My medical certificate is currently pending for the exact same thing: PTSD rated at 30%, full recovery.
I am recommending you wait until I can report back on what happened. They have currently asked for:
1. Discharge/Refrad Medical
2. Psychiatric Report from Psychiatrist
Its been 5 months and that's it so far.
Again, recommend you stand by until I get resolution on my case.
Okay, I am posting the answer to all of your questions (I think).
I have my response from the FAA:
Authorization for Special Issuance good for 6 Months! I was certainly anxiously awaiting the answer. No other limitations noted. Obviously I have a duty to report any changes in my medical status of this condition, or if I take any medicines. I will have to provide an update from the Psychiatrist/Psychologist prior to renewal.
So before you run off and apply for a Medical, remember these caveats to my situation:
This is for a 3rd Class Medical Only, so if you are seeking a 1st or 2nd Class, the situation may be different.
With that said, you have some room to stand on, since the FAA granted a 1st Class Medical to a PTSD case who actually developed Flying Phobia and had panic attacks in the air a few years ago. The FAA even wrote about it:
www.faa.gov/library/reports/medical/fasmb/.../200901_color.pdf
Look at Page 1 and it continues to Pages 4, 5 and 6 I think.
The symptoms in the article are far worse than anything I experienced in my case and were for a 1st Class Medical, but he was also a pilot with 12000 hours and I am not.
My symptoms were minor: insomnia, depression, guilt, irritability, hypervigilence. I had no panic attacks or severe anxiety symptoms, I definitely had no hallucinations, psychoses or anything where I didn't understand reality. Never woke up and thought I was deployed, etc.
Under different circumstances my circumstances could have been considered more of a depression, rather than PTSD. I took no psychiatric medications but did occasionally take Ambien to aid in sleeping for a while. I also have had remission with no symptoms at all for well over 1 year and have no real risk of remission.
Presumably, the FAA is not blind to the fact that the VA is now handing out PTSD ratings like its Christmas. It should also be noted, the US Military occasionally allows their pilots who have recovered from PTSD to continue flying.
I'm not a doctor, but have researched what little I can find on the FAA's past decisions on Mental Health issues and for the most part, with the exception of mental health, they will generally work with you to overcome any issue. If you had hallucinations, psychosis, bipolar or took potent Psychiatric medications, even once, you will be permanently denied, even if it was many years in the past. Minor and resolved is okay, Severe is not.
On a personal level:
1.
Don't screw everyone else over and try to game the system. If you have made a recovery, and have been symptom free for 12 months, and you get an authorization to fly, when the VA reevaluates your disability (which who knows how long that will actually take for them to do it), you better not try to say you are still having issues to keep your rating high. You need to take appropriate steps to prepare for Uncle Sam to cut off your disability payments. Fortunately for you, the VA is so backlogged on reevaluations that may be a very long time. But I'll tell you what, if you make statements to the VA AFTER you get a special issuance that you are still having mental health issues, you will probably lose both the FAA Medical / and the VA will probably start becoming more strict.
Worse than that, you will:
A. Screw Veterans who still do need benefits for ongoing, unresolved mental health issues from the VA who will be scrutinized more carefully.
B. You will screw Veteran Pilots (like me and others like me) who have overcome minor post-deployment issues.
And 2.
If you do something stupid or illegal, don't try to get out of it by saying you had PTSD or some other weak ass, ****ty excuse like that. If you do that, FAA will start denying veterans their medicals, even if they have recovered. If you are having a minor relapse, self-ground, overcome it, then get back to flying... without incident.
Bottom line, don't be a Buddy ****er.
So my Advice:
1. Get your medical decision out of the way before you spend a dime on training. Review your medical information, if your discharge Physical says you experienced significant psychiatric issues, then don't bother with an FAA Medical. If you told the VA you have severe psychiatric issues, to get a high rating, or the VA told you that you have significant problems, then don't bother with an FAA Medical because it will never happen. Go Light Sport Aircraft (assuming you comply with the Self-Certification Requirements).
2. Contact AOPA or the FAA (or look online) for the FAA Psychiatric Specification, it will say what they need. Don't bother with the Psychological Testing unless the FAA specifically asks for it, I did not require it, so I wasted my money on it and its several hours of tests. Your Psychiatrist may tell you to complete the testing, if he does, do it.
3. If you have decided to apply for the Medical, get a letter from a Psychiatrist prior to applying. It will save you some time. If the Psychiatrist agrees that you are good to go, and writes a letter saying so, then you can feel a lot better about your chances. Remember this, and insure your Psychiatrist does too, you need to be stable, resolved, no recurrences, and be able to provide a CLEAR explanation of the cause of your PTSD (Combat on such and such date, or whatever) and an obvious improvement with time and symptoms that have been gone for over a year. You also need to have an Excellent Prognosis. If the Psychiatrist doesn't agree that you are good to go, I would stop here and go LSA (assuming you can self-certify).
