Produce a link to the form and then I'll believe you. I just talked to a guy at the FAA this morn who assured me that medical records in my file cannot and will not be released to any third party. I just signed a bunch of PRIA forms for a company last week and went over them VERY thoroughly, as they were sent to me via email prior to interviewing and what you describe is nowhere to be found.

 

Its not a part of PRIA. It is a seperate release for your medical file. Its is company dependent. There is no standard FAA form for this. It is release that gives them permission to access your records. If you sign such a release they can get all your medical information.

 

Any employer that asked for those medical files and then used them in a hiring decision would get likely get the lawsuit they deserve if they didn't hire you based on something in them. If you have an FAA First Class Medical, and that's what they require, then you've proved your ability to be "fit". The only things that an employer would care about in a medical file is probably failing drug testing, and that's disclosed separately by consent anyhow.

I don't even think airline management is that stupid to ask for your FAA medical records other than your current medical.

 

So what...... this type of talk is the real issue. 9.9 times out of 10, check ride busts are not indicative of the quality of the pilot. The problem that many with bust(s) run into is the blatant ignorance from HR departments and the media fueled by public opinion.

I have been called a great pilot by all of my CFIs (sunshine up my butt, maybe) but I also had commendation letters from the Chief pilot, a standards capt, and a few other guys indicating my skill (so maybe not sunshine). I've had others approach me in the halls at my old flight school saying they've heard good things about me as well. Guess what? I've busted a few rides. I hate it since I'm a perfectionist too. Who cares man! If the regional airlines want to block many great pilots from joining their company because of a stupid, unwarranted, stigma then forget em'..... much greener pastures are out there.

I have loads of 121 experience, extensive 757/767 knowledge (I bring this up only as an example of complex aircraft experience vs. a CFI with 0 busts and 1400 hours in a C172), and a clean record of air carrier checkrides (135).... if they want to hold a private pilot oral and a CommAMEL practical bust against me, let them! I don't want to work for you anyway if all you do is look at me as a number. In fact, I had the DPE telling me how sorry he was to have to bust me, on the last item of the CommAMEL ride, all the way back to the airport (I did make a minor mess up, I'll admit it but learned a great lesson from it also). All the HR person sees is that number, however, because that is how they're programmed. Just like the nursing programs that only benchmark GPA as a factor (and colleges wonder why cheating is so problematic these days). I'd rather have a nurse who tired, failed, and then re-learned the correct way to administer an IV in training over a nurse who passed all of their tests because they knew how to cheat and boost the Almighty GPA.

And don't give me that "we need a way to weed out pilots" malarkey; if this was the case, then we wouldn't have Eagle giving a $5000 sign-on bonus. There is a true shortage, whether people want to believe it or not, and keeping an entire group of pilots out because of a "number" is just going to feed it.

I get on my soapbox because bonehead comments like that lead to the stigma and ultimately to the desperate actions taken by some (e.g. this topic).

To be clear though, I'm not condoning the action of lying by the person involved. I'd rather get passed over, because of this unfair stigma, then always look over my shoulder and wonder if today is the day they find out.

 

The current over-sensitivity to checkride busts is due almost entirely to colgan. The pendulum is pretty hard over on that right now.

Airlines are not really using a few 91 busts as a pilot quality weeding tool. They have been around a while and know how checkrides work. They're considering how you will look in the media after an accident.

Presumably they'll get tired of this game after a while, especially if a pilot shortage materializes. But in the meantime "post-incident media present-ability" is another box you have to check...and the media, public, and congress don't know a 91 checkride from a 121 checkride from a llama.

 

I, respectively, have to disagree with some of what you said. The majors are the ones that really don't care about 91 busts but that just isn't the case at a 121 regional. In fact CommutAir's (could careless if I misspelled it) second question on their application is just that very question. Their HR lady (who is really great BTW) personally told me the "back room" had passed me over since I disclosed. She actually said she thinks it is very unfair as well.

About six months ago I was involved in a discussion with a recruiter from XJet about this very subject. They indicated this stigma will have to be relaxed going forward into the the post HR5900 era or they won't be able to fill the anticipated classes.

 

What about disclosing your driving record? For example, I've been told to always disclose everything, which is fine. But I had a few tickets when I was a teen, and a few in the last few recent years but I went to driving school on most of them and my record I believe is decent (looking at it on a sheet of paper, that is). So how much would you actually tell about that?

 

@757 I totally agree with you being in the same position myself. Like RickAir said this pretty much has to do with the Colgan accident unfortunately.

 

All of it that is less than ten years old.

 

You can run a DMV check on yourself to see what comes up. Most ask for last 10 years.