I believe that the predictive capability of the medical process is practically zero. We all know of Olympic athletes in the prime of life who have died of sudden cardiac issues or strokes. I can also think of more than a couple of pilots who have lost their medical certification-yet led very active and full lives for many decades past that point, and who would have been totally capable of operating a pressurized airliner with no problem.

The system is a hold-over from the military, where pilots used to operate in a single pilot environment which introduced a great many environmental risks. Modern airliners share absolutely nothing with that environment.


I'm no Dr, but I just don't see the point of our system-at all. I would better understand and agree if it had better predictive capability, but it is pretty much useless, expensive nonsense which protects no one.