Medical excellence and airline pilots

Abstract

It is a privilege to discuss problems in aviation cardiology and the role of preventive medicine in preserving and maintaining the careers of professional airline pilots. The outcome of this conference will create a better understanding of the interaction of operational in-flight techniques with government medical standards by the users, enforcers and consultants of our national aviation system. Your deliberations will have significant impact on the transportation industry. Let me state that I am an airline pilot, not a physician. My scientific training is not in the discipline of medicine and in no way do I wish to lecture on the intricacies of the highly scientific disciplines of cardiology. I speak for the Air Line Pilots Association, which seeks the highest excellence in the practice of any specialty where the health and welfare of our membership is concerned. The association has enjoyed the services of an aeromedical advisor since late 1969. His role has been to assist airline pilots and to advise the president of the association and its membership regarding medical problems affecting health, welfare and safety. His insistence and ours has always been on selecting consultants to evaluate medical problems of pilots on the basis of their known excellence and their national reputation for expertise in their fields. Indeed, some of the most outstanding names on the roster of the American College of Cardiology have been consultants on cardiovascular problems for airline pilots.