The NTSB sez:

I think there would be a pandora's box if they made this a requirement. Could you imgaine how many of the overnight box haulers who would suddenly not be medical cleared?

This is one of those occasional pie-in-the-sky NTSB ideas that will not pass muster in the real world.

You maybe right about this type of testing being used in the real world, but the JCAB does this testing if you tell the medical examiner that you snore, sleep often during the day, and if you feel fatigued during normal wake hours.
One of the Syd based guys at JAL told the Doc that he snored and the medical dept put him on the beach for about 6 weeks until he *passed* all of the requirements to come back. Several years ago a train crashed in Tokyo and the driver had a history of sleep apnea. Killed a bunch of people and the government took action.
When the Doctor asked if I snored, the answer was no. If he asked my wife he might have gotten a different answer. :)

Medical standards are much higher in europe and asia.

I don't expect to see that here...if you tighten up our standards to theirs, we would lose half of our pilot force overnight. That really would cripple the economy.

Hey guys, it seems kinda strange seeing this brought up on here. I have asked some questions on here and got a lot of responses and advice, so now its my turn to help anyone out that I can. In my previous posts I said I was leaving my medical career for a flying career, well in my medical career the last 5 years was spent in this field which is why I added an endorsement to my license for sleep disorders specialist. I am a Registered Respiratory Therapist with a Sleep Disorders Specialist endorsement. If your curious you can go to our licensing board www.nbrc.org and read up on the credentials. I know all about the testing procedure, how the sleep report is scored, CPAP/BiPAP or Bi-Level Ventilation and the machines used for treatment, and the surgical procedures that are used. You would have a diagnosis of either Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) or Central Sleep Apnea (CSA). If you have it it will most likely be OSA, hopefully it would be OSA because CSA is central or nervous system caused and the treatments are a lot more complex and a FAA 1st class medical would probably be over. Luckily there is not nearly as many cases of CSA as OSA tho. Well I just wanted to volunteer my assistance to anyone that I can help on here. Feel free to pm me with any questions and I will be glad to help if I can.

I'll try to explain briefly a couple of issues that you guys have already brought up. If you get tested, then you will most likely be diagnosed. Its sad to say that the legalities of US healthcare makes almost everyone qualify for the diagnosis because of the possible law suits from guys like pilots and semi-truck drivers. Actually, several truckers have been sued because they fell asleep at the wheel as well as their company so airlines may make it a requirement even if the FAA doesn't just to cover theirself. Sleep is a relatively new field so there are still many variables at this point even in the medical practice of it.

The other thing that has been brought up is just beating the system by saying that you don't snore because the doctor isn't going to bed at night with you to say otherwise, and saying no to the other questions that would lead them to want to test you for Sleep Apnea like answering no to "do you get tired during the day? or Do you fall asleep easily during normal awake hours?" The actual questions may be worded slightly differently but you get the point. The truth is you probably would not pass the test without getting the diagnosis (or at least most people would not), you probably can get away with denying it by answering the questions, unless you have severe Sleep Apnea, like the people whose eyes are always bloodshot looking or the white area looks yellowish like someone who is extremely tired. The problem with denying it will catch up with you later tho. Just to explain what happens with the body in someone who has Sleep Apnea so you have a very general understanding of the long term effects. Apnea is spells of not breathing, when your sleeping and not breathing for periods of time throughout the night, your blood oxygen level goes down and the heart rate and blood pressure increase to compensate for the lack of oxygen in the bloodstream. This will lead to future heart conditions because the heart is over worked during the night when it is supposed to be resting like the rest of your body. Sorry for the long post, just sharing what I can with people who have helped me.

By the way, I'm still waiting on the regionals to hire so hopefully I can be on your side of things someday ;)

Thanks for the info. I probably don't have to tell you that you should keep your medical qualifications current if you get into aviation...

Remember to answer the question without considering the fact that in the previous two days you were on duty for 28 hours, had min rest and a 2 hour wait for the hotel shuttle, and it was a 45 minute ride to the hotel as the shuttle stopped at every bloody two-bit wide spot in the road before getting to the hotel and it took 3 tries to get an unoccupied room. :cool:

Right on,
The FAA should be much more concerned with the current regs reguarding rest. The current structure is much more dangerous, IMHO, than the chance I may be tired from snoring at night. I grew up in the regionals and now doing international with major frieght. And I can tell you I have been way more fatigued from my schedule than from snoring. The feds and the ame better get with it or the like of BUF will continue. whinning over...

Because they want you to buy American...a Ford or a Chevy, not one of them swedish cars:D