Letters of Investigation for VA benefits
 

I two friends who received Letters of Investigation from the FAA this week due to them receiving VA disability. Both have been pulled from flying and are having to submit personal and VA medical records. AOPA published an article on this last November or so and said the FAA is working this “special project” in conjunction with the VA. AOPA indicated some pilots are getting “Letters of Correction” which allows the person to “correct” their medical application and then provide relevant records and some, like my friends, are receiving letters of investigation that suspend/revoke their medical and certificates until they prove they are capable of meeting FAA medical standards. I think the difference is whether the receipt of disability was reported on the medical application as to how it’s being handled.

Yep. They have been known to hammer people for failure to report even if the VA disability itself is not remotely disqualifying. They don’t like being deceived.

https://i.ibb.co/HGBy8V5/IMG-6197.jpg

Here we go again :rolleyes:

If you still have buds on AD, reach back to them and make sure they understand that FAA medical reporting is not like mil medical reporting. What the FAA doesn't know may not hurt them, but it will land YOUR arse in prison.

Another today
 

Another at my workplace received a letter of investigation from FAA today. He isn’t even at the stage of receiving claim approval/VA disability yet but did file a couple months ago. His letter of investigation has asked for all VA and primary care records for specific conditions, all information sought is exactly for conditions he filed with VA. Since he just filed this past year, I’m unsure how FAA is aware, especially since he’s not had to check the block yet on FAA medical if he is receiving VA benefits, unless VA is actively sharing info with FAA? Hopefully won’t be too big of a deal for him, or others, I guess will depend on conditions claimed and whether or not they are disqualifying, such as PTSD.

always wondered when this would happen. Met a pilot who proudly told me his "hearing loss" from mortars allowed him to collect disability. Even has a handicapped license plate. I asked him "how does the FAA process that".

"oh, the FAA is a separate animal. They don't need to know"

uhhh

https://www.faa.gov/ame_guide/app_pr...story/item18/y

Yikes, what a nightmare for a lot of former enlisted and officers now flying for a living.

DoD/VA….we understand we ****ed you up with what we asked you to do. We can’t make it right, but we can provide some fanatical compensation as a sign or thanks.

FAA…wow, you really sacrificed servicing our country. Thank you for your service and sorry you have scar tissue. Unfortunately, you’re too ****ed up so we have to pass on your medical. Thanks, though, you’re a hero and I have a yellow ribbon magnet in my car in your home.

the FAA is a bunch of Btt Fckrs

Actually they are quite lenient towards the vast majority of VA "disability" ratings. What they don't like is when you lie to them.

I know PTSD, TBI, and Sleep Apnea are all the rage with the VA but things like that will have serious certification consequences with the FAA, and they should.

That's interesting. The last roundup a few years ago was probably done by searching VA financial records... your health care info may be legally protected from extra-judicial fishing expeditions but your financial data is not. They matched VA disability $ recipients with pilots who didn't check that box on their FAA form. Once they have probable cause they can go to town on your medical records.

Not sure how they flagged a guy who wasn't getting paid yet. Unless there's been some legal change to allow that. I've been saying for years it's coming... got to choose between some of your VA beer money or your airline gig.

Hardly.

If you're happy to collect benefits for a disability, then you do owe the FAA an explanation and documentation as to how you can have that disability and yet still qualify for an FAA medical.

It has nothing to do with gratitude or service. One is not entitled to a medical certificate; like a pilot certificate, it is a privilege. Not a right. It is based on meeting minimum standards. Either you meet them, or you do not. You don't get to substitute paid government service for medical qualification. You must be medically qualified.

If you accept money for disability, you may be medically qualified, or you may not. The fact that you're taking money for a disability does merit explanation of that disability on the FAA medical, and in fact, you have a legal obligation to provide it. End of story.

If you do have a disability that precludes holding a medical certificate (or obtaining a waiver to do so), then prior paid military service does not change the fact. Again, either you're qualified to hold the medical certificate, or you're not. If you're collecting paid benefits and claiming a disability, and you can meet FAA medical standards, then no problem. Disclose your condition, provide the documentation, and move forward. If you are not able to meet FAA medical standards, denial of a medical certificate has nothing whatsoever to do with gratitude. You're not above the regulation. You're not exempt from it. You're not any different than anyone else that applies for that medical certificate. You meet the standard, or you do not. If you do not, you can seek a waiver. If you cannot obtain a waiver and cannot meet the medical standards then you cannot hold a medical certificate.

