Aviation medicine
Safety is the paramount principle of aviation. Aviation medicine is a major element of aviation safety. In a regulatory context it has to make sure that pilots have the physical capacity to fly and that the risk of a medical incapacitation is neglectable.
What constitutes medical fitness for flying is not as simple as mere absence of disease. Good health does not always mean fitness for flying, nor does bad health necessarily mean unfitness. Sometimes a healthy person may be less fit for flying than a chronically ill person, and in some circumstances even a quite severe disease in an airman may not preclude him from being assessed as fit for flying.From the point of view of the certificatory authority, an airman is fit for flying if he is mentally and physically capable of performing his flying duties at or above the level required for safe flying under all conditions and if it is safe to assume that he will remain so for the period of validity of his certificate At the aeromedical examination it is to be considered good practice for the doctor to assess whether the airman is likely to remain fit for the following period of validity of the medical certificate to be issued. If a medical examiner is in doubt about whether a pilot’s health condition will allow him to continue flying for that period, usually a serious underlying pathology is suspected or has already been diagnosed. In such a case the final decision should be left to the authority which may decide to continue the certification under certain provisos At the aeromedical examination it is to be considered good practice for the to assess whether the airman is likely to remain fit for the following period of validity of the medical certificate to be issued. He is physically and mentally capable of performing his duties on board in a safe manner. This includes having full use of his faculties. He is free of disease which may suddenly render him
References: – http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flug-_und_Raumfahrtmedizin – Flugreisemedizin from Helmut Landgraf, Dirk- Matthias Rose and Peter E. Aust – Flugmedizin Tropenmedizin Reisemedizin from Thieme – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aviation_medicine – Kompendium Reisemedizin und Flugreisemedizin from Jörg Siedenburg