AINsight: Reading between the Lines in FAA Letters | Aviation International News

AINsight: Reading between the Lines in FAA Letters

It’s often difficult to tell if FAA aeromedical decision letters bring good or bad news

medical implements — Photo: Pixabay

By Robert Sancetta, M.D. • AIN Contributor

August 8, 2025

A pilot’s response to receiving a letter from the FAA’s Aerospace Medicine Certification Division (AMCD) can be wide-ranging. If the pilot had been anxiously waiting for a letter from the FAA in response to a medical application previously submitted, the initial joy of it finally arriving is also fraught with trepidation upon opening it—will it be an approval or a denial?

If an FAA letter was entirely unexpected, a pilot’s initial reaction will always be that of dread. What horrors are contained within?

The rest of this article continues for AIN Members with the full report, analysis and background. The rest of this article continues for AIN Members with the full report, analysis and background. The rest of this article continues for AIN Members with the full report, analysis and background. The rest of this article continues for AIN Members with the full report, analysis and background. The rest of this article continues for AIN Members with the full report, analysis and background.

The rest of this article continues for AIN Members with the full report, analysis and background. The rest of this article continues for AIN Members with the full report, analysis and background. The rest of this article continues for AIN Members with the full report, analysis and background.

The rest of this article continues for AIN Members with the full report, analysis and background. The rest of this article continues for AIN Members with the full report, analysis and background. The rest of this article continues for AIN Members with the full report, analysis and background. The rest of this article continues for AIN Members with the full report, analysis and background. The rest of this article continues for AIN Members with the full report, analysis and background. The rest of this article continues for AIN Members with the full report, analysis and background.

The rest of this article continues for AIN Members with the full report, analysis and background. The rest of this article continues for AIN Members with the full report, analysis and background. The rest of this article continues for AIN Members with the full report, analysis and background. The rest of this article continues for AIN Members with the full report, analysis and background.

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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