Don't try to pretend it's anything different.

Having covered that; for those receiving a letter of investigation, it's important to understand that this is a legal document and should be treated accordingly. The purpose of a LOI is not to seek information in order to aid or assist an airman. Any response provided serves one purpose: to serve against the airman. One should not respond to an LOI, regardless of whether it involves a regulatory infraction in operations, or a medical certificate question, without consulting an attorney. That bears repeating: consult an attorney. Do that. Before you respond in any way. Additionally, seek the support of a medical service which provides counseling and support for airmen, in matters dealing with the FAA.This cannot be stressed enough, particularly given that every action taken becomes a part of your permanent, lifetime record.

Do NOT provide a response to an inquiry or letter of investigation until you have contacted an attorney.

If you are not familiar with administrative law and your "rights" with the FAA, you need to understand that you are NOT innocent until proven guilty, anything you say can and absolutely will be held against you, and much of the time, what serves as primary evidence is what the airman has provided to the FAA. This is true of responding to a request about action or a simple enquiry (the moment you respond "I wasn't flying that low," what you've really done is made a legal statement that you were the pilot of the flight...something that the FAA might have been unable to establish until you kindly provided that legal statement to use against you).

Respond under the guidance of legal counsel. Don't respond without it.

In my opinion this is almost as much about a financial investigation as it is a medical one. The US government does not like being defrauded so if someone’s getting money for a disability it’s low hanging fruit to see if it is a legit claim. The FAA medical form makes this an incredibly easy task for them.

Perhaps, except for two things: this is the exact opposite of what you're describing, and the government isn't looking for military disability fraud. When the military determines disability, it's not a case of a soldier claiming a disability and that simply being granted: the military looks at each case and assigns a percentage of disability. While it's beyond question that many military disabilities are quite valid, it's also very well known that many are not; I know a number personally who have received disability ratings based on a military assessment, who are anything but disabled. This isn't a case of fraud: the military has made the determination.

The question arises thereafter regarding a disability determined by the military, and its impact on FAA medical qualification. It's very possible for a legitimate disability claim in the military to have no impact on an FAA medical certificate. One can meet military disability standards and be determined worthy of collecting benefits, while at the same time one is perfectly capable of passing a flight physical.

The question here is one of disclosure. If an airman has hearing loss, for example, which is the single most common disability that the Department of Defense processes, then the question is whether the airman can meet the standards under 14 CFR Part 67, to hold a medical certificate. The military disability rating does not invalidate the medical or prevent its issue: these are two different organizations and two different standards. One can hold a military disability and yet qualify for a FAA medical certificate. FAA regulation requires disclosure of the disability and any documentation that goes with it, and the FAA medical standards are what determines the airman's ability to hold FAA medical certification.

On its face, anyone claiming a disbility, and at the same time claiming perfect health raises a question: reconciliation is warranted, either for financial/fraud reasons, or for (in this case) ensuring that one meets the FAA medical standard.

The key here is that this isn't a matter of searching the FAA airman database to find soldiers who might be committing fraud: that would be irrelevant, because the military has already made the disability determination. Rather, it's the opposite: the FAA requires disclosure of numerous conditions, including claims or assignments of disability. Upon that information having been declared, its a matter of determining how it impacts the FAA medical standard, and if it dos not, or if it does and a waiver can be issued, then the FAA medical process can proceed and the medical certificate issued, regardless of the military rating of disability.

The Civil Aerospace Medical Institute (CAMI--FAA's medical hq) is well aware of the difference between military disability ratings and FAA aeromedical standards, and quite aware that one can hold both a valid FAA medical, while holding a military disability rating. The regulation requires reconciliation and verification: disclose it and document it, including any additional testing that might be required to verify compliance with Part 67 standards. Same as anyone else applying for a medical.

