No, I don't agree, and you don't understand the terminology involved.

Disqualifying condition means just what is says. If you have a disqualifying condition, you cannot hold a medical certificate or exercise the privileges of a medical certificate. When you say a disqualifying condition requires a visit to the AME before returning to duty, that's not correct. You do need to work with an AME if you ever hope to return to duty, but a disqualifying condition means your'e disqualified from holding a FAA medical certificate, or exercising the privileges of one, if you already have a certificate.

If you hold a medical certificate and experience a condition that makes you unfit to fly, or lies outside the bounds of the medical certification, you're unable to exercise the privileges of that medical certificate. There are a number of conditions which require evidence of recovery before you can return to duty.

As an example, a few years ago I experienced kidney stones. I would have though that passing a kidney stone would enable one to go right back to work. Not so. One needs x-rays to demonstrate freedom from kidney stones. One needs medical statements establishing that one is not only free of kidney stones, but that they are not anticipated to reutrn. One needs test results and any additional documentation. In my case, that took several months before I could return to duty. I was scheduled for an international trip in the morning to Abuja, Nigeria. When I got hit with some of the worst pain I've ever had the night before, I ended up in the hospital, and called the Chief Pilot in the morning. I was surprised when he told me to call him when I was approved for return to duty.

What you think is a minor issue may not necessarily be so.


The FAQ does NOT authorize you to return to service, and uses a few examples of possibilities under which you could return to service. The abscessed tooth sounds simple enough; don't take the example used in the FAQ to mean that any time you have an abscessed tooth, you're free to return to duty. Perhaps the pain goes away, you took some antibiotics, and you think you're done. I had a problem like that, and learned after the fact that the dentist who had performed my root canal did three things wrong; he allowed it to get infected, he drilled through the side of my tooth into the adjacent root, and he left an air inclusion that vented into the nerve canal in my jaw at 18,000 as I was preparing to exit an aircraft on a freefall descent, and caused exceptional pain. It's an example of a complication from what should have been a simple dental visit.

Each case is different. You can see an example of FAA AME guidance in the case of certain back surgeries here:

Guide for Aviation Medical Examiners

This is only a small part of the guidance and information necessary; after any kind of surgery, you should seek specific guidance regarding whether you can simply return to service, or whether additional testing or documentation is required. You'll note that the FAA indicates that the primary source of guidance is an AME, but also points you to organizations that include AOPA and the EAA. If you have invested in the very minimal cost of the AOPA Pilot Protection Service, you can get consultation on legal and medical issues with qualified individuals and referrals.

Bear in mind that asking your doctor if you can fly doesn't mean you can fly. If you consult with your physician or surgeon about your back surgery, unless he is a qualified AME, he can't necessarily give you direction regarding your aeromedical certification or privilege. The doctor who handled my kidney stone treatment felt that I should have no problem returning to fly, but it was under the guidance of my own AME, and the union referral AME, that I found considerable additional testing and documentation was required before I could return to service. My chief pilot understood this because I wasn't the first one to go down that road under his watch.

Don't make assumptions regarding what requires additional documentation or testing before returning to service.

Dr. Chien, as already discussed, is an excellent authority to whom you can turn for guidance.

I think you're leaning on item 10 of the FAQ at the FAA CAMI Aeromedical website regarding medical deficiencies:

Pilot Medical Certification Questions and Answers

Item 6 lists disqualifying conditions, and you should note that those conditions mean one cannot hold a medical or exercise privileges. Only after the applicant demonstrates that the problem is controlled can one seek a medical certificate, and that is usually either very difficult, lengthy, and expensive, or impossible. Also note that the list provided on the FAA FAQ is NOT comprehensive or complete.

Pilot Medical Certification Questions and Answers

 

Your inability to contribute is truly underwhelming, to say nothing of quite unimpressive.

 

A second time you have managed to entirely fail to contribute to the thread. Are you unwilling, or unable?