Continue Discussion - visit the forum 42 replies
March 2020

system

Perfect crosswind landing - no wing rocking or zigzagging down the centerline like you usually see.

March 2020

system

Sure was a grease job - nothing else interesting in this video.

March 2020

system

Cool video and nice landing but only a steady max 15KT crosswind, evidenced by birds flying normal tracks and a steady windsock 30 seconds in the video. Optical illusion due to cameral angle as evidenced by touchdown in seemingly heavy crab but the aircraft not changing angle when tracking straight down the centerline after touchdown. But nice video nevertherless.

1 reply
March 2020

system

Despite the negative remarks of an uneventful cross wind landing, the sight of a beluga (whale with wings) landing in cross winds is amazing. I’m sure these pilots stick to the poh of never exceeding cross wind limits. Tires and landing gear suffers as side loads build up to maximum limits while transferring these loads into the airframe.

March 2020 ▶ system

Chris_Landry

The camera angle and long lens definitely makes it hard to see the real angle, but I think it might be more than you think. Before touchdown, we can see the right side of the aircraft. After touchdown, we’re looking at the left side. The nose probably has to swing something like 20 degrees for that to happen. Assuming a landing speed on the order of 120 knots, that would mean the crosswind component is more like 40KT.

1 reply
March 2020 ▶ Chris_Landry

system

Watch the birds at 7 secs and the windsock at 29 secs. Just a steady 16-18kt xwind at most.

March 2020

system

Pilots are our own worst enemy, Joe.

If it had been a tire-popping, side-load bending, smoke pouring off the runway: it would clearly have been a major crosswind and the pilot was way above his head.

If it’s a picking-up-rubber, butterfly with sore feet landing…no crosswind to speak of and any 10hr Cessna pilot could have done it.

March 2020

Buffalo.Bob

Clearly auto-land. No pilot intervention.

1 reply
March 2020 ▶ Buffalo.Bob

system

Could be. Interesting point. I remember learning a lot from watching the autopilot fly ILS approaches providing a demonstration of perfect technique from localizer intercept to DH. Seems like autopilot autolands could do the same for landings.

March 2023

Larry_S

Sounds like the AeroMed folks in OKC are now running C eh N eh D eh aviation now, too. Eight crashes in 20 years and they want very expensive med testing to do what … ground them all? So do these same people drive cars and RV’s?

2 replies
March 2023

Chris_Landry

Eight crashes in 20 years that might have had cardiovascular issues as a contributing factor. Cardiovascular issues that might have been detected by expensive screening.

March 2023

joe5

Holy crap! I feel sorry for our Brothers and Sisters up North. I presume the cost of those tests is on them as well? Hopefully the FAA has their ears turned off…

March 2023

andrewjkm

Except that, in Canada, blood tests requested by a doctor are covered by the provincial health insurance system. There are only a few tests that have to be paid for out of pocket, and they can be reimbursed by most, if not all, private health insurance policies - which most, if not all, Canadian pilots enjoy as a job benefit.

There is therefore no cost to someone who goes to a lab with a requisition signed by a doctor for a draw for blood lipids tests.

It’s one of the benefits of a universal healthcare system - so perhaps the American correspondents here could base their comments on the excellent Canadian system rather than the politically-charged, partisan attitude to healthcare prevalent in the US.

3 replies
March 2023

Fred_G

Indiscriminately testing people who have no signs or symptoms of disease is guaranteed to generate many falsely positive test results (quite possibly more than true positive test results, especially if “positive” is is a person who will crash a plane due to a heart condition).

It is well-established among clinicians and epidemiologists that such testing is poor clinical practice - it leads to additional testing (in follow-up of the false positive) that is potentially risky with no chance of benefit.

1 reply
March 2023 ▶ andrewjkm

cmoswizard

So, you paid at the tax office so it’s OK?

2 replies
March 2023

roganderson60

Only an angiogram will tell you what is actually happening. A nuclear stress test will hint at it. A blood screening only tells you that you have high cholesterol. That in itself doesn’t indicate you are absolutely at risk. Lots of folks have high cholesterol naturally. I was a runner, normal cholesterol levels, felt fine, had a current class 2. I did feel a slight discomfort for a while when running. It would go away. I finally mentioned it to my family doctor.l He said just go to a cardiologist and get a stress test. I went. Hadn’t felt the discomfort for several months. But he said it could have been angina and only an angiogram would tell for sure. Did one through my wrist. After it was completed he said, “you need at least a triple bypass. You are 90% blocked and due to fall over dead at any time.” The angiogram is the only way to actually know if you are eligible for a sudden heart attack. The blood work only tells you that you might want to eat a healthier diet.