When the matter becomes part of an investigation (we see you have a military disability that you didn't disclose...), then it becomes a matter that does need to be handled with counsel, because it's the start of the enforcement process. This process is the FAA looking at regulatory violation, and the violation isn't fraud, but failure to report, as required when applying for a medical certificate. In most cases, this can be handled easily, but one should tread lightly until one has consulted professional assistance.

Services such as AMAS can help, but any letter of investigation should be reviewed by legal counsel before responding. Put another way, you've been handed a weapon which is not safe: don't just pull the trigger. There's a safe way to handle it, and there's a careless way to handle it. Get help.

Excellent points JohnBurke. Thanks for the explanation.

So based on the article from WAPO...the FAA is conducting writ large secret investigations into pilot who receive VA benefits...*only* pilots who receive VA benefits. Secret investigations conducted by investigators who were previously employed, and presumably have their retirement pensions controlled by, the former agency, department and section they retired from.

What a great investigative strategy...would work well in Moscow or Berlin 1940. Anyone who thinks the med guys at the FAA aren't simply out to get people need to read no further than "secret." That is not the way a democratic government entity should do business outside of a clear criminal nexus. Not listing that you have hemorrhoids or ED on an FAA medical, does not constitute a criminal nexus yet that act could get you caught up in the same net.

Tax $$$ at work people. DoD breaks you, VA buys you, then FAA takes you back for a refund.

So, no. So, you have no idea what you're talking about. So, you have a real problem with reading comprehension. So, you're making a lot of **** up. The only question is why?

I was going to break down your post and respond line by line, but your comments are so god damn idiotic, conspiracy-minded, and incredibly stupid, that it would be a waste of time. Seriously.

Quite literally, not one damn thing that you just posted is true. Are you really that dense, and that far off the deep end, or are you simply trying to stir the pot with this nonsense?

yasss filler….

Im not sure what there is for you to refute, except some opinion I’ve applied that you probably disagree with, but the facts are the facts. Here is the article JohnnyB…read it for yourself:https://www.washingtonpost.com/polit...s-va-benefits/

Except your basic tenet. The fact is that the VA EXISTS to give money to or spend money on veterans. That’s not just their mission, that’s how they justify their budget. Back in the 70s and 80s, with their core clientele of WWII vets starting to age out of the system, they actively campaigned to be able to transition from an emphasis on physical disability to an emphasis on cardiac/vascular and psych (PTSD) stuff to keep their budget growing. They don’t CARE about the money, because a bigger budget line and more manpower authorizations is what lets you advance quicker - at all levels - in the civil service world. Nor does the FAA give a damn about most of what the VA compensates people for. Noise induced hearing loss is seldom bad enough to interfere with flying duties, H€|| wear an ANR headset and those folks will hear better in the cockpit than anywhere else. Same for orthopedic and lower back and most other wear and tear issues. Serious psych problems the FAA wants to know about though. And LYING on anything puts the accuracy of ALL of the pilot’s history in doubt.

But it ain’t about money. The VA will grab every dollar Congress will give them and spend every cent of it before midnight on the day the fiscal year ends, fearing that any left over surplus will mean they get less in the next appropriation cycle.

If you're a retired federal civil servant, your former agency in no way "controls" your pension. That's almost a constitutional entitlement, and civil servants can and do continue to get their pension while in prison for major felonies.

I would have preferred that the FAA embarked on an education campaign first, both to pilot medical holders and the VA, before they got all draconian. There's obviously a systemic problem going on here.

However... most of the pilots in question were officers and should know better. Fundamentally if you're claiming big $ and lying to the FAA, it's criminal. Even says so where you sign the form.

Especially since there have already been two rounds of disability witch hunt, and the most recent was for vets. While it was apparently smaller in scope, that should have been a big warning flare for all to see. My sympathy is limited. I can see how folks went down the slippery slope, it is both steep and slippery enough, but still.

I tend to suspect that they'll save the full DOJ treatment for those with blatant grounding conditions. Those flying with unreported hemorrhoids might get a warning. Or maybe even suspension. For the serious cases, I'm sure emergency revocation of all certs will be coming soon via certified mail..

Yes. I can assure you that they are going to go after folks for lying on the FAA form.

Since the VA (federal gov) examined people and granted ratings, it's very easy to hold up those medical conditions and disability payments as findings of fact... from there, the infraction is failure to disclose those facts to the FAA when required to do so.

