get a new certificate every two or three years, depending on age.

General Standards

AMEs evaluate your general health to check for conditions that might cause a medical emergency during flight, restrict your ability to operate the controls, or impair your ability to make quick decisions.The examination focuses on the correct function of vital organs and parts of the body most critical to flying, including the eyes, lungs, heart, ears, and the muscular and nervous systems. You don't have to be a perfect physical specimen. Some defects can be waived. For example, the FAA has issued restricted medical certificates to pilots who have only one eye, are deaf or hard-of-hearing, or are partially paralyzed.

Disqualifying Conditions

Epilepsy, heart trouble, and high blood pressure are among the conditions that can ground a pilot. Other problems, such as acute infections, anemia, and peptic ulcers may be only temporarily disqualifying. Corrected vision, dentures, and certain minor ailments generally aren't an obstacle to certification. The specific standards are described in the FARs.

The Pilot's Responsibility

Regulations require each pilot to determine his or her fitness for flight. They state that you may not act as a pilot when you have a known physical deficiency that would make you unable to meet the physical requirements for your medical certificate. In other words, if you wouldn't be able to pass the flight physical today, you shouldn't fly today.