Pietro Marsala knows exactly what to do with his new first-class medical certificate. “I’m still trying to wrap my head around what to do with it,” laughs Riely. Instead, she wonders if a corporate flying job would be a better for a mother of three. Now 49 years old, Riely no longer has her sights set on a commercial airline. “The ADA’s expert endocrinologists have advised the FAA for years that it is possible to identify pilots who can maintain blood glucose within a safe range in flight, and it is wonderful to see the agency finally come to the same conclusion.” “After ten years of advocating for insulin-treated pilots, it is an absolute joy to see the first pilots receive their medical certificates,” said Sarah Fech-Baughman of the association. The American Diabetes Association, which pushed for the change in FAA policy, applauded the decision. For the first time in 24 years, Riely could become a commercial pilot again. On Monday, Riely became one of the first group of pilots with insulin-treated diabetes to receive a first-class medical certificate. Shorter people are at a greater risk of Type 2 diabetes, study says With nothing to lose, Riely sent her application and waited. In November, the FAA announced that it would begin allowing pilots with diabetes to apply for the first- and second-class medical certificate required to fly commercially. “When you get something like this ripped away from you and then over the years people tell you that there’s going to be a cure for diabetes and then it never happens, I didn’t get my hopes up.” But that was about as far as she could go. With rumors of big changes ahead, Riely began flight instructing a few years ago. With advances in technology such as continuous glucose monitoring that allowed for more precise control of blood sugar, the FAA’s position began to shift. And that remained its position for years. The FAA decided that pilots with diabetes who suffered from severe high or low blood sugar during a flight would endanger the passengers and the aircraft. But the first- and second-class medical certificate required for commercial flying were strictly off-limits. The FAA allowed pilots with diabetes to obtain third-class medical certificates, enabling them to fly privately and flight instruct. 1 in 5 US adolescents is now prediabetic, study saysįor the next 22 years, Riely stepped away from aviation, even as her husband rose to become a captain at Delta Air Lines.įlying for fun was too expensive, and she stopped believing long ago that the Federal Aviation Administration would ever change the regulations that barred pilots with insulin-treated diabetes from commercial cockpits, even as countries like Canada and the United Kingdom began allowing it.
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