If you try to discount VA ratings, then you're calling into question the ability of the entire VA system to adjudicate claims... defense would turn that against you in a flash, big Can 'O Worms.

You’re wrong on this big John. Here is the quote:

”The agency hired former staffers from its Office of Aerospace Medicine to help review the cases as contractors, but told them the nature of their work was secret, according to people involved in the project.”

If the reporting is correct, then overall effort was kept secret. Not specifically targeted investigations based on credible information.

You can type a million words in obfuscation which seems to be your MO so that you can win an argument by attrition, but secret means secret. That should not be the business of a government agency with no law enforcement authorities…certainly when they are targeting a specific minority group.

Also, still don’t understand the personal attacks. Do you work for the FAA and I have offended you?

OF COURSE REVIEWING THEIR MEDICAL RECORDS WILL BE KEPT SECRET. IT’S Required by law.

Hiring back previous medical and administrative personnel to help sort the wheat (actual threats to flying safety like an unreported seizure disorder - :eek: yikes) from the chaff (the guy didn’t report his 10% disability for flat feet….meh). Is a totally reasonable way to do this since they are already familiar with both HPPPA and the issues involved, not some Machiavellian plot. Who do you think they ought to let go through these peoples medical records and how transparent do you think it should be?

And I don’t think you have so much offended him personally as offended common sense with your paranoia and attempt to make this something it isn’t.

This was not a reporter’s adjective. It is in a quote that was sourced to multiple people from a reputable newspaper. Here is it is again for you John:

“The agency hired former staffers from its Office of Aerospace Medicine to help review the cases as contractors, but told them the nature of their work was secret, according to people involved in the project.”

I welcome your breakdown of my post. I try to be a fair guy, so if you have a differing opinion that doesn’t involve blanket insults, then make your argument. I’ll read it with an open mind.

ad·jec·tive /ˈajəktiv/ - a word or phrase naming an attribute, added to or grammatically related to a noun to modify or describe it.


quote /kwōt/ - repeat or copy out (a group of words from a text or speech), typically with an indication that one is not the original author or speaker.
"he quoted a passage from the Psalms"

Really? Travel vouchers are reviewable years after they are filed. Pay inquiries (at least for the DoD) can be initiated by a simple pay clerk. You really don’t think that a federal pension holding entity cant reach out and touch your wallet?

Not according to the law. The law specifically states their records may be used for “judicial and administrative purposes” or “to prevent a serious threat to health and safety.” You may not LIKE that, but it’s STILL the law.

If you mean that there is a statute of limitations on fraud, and you can be prosecuted if it’s discovered in that timeframe, then you are absolutely correct. Do you believe there should be no statute of limitations on fraud? That if you sneak it by the pay clerk initially you ought to be home free- even if your fraud is discovered a year later?

Some need to worry
 

One of the three people I personally know just received a permanent airman certificate revocation and is now expecting charges. The other two are still in the records submission process with the FAA. The pilot who received the revocation had a 100% disability rating and was being compensated for service connected sleep apnea, PTSD and depression that he did not report on FAA medical application for the past several years since receiving the rating. I think part of the decision was based on how many prior medical certificate applications were submitted without checking the disability benefits block. I’m guessing here but as I understand his description of logic was a recent award where one maybe “forgot” or didn’t think to check the block could be explained/negotiated but several years of not checking it while continuing to receive compensation indicated willful behaviors in not disclosing potentially disqualifying conditions. We’ll see what the future brings. I think after this initial run, the FAA may become even more aggressive if folks aren’t being up front. I also agree with previous statements that the FAA is pursing the fraudulent applications versus necessarily actually exercising airman privileges with potentially disqualifying conditions.!

why do you always assume nefarious intent? Ever make a topo? I make them all he time.

No doubt people who dishonestly fill out a VA or FAA document should suffer appropriate punishment when it comes to light. But because there is a ver small number of people who do that, shouldn’t give the FAA blanket authority to investigate a pilot group in secret and apparently outside the scope of due process. Your painting with too wide of a brush.


On a side note, why would you be “disgusted” with someone who doesn’t share your point of view and disagrees with you? You’ve never met me yet your default seems to be vitriolic outburst because I think you’re wrong. I hope your life gets better for you because you seem to be missing something in the empathy department.

