An epileptic pilot could be flying you

Mumbai: Faced with an acute shortage of qualified pilots in the country, a low-cost airline based in north India has thrown caution to the winds and allowed two of its commanders to fly despite medical conditions that deem them unfit for the cockpit job.
The more blatant of the two cases is that of an Indian commander in his forties. He lost his Airline Transport Pilot’s Licence after failing an EEG (the test needed to verify if a person is prone to epileptic fits) but then claimed Rs 50 lakh as insurance money for loss of licence and then rejoined the airline with a fresh US licence.
“..What is shocking is that the airline, despite knowing that the pilot was prone to epileptic attacks, took him back,” an airline official said.
“We will look into the matter. How can he fly in India if he failed medicals here?” said director-general of civil aviation Kanu Gohain.
The other case involves a 60-plus US citizen who has only one kidney; that, too, is borrowed. Medical practitioners say he can be deemed fit to fly but needs to go through tests before flying.
Aviation industry insiders say the growing demand for experienced pilots will only prompt airlines to be more lenient in such cases.
The pilot who rejoined the airline armed with an American licence took advantage of one simple rule: aspiring pilots did not have to undergo an EEG test for clearing the medicals in the US.
01/11/07 Manju V/Times of India