1 reply
March 2023

Fred_G

You didn’t mention your age, but a middle-age or older man with elevated cholesterol who has chest pain while engaging in aerobic exercise that goes away at rest has angina (most, but not all, angina is cardiac in origin) and is “eligible” for a heart attack. The angiogram is the definitive evaluation that demonstrates blockages of coronary arteries and whether bypass or angioplasty is likely to be an effective treatment.

1 reply
March 2023

VTPilot

In the first paragraph of AvWeb’s reporting, the figure of 33,000 pilots refers not to all Canadian pilots, but rather - as made clear in the CTSB report - those who hold Category 1 medical certificates (required to exercise commercial pilot and ATP privileges, and similar to the FAA Class 1 and 2 medicals).

Also, the CTSB report concludes with a single recommendation: that Transport Canada “establish a framework for routine review and improvement to the Handbook for Civil Aviation Medical Examiners to ensure it contains the most effective screening tools for assessing medical conditions such as cardiovascular health issues”.

I appreciate AvWeb including links to source material in its reporting.

March 2023 ▶ cmoswizard

SafetGuy

My wife and I are paying about $1000 a month for medical insurance. I’d be pretty happy with even a $10,000 annual tax increase if it meant having medical care available as a public service - but since countries with national systems generally have lower per capita medical costs than we do, that’s unlikely. Public medical services are some of the most popular things our peer countries provide, and practically nobody envies our “you bet your house” medical system, with bankruptcy looming if you get seriously ill.

1 reply
March 2023

maule

As you all likely know I am a physician specializing in internal medicine and I’ve been an AME and an active pilot for decades.

This is BS on so many levels I’d have to take the day off to type it all out (I’m a slow typist) or put you all in a lecture hall and stand on a soapbox for an hour talking about it.

NO WAY an EKG could detect a cardiac event in any but the rarest of circumstances.
NO WAY a physical exam could do this either.
NO WAY lab tests or a lipid panel could do the same.
NO WAY to link a ‘cardiac event’ to this stall/spin event.
NO WAY to assume invasion of privacy increases aviation safety.
NO was to say if this should be done for flying it shouldn’t also be done for driving.
NO WAY to assume millions of drivers cause less risk to the public than thousands of pilots.

March 2023 ▶ andrewjkm

maule

You paid, just at a different time.

No one here insulted your excellent country and it’s health care system, don’t disparage ours.

1 reply
March 2023 ▶ Fred_G

maule

Correct.

The workup for a false positive test can be more dangerous than the presumed condition.

Also, statistically a screening test in a low risk population will always yield more false positive results. This is why we don’t do STD screening on nuns for instance. Any positive test would most likely be a false positive. No value in the testing.

1 reply
March 2023 ▶ roganderson60

maule

Many heart attacks occur in people with clean coronary arteries, and many people with ugly angiograms never have an event. You can estimate probabilities but not predict events.

March 2023

maule

I need to rephrase…

NO WAY an EKG can predict an incipient cardiac event in all but the rarest of circumstances. It will demonstrate an infarction ex post facto.

March 2023

pilotmww

I’m wondering how the Canadian cat 1 medical compares to the FAA first class medical. Does it cover more items or is it stricter like some of the Asian and European agencies have been reported? I do know ICAO does not recognize the time limits the US medicals have (calendar months vs 6 months from exam).

March 2023

flyingfireman

As a Canadian ATPL holder over 60, I have to have a medical exam by a MD who is Transport Canada approved Aviation Medical Examiner every 6 months and a EKG, paid for by me every year.

Since my resting heart rate is 48 bpm and my blood pressure is normal I was advised many years ago to have a double espresso before my EKG so it didn’t trigger a brachardia (sp?) alert and a second level review ?

What we have now is a WW 2 Air Force pilot medical protocol that has been incrementally tweaked. It would seem to me that it is time to reevaluate the entire pilot medical evaluation system. There is in my opinion, zero value in any medical certification for recreational flying. If you are fit to drive you are fit to fly.

The medical requirements for Professional pilots need an evidence based top down review starting with a blank piece of paper. The current system is just a self licking ice cream cone.

