My little brother had been a captain for a major airline for decades. At his first FAA medical exam after getting his mandatory jab he was grounded for having a swollen and inflamed heart. He had no history of heart problems and was not suffering from symptoms that he was aware of.
He had a lot of tests and assumed from the results his career was over, but the airline which lost a lot of other pilots the same way eventually sent him to an out of state examiner. The out of state examiner returned him to the cockpit. Then he was told it was time for his mandatory booster. This time he actually had symptoms and was told in addition to have a swollen and inflamed heart, he also had a bulging aorta aka. the “widow maker”.
So he thought for sure that was it for his career. But the airline sent him out for a bunch more tests and eventually another out of state examiner returned him to the cockpit. After that they told him not to get another booster. Personally, I feel that he could drop over dead at any moment, and it is not appropriate for him to be pilot in command of a jet airliner. But he says with all the computer assistance that they have these days that the plane can easily be landed by just one pilot.
And so thought the pilot taking off from Chicago in November (Thanksgiving Holidays).
The plane was climbing out when the pilot DIED, the plane banked but the right hand seater was an instructor giving the pilot an observed flight- the co-pilot caught it, called the tower and reported he wanted to return to the airport.
It was a near miss but you'll never hear about it from the FAA.
Rumble VIDEO Start listening at time 4:45 for ATC/3556 Chicago
I'm with you on this one.
The backup procedures can work at altitude, when time is not as critical.
If a pilot has a medical emergency on final approach with a dozen planes lined up on a nearby taxiway awaiting departure, the results could be cataclysmic; the other pilot will not have enough time to react.