AINsight: Diabetes and Flying
The FAA is now allowing pilots with insulin-dependent diabetes to fly in commercial ops, but it requires a special-issuance medical and ongoing testing.
Diabetes Mellitus is a disease that involves impaired glucose metabolism. Sudden adverse changes in blood glucose (high or low) can lead to altered mental status, to seizures, and even death. Long-term complications include damage to “end organs,” such as eyes, kidneys, heart, and the neurological system.
Further, this is a condition that would render an existing medical certificate invalid from the moment the pilot knew of the diagnosis, regardless of any theoretical period of validity that might appear to remain for that certificate.
Robert Sancetta, M.D.
AIN Contributor
About the author
Dr. Robert Sancetta is a former DC-10 captain with 11,000 flight hours. He has worked as a Senior AME since 1993 and is appointed as AME Consultant to the FAA Federal Air Surgeon.
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