Comparison of Pilot Medical History and Medications Found In Postmortem Specimens

Canfield DV, Salazar, GJ, Lewis, RJ, Whinnery, JE

FAA Office of Aerospace Medicine - Civil Aerospace Medical Institute

关键词: Forensic Science;    Toxicology;    Medical;    Postmortem;   

RP-ID  :  DOT/FAA/AM-06/12

美国|英语

来源: Federal Aviation Administration

【 摘 要 】

IntroductionPilots are required by Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) regulations to report all medications and medical conditions to the FAA Office of Aerospace Medicine for review and consideration as to the overall suitability of the pilot for flight activities.MethodsFollowing a fatal aviation accident, specimens from deceased pilots are collected by local pathologists and sent to the Bioaeronautical Sciences Research Laboratory for toxicological analysis. The results of such tests are entered into the Bioaeronautical Sciences Research Laboratory, Forensic Case Management System (© 1998, DiscoverSoft Development, LLC, Oklahoma City, OK).This database was searched to identify all pilots found positive for medications used to treat cardiovascular, psychological, or neurological conditions over the period January 1, 1993, through December 31, 2003. These medical conditions were selected because of their potential to rapidly incapacitate a pilot in-flight. It is important to note that some of the medications found may have been administered by health care workers as a part of emergency medical treatment after the accident.ResultsOur laboratory conducted toxicological evaluations on 4,143 pilots during the study period. Psychotropic drugs were found in 223 pilots (5%). Cardiovascular medications were found in 149 pilots (4%). Neurological medications were found in 15 cases (0.4%). Pilots reported psychological conditions in 14 of the 223 pilots found positive for psychotropic drugs. Only 1 of the 14 pilots reporting a psychological condition on their medical application reported the psychotropic medication found after the accident.Cardiovascular disease was reported by 69 of the pilots found to have cardiovascular drugs in their system. The cardiovascular medications found in the pilots were reported by 29 of the 69 pilots reporting a cardiovascular condition. Additionally, two pilots reported taking cardiovascular medications, but no cardiovascular medications were found in the postmortem specimens tested. Only 1 of the 15 pilots reported having a neurological condition on their medical application; none of the pilots found with neurological medications had reported the medication on their medical application. The medical history of the pilots did not always specify the type of drugs being taken.ConclusionsBased on the drugs screened for by the laboratory, we successfully identified 93% of the medications reported by the pilots. One must consider the possibility that the remaining 7% of the pilots stopped taking the medication prior to the accident. Pilots involved in fatal accidents taking psychotropic or neurological medications rarely reported the medication.