Add
 

I know there are several deschuions on the board about ADD and every time a pilot reports it they get dinied and if they did not report it everyone thinks it is the end of the world. My sister has ADD and has been intrested in flying I have told her to hold off for now untill I research it a little more. I have looked at the exam requirements and it does not list ADD as disqulifing as a matter of fact it does not look like it has to be reported. I am just wounding if anybody know's if a total ban on it is the faa is looking at it or if it is just while you are on the meds. My father is a lawyer and he's looked at the regs and does not belive a diagonsis is a disqulifing factor alone. Just looking for more oppions. Sorry for the spelling no spell check.

One thing about the FAA regs...they are Administrative Law, not criminal or civil law. This is important for several reasons:

1) Flying is a privilege, not a right. The system will usually err on the side of the government to ensure safety.

2) The exact wording of the regs is not very important, but the FAA's interpretation is critical. If there is grey area, the admin law system will usually find in favor of the FAA. There are many apparent grey areas which have been clarified in legal opinions and case history over the years...but you would not know that by just reading the FAR's.

3) The good news is that you cannot suffer criminal penalties under the FAR's. In those cases where an FAR offense is also a federal criminal offense, normal criminal law procedures apply. A good example is that lying on a FAA medical is a federal criminal offense as well as a an FAR violation. The FAA can easily revoke your certificates for doing that, but in order to send you to jail the FBI would have to investigate and you would have to be convicted in federal court.

So...you father's reading of the regs will be useless unless he understands all of the underlying FAA policies, legal opinions, and case history.

In the case of ADD, the regs covering medical certification are VERY broad and general. The FAA publishes a manual for it's own use which goes into great detail on specific medical conditions. I can think of three broad areas in the regs which the FAA could apply...neurological, psychological, and "other conditions".

ADD is usually disqualifying, especially if you taking meds (ANY pysch med is disqualifying). You can eventually get a medical if you are off meds, your condition is improved enough, and a certain amount of time has passed (several years I think).

As far as the medical form...ANY significant medical condition MUST be reported, do not kid yourself on this. Lying on that form is a federal criminal offense, and they do send pilots to jail for that.

The best process for your sister would be to get off ADD meds, then go see an AME (FAA medical examiner) to find out what she has to do as far as waiting periods and a special evaluation (she will have to pay for this).

You could also contact an aviation medical consultant, for a fee they will walk you through what you need to do in cases like this. These guys are popular, and there others available also:

http://www.aviationmedicine.com/

Thanks for the reply rick. He did some back round research in to it just like you said and even though there is case in the past that ADD was denied if your not taking a med then there is no reason to deny. Most of the denyanals are based upon past practices witch in law is very important in factoring a case. I think that's the best option is for her to get off the meds and find out from there. I also agree never lie on a federal form. They have sent pilots to jail and my father has also looked in to those cases as well and every single pilot that has lied in some way or form has admitted his own guilt. Please don't ever do that(his recommendation.) My fathers firm has a aviation lawyer with en it and he is investing more for us. But I think that the best case right now is too hold off.