FAA to screen obese pilots for OSA
By HME News Staff
Updated Wed November 20, 2013
WASHINGTON - Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) officials say they will start screening obese pilots and air traffic controllers for obstructive sleep apnea, ABC News reports. Pilots and air traffic controllers with body mass indices (BMIs) of at least 40 or neck measurements of at least 17 inches will be screened. Eventually, pilots and air traffic controllers with BMIs of 30 or greater will be screened, according to the story. After investigating an incident in which an airplane overshot an airport, FAA officials found the captain was obese and suffering from sleep apnea, according to the story. FAA Flight Surgeon Fred Tilton told ABC News the condition “is almost universal in obese individuals.”
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