40 pilots indicted on fraud charges

By Reuters | July 19, 2005

SAN FRANCISCO -- Grand juries in California have indicted 40 pilots on fraud charges after they allegedly falsified medical records to hide disabilities such as schizophrenia and severe heart problems that would have grounded them, federal officials said yesterday.

The pilots said they were fit to fly but collected disability payments for conditions that would have disqualified them from operating an aircraft, according to the US attorney's office for the Northern District of California. Other pilots did not report criminal convictions, the statement said.

Authorities said they found pilots who continued to fly even though they had disabilities, including schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, drug and alcohol addiction, disabling back pain, and severe heart conditions.

The indictments follow an 18-month inquiry involving 40,000 licensed pilots in California by federal transportation officials, the Social Security Administration, and the US attorney's office.

The statement said a number of commercial and transport pilots were among those indicted. It did not provide details.

The pilots committed fraud when they did not report their conditions on their Federal Aviation Administration Medical Airman certificates, according to the statement.