I’m also still not clear on why you think I have lied to you.

That is egregious and should be harshly punished after an administrative process where the accused can have an opportunity to present a case. But it doesn’t sound like they have much of a case.

If that’s how the facts played out then yes target the individual.

This regards individuals who are judge on an individual level to have a trigger for the FAA in the files. It is not an authorization for the FAA to say they will secretly investigate everyone who applies for a 1st class and has VA disability. That’s just wrong, people are people. Measure the man (or woman) by the facts they present to you and if you think there are shenanigans, then act appropriately.

You personally know three people? Impressive. Thanks for sharing. At least it's easy to remember birthdays and all that, with just three.

The FAA can't get much more aggressive than revoking certification. The only thing the FAA can do beyond that is refer for criminal prosecution, which is generally reserved for events such as Valujet.

The FAA is pursuing airman for failure to declare the benefits, AND for the conditions which are discovered as a result. The vaunted article to which you keep referring (based on the one word that you apparently actually read) explains that the degree of enforcement will depend on multiple factors, not the least of which is the nature of the condition for which the concealed benefit was awarded. Another factor is the amount of time or number of applications that the airman failed to disclose.

I'm not painting anything, brightspark. I stick to facts. You've opined all manner of rightwing conspiracy, as you continue to do now, and as I've just quoted you doing. There's no conspiracy, nor painting, nor secret, here. It's enforcement action. Enforcement action is not done using criminal law. It's not civil law. It's administrative law. Due process?

You understand that under administrative law, you're considered guilty until proven innocent, do you not? When a letter of investigation is delivered to you, it is not an invitation to defend itself, despite an invitation to tell your side of the story. It's an attempt to gain evidence to use against you in the appeal process. When enforcement action is taken, your first opportunity to argue it is the appeal, because you've already been convicted. In fact, even the letter of investigation will be used against you, and will stay in your file, formerly for a minimum of two years. Due process? Do you actually hold an airman certificate and not know this?

The FAA does not undertake investigations by first making an announcement. The FAA receives information, investigates it, and then if a determination is made to proceed further, various subjects who are party to the investigation will be notified in an effort to elicit information from them. Much of the time, their response, the defense, they think they're providing, serves as their final undoing. It's the reason why one should never respond to a legal FAA request without counsel from an attorney who specializes in admin law dealing with the FAA.

The FAA garners information from all sorts of sources. I know an inspector that initiated enforcement action based on a talk a private pilot gave in church. The private pilot talked about flying a friend somewhere and alluded to receiving something in return, lunch, etc, and the inspector, who was present in the church service, went after the private pilot. The FAA often takes reports from bystanders, or observers; private pilots commonly get busted for taking compensation or hire because a 135 operator on the field turned them in. The FAA has crosschecked state disability databases for those failing to report medical conditions or disability, and many other sources, and none of this is earth shattering or news. Except, perhaps, to you.

If you don't like the FAA's enforcement action, you're really going to hate the TSA's Rap Back. You don't know about that, do you?

So, you're a map maker. Who knew?

That's not how the administrative process works. Guilty until proven innocent. You'll get to try to prove that during the appeal process, after enforcement action has been taken. That's what your FAA record will reflect, too.

This isn't simply punishment. Someone who has failed to disclose a medical condition, and thus flown or continues to fly with a disqualifying medical condition is a regulatory violation, and may be a safety hazard. One who flies while medically disqualified is a safety hazard (and given your ignorance of everything else regarding this subject, you probably don't know this, but if you operate at any time with a medically disqualifying condition, your medical certificate is not valid during that period, regardless of whether you've reported to the FAA or not, or whether the FAA has notified you, or whether it's temporary or not. It's actually spelled out on the back of your medical certificate. Thus, no one can say they weren't warned.

You know that's a nonsensical sentence, right? Is English not your first language?