1 reply
March 2023 ▶ Fred_G

roganderson60

Age 72 and cholesterol about 190 at the time. Exercised each day. Mentioned this before, but my hanger neighbor, retired FedEx Capt, current class 2, frequently flew his Aztec, fell over dead, heart attack, while waiting for an oil change at the dealership. I had just given him a BFR a month before. Made me think about the shock I would have experienced if he had done it on short final. React??? Guess, but don’t know.

March 2023 ▶ maule

Larry_S

… and how many pilots will get a heart attack either worrying about passing such a draconian requirement OR die when they find out they can’t fly anymore?

And we have friends from up north that come to the US for care vs waiting in line…

March 2023 ▶ flyingfireman

Larry_S

That’s IT, David … “it’s a self-lickin ice cream cone!”

March 2023

ADennistdi

Lets have Transport Canada Safety Board employees and officials (Same with the FAA Medical Board) subject to the same medical requirements as pilots to keep their positions. If they fail the exam they are out of a position. Then we will see how they react. Will they still want the same requirements knowing that one event can end their carrier? They talk safety when it comes to everyone else but will not implement the same playing field for themselves, typical bureaucrats.

March 2023

flyingfireman

Canadian TSB flight operations personnel are required to keep the same level of qualifications as regular Transport Canada Inspectors, that is a valid ATP license (airplane) or Commercial license with instrument rating (helicopter).

March 2023 ▶ andrewjkm

ag4n6

So why do so many Canadians flock to the US for necessary and timely health care rather than dying or suffering degraded quality of life while waiting in line for Canadian health care?

March 2023

EltonInAtlanta

It’s not clear form this if the crash caused the heart attack or the heart attack caused the crash.

March 2023 ▶ maule

VTPilot

I’ve used health care as a resident of both Canada and the US (not at the same time, of course). I once calculated that if I added US health insurance to my US income taxes (paying in full, with no employer contribution), the total would be equal (or a bit more) than what I paid in Canadian taxes.

Otherwise, my experience is that if you’re in the US and on a good health insurance plan, and in a major metropolitan area, then health care is quick, easy and first-class. In Canada, I’m still waiting - as millions of others are - on a wait list for a family doctor, which is a prerequisite for getting specialist care. The option is to find a community clinic, pay membership fees out of pocket, and hope for the best. To put it another way, if you’ve been in the Canadian system all your life, with a family doctor readily available on speed dial, you’re set. If not, and you’re on the waiting list, good luck.

March 2023

Arthur_Foyt

So I cannot say that Canada may have precipitated the problem?

March 2023

dbhill

I’m an ER doc. My job consists of screening people to figure out who is having (or is at risk of having) a heart attack. My false positive rate (people w/ symptoms, but not the condition) is well over 98 %, and those are people who have chest pain. Screening asymptomatic populations is mathematically a fool’s errand and will produce vast numbers of false positives. What is Canada going to do with that information? Ground their entire pilot fleet?

March 2023 ▶ SafetGuy

Roger_Mullins

But then again you countries with Nationalized medicine never mention the “warts”. Long lines, long waits, planning surgeries long in advance, Sheep in Sheep out, it is not all roses as some would have you believe. Also if you are paying $1000 per month ($12000 per year) yes we would all like a cost reduction to $10000 per year, but it never seems to work out that way. When politicians are involved (by the way they know nothing of how insurance or even business really works) they will screw it royally just to get votes, so it will end up in the latrine, like everything else they touch.

March 2023

pilotmww

In the 1990’s the FAA tried to establish a cholesterol level test requirement for all pilots. After all the general aviation groups loudly complained the FAA proposal went nowhere and was dropped. Hopefully there are still some FAA medical people around who remembered that and the FAA won’t try that nonsense again. Just think about the stink that was raised about the last time the FAA tried to make certain testing required for sleep apnea.

March 2023 ▶ Larry_S

billthedog

Give it a rest Dale, it would appear you cast all through your political filter. Canadian are you? Give it rest, eh?

March 2023 ▶ cmoswizard

billthedog

Yep.

March 2023 ▶ Larry_S

rkphillipsjr

More lives would be saved if you did extensive medical and neuro exams on drivers. But a lot more votes come from drivers then from pilots.

March 2023

thomas.boyle

Lipid testing?

This is an example of the aeromedical crew showing how far out of touch they are with modern medicine. The false positive rate will be off the charts.

Then again, that may be the idea. As someone above commented, self-licking ice cream cone.