US authorities are looking into the cases of several thousand civilian pilots suspected of hiding medical conditions that could make them unfit to fly.
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We are talking about former military who did not disclose to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) information about their disability benefits, as required by law. Most of these pilots have commercial licenses, but a few hundred are licensed to work for passenger airlines.
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According to an FAA spokesman, the regulator considered the cases of about 4.8 thousand pilots “who may have provided incorrect or false information.” About half of these cases have already been closed, with about 60 pilots who posed a threat to aviation security ordered to stop flying while their documents are checked.
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The Department of Veterans Affairs is also reviewing these pilots to assess the need to refer cases to the Department of Justice for possible fraud charges.
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Officials say many ex-military officials downplay health problems in their filings with the FAA to keep working, but exaggerate them when filing with the Veterans Affairs Department to get more benefits. Some pilots, in turn, did not tell the regulator about the benefits they received, as their doctors advised them to hide this information.