Actually, 14 CFR 67.413, already quoted and cited for you with a link so you can read it yourself, states just that. You still didn't go read it, did you? https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-14/section-67.413

The FAA can examine your medical application, and anything related thereto. The FAA can continue to do so even after your medical certificate has been issued. You may or may not be notified of this investigation. This not not a matter of fairness; the FAA is charged with regulating aviation in the United States. The FAA is charged with aviation safety. If you have a disability claim with an insurance company, the VA, another agency, etc, you're subject to investigation, and if you didn't claim it, you're subject to enforcement action. You're ignorant of all this, and having caught a glimpse of one corner of the enforcement and investigative process, have decided to rise up on your conspiracy-minded right-wing soapbox, indignant over one adjective used by one reporter. You'll be shocked and mortified, should you one day choose to open your eyes and find out the scope and extent of the process.

People are people..what's that supposed to mean? This is enforcement. If you don't want to become the subject of enforcement, don't violate the regulation. Pilots are expected to NOT bumble through life, ignorant and unaware. Pilots are expected to NOT conceal via commission or omission, or lie or use subterfuge or deceit in their legal dealings with the FAA. You ARE aware that the FAA medical application is a legal form, correct? (You're aware that your logbook is a legal document, too?)

Take a look at the statement that appears in the lower left corner of the FAA Form 8500-8:
It's a serious matter. It really is. The FAA's extent of enforcement action typically ends at revocation of certificates, but it does go beyond. Typically pilots receive certificate action such as suspensions and revocations, while operators receive fines, but that isn't always true, and imprisonment is also possible. It's not a kid-game. It's a legal document without the protections or process of criminal or civil law, but can quickly progress into criminal law because there are also criminal penalties for concealing, covering up, making false or fraudulent statements, etc.

This isn't a measurement of "the man" or "the woman." This is a legal issue, and no, it's not merely presented by the facts presented by "the man" or "the woman." That's why there's an investigative process. If you lie to a police officer or agent, there are consequences; regardless of what you say or the subject, the fact that you've lied, carries penalties. The same is true if you lie on a federal form, and the FAA Form 8500-8 is a legal document and a federal form. Any deceit on that form is subject to enforcement action regardless of whether it's an outright lie, or simply bending the truth, or a slight misrepresentation, or a failure to include something on the form. The FAA does not have the manpower to examine and investigate everything. It's for that reason that there are designated examiners, aviation medical examiners, mechanics with inspection authorizations, and contractors used. When it comes to the medical application, the FAA does not simply act based on what's presented by "the man" on the medical application, nor necessarily take it at face value.

An aviation medical examiner may find that an airman has filled out his medexpress application, for example, and stated on line 18.m that he has no mental disorders or any sort, anxiety, depression, etc. The AME however, while typically not a psychologist or psychiatrist, is charged with making a determination not only based on what the applicant put on his form, but his smell, appearance, memory, speech, mood, cognition, etc. Most airman have no idea that they're being evaluated for those things as the doctor makes small talk, but it's also part of the exam. The doctor is not only concerned with what the airman claimed on the exam, but what the doctor observes at the time of the exam. https://www.faa.gov/ame_guide/app_pr...tech/item47/et

The FAA may, in turn, seek further clarification, and frequently does. This may take place after the medical certificate has been issued. The FAA does not simply take at face value what's presented on the form, and let it go at that. It's a legal statement, with a signature, and it carries weight. It comes with consequences attached. Hide something, take a risk getting caught, don't whine when you are caught. Every airman is subject to scrutiny. If this offends your sense of fair play, that's merely your ignorance of the process talking. That any of this may be news to you doesn't really make it news.

That’s nonsense. A disqualifying VA disability (ie., not just flat feet) that wasn’t reported IS CERTAINLY a trigger for the FAA in their files. And I repeat, their hired help medical looking for significant medical issues MUST retain “secrecy” of patient medical records until the person being investigated has had an opportunity to address any medical issues identified. I mean, what if the disability is the person is paranoid and delusional. You of all people ought to not want such a diagnosis stated openly without a chance to defend yourself…😉

J.T. McKenna penned an article in Rotor Media about the current topic. I believe he managed to get through the entire article without using the word "secret," so perhaps intrepid conspiracy theorist JBird can do so, too.

In 2021, he posted here that his friends were getting "0% placeholders for PTSD," and that he might also, as he retired from the Army. Did he fail to disclose, and is that the reason for his conspiracy rants?

