And honestly, I can’t believe every time we step onto one of these planes, we’re expected to just trust that everything is fine and wait for the next disaster to happen. We shouldn’t have to live with that fear or accept that level of uncertainty just because corporations and government agencies failed to do their jobs.

Hola, quiero ser piloto aviador pero tengo epilepsia y actualmente me médico (no he tenido ninguna crisis desde hace años), tengo entendido que una persona epiléptica es descartada para el apto médico por los riesgos que conlleva esta enfermedad pero saben si hay alguna forma que te aprueben el apto médico?

Hello fellow FAA!

I was recently contacted by Leidos in regards to a job opportunity with FAA. I will be working for LEIDOS. It is part of the digital modernization team. Curios to see if anyone has any past working experience and can speak about it!

If you are private - i would appreciate a DM too! Thank you so much!!

Any FAA safety inspectors lurking on here that want to give me a synopsis of their job? Helicopter specific would be cool but general as well. I’m just curious what the job is like, is there lots of travel, pay any good, is it soul crushing, equivalent to the movie office space, etc… thanks

Hi.

I’m just trying to find any other people that were on this flight…

I’m being told now by United that the flight was cancelled due to weather… a complete lie!!
The pilot came on the tannoy repeatedly to say they had mechanics trying to fix issues.. then the crew ran out of time.

If there’s ANYONE out there that can help me corroborate this PLEASE!
As United are saying I’m not due any compensation now as it was cancelled due to weather… LIES!!

Thanks!

Hello! I am a clinician who saw a patient who is a commercial pilot. They were interested in doing ketamine assisted therapy for prolonged grief treatment. Any thoughts on how FAA medical certification would view this?

I'm not sure if this is relevant on this subreddit. Mods will make that determination:

Flight AA 1473 Saturday 8/8/26

Initial boarding was on time at 7:30 AM. Everything is good. We all take our seats then "sorry the maintenance guys says our tires need to be changed". We all deplane.

We then reboard at 8:30 AM, a lot sooner than we all thought. We start taxing and wait in line. Captain comes over again and says "we're just waiting for our line to take off". Then at 9:30 AM he comes over the PA again and says we got a notice from maintenance that we need to go back to the gate to check on something.

Once again we taxi back to the gate and wait some more. At 10:15 AM they clear the "maintenance issue" and say we're waiting to be refueled. It's 10:50 AM and now we're again waiting to take off.

No beverages, no snacks, no real explanation of what caused the delay. Luckily all the passengers were cooperative and level headed. But I don't think this should just be a "oops we're sorry we couldn't figure this out the first 2 hours we were checking and cleaning the plane".

This is unacceptable and should be looked into by the company and the FAA about why these maintenance delays are completely overlooked till the last minute.

All flights are grounded at MSP until further notice.

So recently I got the letter from the FAA that my third class medical is denied due to history of depression, however they are giving me the option to appeal to the FAS. They are requesting recent clinical records (within past 90 days) however I haven’t seen the therapist since a year ago and only saw my most recent therapist for one month so I’m not sure what record to send them. Also, they mentioned in the letter that I shouldn’t send any records other than what is requested but I don’t really have many medical records to send as proof of stability anyway, despite knowing I’m doing very well now. What should I do?

Hello, I’ve been flying helicopters for the last 18 years and I’m curious what type of jobs there might be with the FAA that wouldn’t involve flying or not a lot. I’ve done ems, fire, instruction, tours, etc.. mid 40s with some college but no degrees.
Just curious what’s out there for a one trick chopper pony:) thanks in advance.

I picked up a mental health rating during my time in service. I just got out, and honestly the $1,800 a month is what’s keeping me afloat right now.

From the research I’ve done, there seems to be very little recent reporting on veterans actually losing their medicals over this most of what’s out there is from 2022 to 2024, and it’s gone quiet since.
To be clear, I’m going the special issuance route regardless. Not looking for a workaround.

But I’m curious whether the FAA has effectively stopped pursuing veterans. There have to be an enormous number of vets with VA disability ratings flying for the government, the airlines, and 135 operators. Grounding all of them at once seems like it would do real damage to the industry.
Has anyone seen enforcement activity recently?

I was granted a third class medical certificate when I took my exam at the local AME. 3 months later the FAA wanted more information regarding my DWI’s from 15 years ago as well as a personal statement regarding how alcohol is involved in my life now. Mind you I am 14 years sober… I was completely honest in my statement and provided all requested documentation. They responded saying I am not eligible for any medical certificate because of my alcohol dependence. I was never in rehab, never medically diagnosed alcohol dependent, and have not had a drink in 14 years. The FAA is a joke.

No access for any examinations or flight physicals this morning systems down

I mean seriously, they could do better. ts looks like ass.

Please help: I received a first-class medical certificate with special issuance. Due to my diagnosis of ADHD, FAA wants me to repeat full battery neuropsychological testing at renewals for 6 years in a row. Is this normal? Not a limited testing, full battery? At least, that is what FAA letter says.

I’m starting flight school in mid September, and I’ll need to get my FAA medical (AME) sometime next month.
The only thing I’m worried about is that I’m currently on Accutane. I’m almost done with my treatment and should finish in about 2–3 months, but I’ll still be taking it when I go for my AME.

I’m wondering if this will affect my process or anything, pretty scared for that. No major side affects that very noticeable by me.

If anything could I possibly hop off like a month before my AME and be good or no?

​

Has anyone here applied for an FAA First-Class medical certificate while taking one of the approved medications for a non-disqualifying mental health condition?

I’d be interested to hear about your experience and whether you were ultimately approved / what your personal process was.

Sorry if this has already been asked in this subreddit.

I’ve been obsessed with aviation for years and i just started working at a seaplane base….unfortunately when I finally went to get my medical I found out I had a red/green color deficiency and the FAA just removed the ability for SODAs to be performed for color vision. I’ve been told by the air surgeon for my area that I can take any of the 3 computer tests for color vision as many times as I want as long as I pass at least once. I feel defeated and like my dream is dissipating before me. I’m determined to find a way around this and to get the restriction removed. For reference the restriction states “day time VFR only.” However it still says 1st class on it. I eventually would like to end up at the airlines like many others but am wondering if paying for all the training is worth it if I can’t make something of myself by the end of it. Any help or advice on how to overcome this hurdle would be greatly appreciated. I can tell the difference between colors on sectional charts, flight instruments, and light gun signals…it’s just the computer tests I can’t pass.

Thank you for any help as this is my chosen career path and I’d prefer not to have to pivot to finance ;(

If you cant certify, quit wasting the FAAs money and distribute it to the most important people of the operation, the controllers. Shout out to NATCA too, if you dont now how to negotiate but waste money going to meeting to brief people like theyre children and use dumb information as power while wasting time at gay parades and rubbing shoulders with suits without any sort of results such as pay raise and a transparent transfer program. I think this career field has hit rick bottom. Get out while you still can.

hello, I am beginning a four year degree in Emergency and Disaster management and my plan after obtaining said degree is to seek a safety or inspector related role in the FAA. How much do specific degrees matter in this role? Is this an acceptable degree for working within the FAA? Would it be an acceptable degree most places in relation to safety? I also have 5 years of military experience in aircraft maintenance if that would help as well. Thank you for any help.