The investigation drawing in Veteran benefits is the tip of the proverbial ice berg. The McKenna article refers to the San Fransisco Social Security Benefits investigation from several years ago, very well known at the time, involving some 40,000 pilots. That was a 18-month investigation. Not a secret, either. The article notes that the VA investigation has been going on for several years, and hasn't been very secret, given that enforcement action has been coming out of the process for some time now .

Not new, not news, not unusual, not secret. The only secrets here are those that the applicants are keeping from the FAA, in violation of federal regulation AND law, when they fail to disclose, on the airman medical application.

Read the article: https://rotormedia.com/va-disability...20certificates.

So everyone who thinks the medical branch are loose cannons with unchecked authority are conspiracists? Or do you just just not like Army guys? If one of us stole your lunch money then please allow me to apologize for the group.

So for a change, you raise a great point. Should 0% be reported as a disability? That highlights what a huge problem FAA medical secretly investigating VA disabilitists poses. And that, my loquacious friend, is why this is such a grey area that should be treated at the individual level and not with blanket investigations. Its a disability that affects one’s life exactly 0%, so is it really disabling to the point it could one’s flying? Worthy of report because the VA is doing you a solid and making it easier to get through the red tape if/if the issue becomes a problem in the future?

The CFR you cite is clear. The agency requests information (which they do in the form of a standard 8500) if you forget something, are dishonest or are legitimately ignorant (like is 0% a disability?) then the agency…by the law that YOU cited has the obligation to request more info FROM the AIRMAN! Not/not go to a third party organization such as the VA and get it secretly.***Whenever the Administrator finds that additional medical information or history is necessary to determine whether you meet the medical standards required to hold a medical certificate, you must:

(1) Furnish that information to the FAA; or

(2) Authorize any clinic, hospital, physician, or other person to release to the FAA all available information or records concerning that history.

(b) If you fail to provide the requested medical information or history or to authorize its release, the FAA may suspend, modify, or revoke your medical certificate or, in the case of an applicant, deny the application for a medical certificate.***



Still standing by to hear why you called me a liar.

dont forget, FAA also cross-checks NDR with the 8500. Many pilots have been criminally charged for not reporting DUIs, driving license suspensions, revocations, etc.

This is all just low-hanging fruit for the FAA.

I'd listen to JohnBurke. He knows what he is talking about.

I agree. Not reporting a disability (regardless of who diagnosis it) is grounds for a review of the facts and potentially a beat down from the FAA. All I am saying is that based in this reporting, which I think is credible and accurate, the FAA is using extraordinary methods *that do not apply evenly across the pilot population* in order to identity VA disability recipients for targeting without providing them the opportunity for preemptive clarification.

If they lied, then crush them. The egregious cases will be very clear. Years of PTSD/OSA benefits without a disclosure on the 8500…things in the vein will bubble up quickly and unambiguously. If they got confused regard a 0% TBI diagnosis, then discuss it with them, if they simply didn’t think hemorrhoids mattered in the eyes of the FAA, then educate them. If they made an honest mistake then tell them to get another class 1 within a certain timeframe and see how the dice roll.

The whole point is that the process should be the process regardless of previous employment history and VA disability recipients should be tested like all other medical applicants unless they prove they can’t be trusted via means inherent in the process.

You have due process. You can take it to an NTSB hearing.

One can certainly appeal it all the way to the full board.

Prior to that, it's appealed to an ALJ.

After the full board, it's appealed to the US Court of Appeals.

In the interim, and forever after, it's part of one's FAA record, and before one gets a change to appeal, one is the subject of an FAA Order; eg, enforcement action. Conviction first, then the opportunity to defend one's self.

Any defense up to that point is simply an evidence-gathering exercise to be used against the airman. If it doesn't go to enforcement action, the FAA places the letter of investigation in the airman's file, and that will do nearly as much damage as enforcement action. Even if the FAA generates a letter following the initial investigation to state that evidence has not been found to further the enforcement process, the FAA will state it in terms that establish guilt. We have been unable to find evidence that you violated x regulation, but doing x is a violation of that regulation and that letter will remain in the airman's file. It's damaging, without question, and the FAA knows this.

any form of appeal after the fact will be punitive by default.