4. Reassess your decision, remember, you still haven't applied at this point. If you have doubts, or your psychiatrist says to give it some more time, then don't apply right now. Isn't it better to be able to apply in 5 years and say, "oh yeah, I had issues years ago"? A lot easier to say it with a long time behind you. Also, the FAA is slowly getting more in tune with the rest of the world on Mental Health. They aren't there yet, but the old-school, deny-everything flight surgeon doctors are going away - even if its slowly. I hope one day, the FAA will offer a 'path to certification' for every applicant and that there would be no such thing as a permanent denial. Again, we aren't there yet, but its still a real possibility in the future.
Plus, Light Sport Aircraft training can be used towards a private pilot. And maybe several years of LSA experience will help with your medical issuance. Or perhaps they will remove the LSA Catch-22. You never know.
5. Okay, if you have decided to proceed, bring your discharge/REFRAD Physical Exam, and letter from the Psychiatrist along with any treatment history to the AME. I recommend you apply for a 3rd Class medical. The FAA has a lot more leeway for Waivers on 3rd Class than on 2nd Class and 1st Class Medicals. Even if you wish to go Commercial in the future, apply for 3rd Class for your early training. You can always upgrade the medical later.
I would also suggest a personal letter to the FAA describing how you overcame your issues and how you will demonstrate that you will be a safe pilot.
No matter what documentation you bring and no matter how minor your symptoms are, 100:1 odds that once the AME reads "PTSD", they will deny or defer you. Mine called the Regional Flight Surgeon, who told him to defer it. The current 2011 AME Guidebook doesn't actually address PTSD, nor does it cover Anxiety disorders (which PTSD is considered). Not sure why, given the number of Veterans affected in some way shape or form by it, but there is ZERO official guidance to AMEs on the subject.
Remember that most AMEs are Family Practice types, not Psychiatrists and they probably don't want to dig into the issues. Sadly, my AME was pretty unhelpful once he deferred and showed little interest in assisting me secure certification nor review documents, I had to contact another AME in the area for information. Make sure your AME is a pilot and find out if he tries to assist his patients overcome issues. You might even speak to him/her prior to the application and see what they think about your case.
If the AME defers you, the FAA will contact you (eventually) to request more information (see Step 4) unless the information you have provided answers their questions.
If the AME denies you, appeal the decision to the the Manager of the Civil Aviation Medicine (Dr Warren Silberman). The AME Denial letter should say how to do it or to contact the FAA for details.
You should not consider either of these results, at this point, to mean much. The AME guidebook (2011 version) doesn't actually prevent them from issuing the certificate but again, if they see 'PTSD', they will probably call the FAA for information, and the FAA will tell them to defer you. Fortunately, the FAA does not seem to tell them to automatically deny. Which could be an improvement. Most likely, they will defer since its less paperwork than a denial and a denial by an AME is guaranteed to be appealed, so in a way, its not really a denial anyway just a deferment with a different name.
If the AME actually gives you the medical certificate (and I'll probably choke on my food if they do), go to Step 8. Be prepared for the FAA to contact you within 60 days requesting more information, potentially even suspending the Medical until they determine your case. In some cases, this may be a worse outcome because you would likely start your training and then potentially have to stop training while the FAA decides the fate of your flying career.
6. Be patient and persistent, call the FAA medical every couple of weeks to check the status. And be polite to the contractors that answer the phone. They take notes, and if you fly off the handle at them in some uncontrolled rage, it may not harm your case, but I doubt it will help either. They cannot provide time estimates. Some will give you an idea, most will not provide any estimate. If the FAA requests information, give it to them quickly. Send it FEDEX, it gets there faster and doesn't have to go through Security Screening. A week after it arrives, call and confirm receipt. Stay on it, but stay cool and polite. The process is slow. I repeat, the process is slow.
7. Start your training, with Medical Certificate in hand. Don't be like me who waited until after and was ready to solo when I got the medical deferred and then a 5 month gap.
8. Regardless of how it turns out, SHARE THE RESULT(S). Forums like this, with the IAVA (Iraq and Afghanistan Veteran's of America), etc. Other Veterans need to know that they can come forward with minor post-deployment issues and not be stigmatized later in life by the FAA. A lot of people are asking the same questions about FAA Medicals (including myself just a few weeks ago) - help shine a light in the black box.
If Veterans who have overcome Post-Deployment mental health issues are mostly facing discrimination at the hands of the FAA, then we need to do something about it and the way that happens is by raising awareness! Full court press on the FAA, Congress, VFW, IAVA, the Media. Contact the DOD and VA and everyone else who will listen and even those who won't.
Remember that minor PTSD after combat is 100% normal. The only abnormal people are the ones who had no issues during/after the war.
If you are denied, appeal it - all the way to the NTSB, make the FAA / Dept of Transportation tell you that Veterans who are honest, upfront and responsible for their mental health are a danger. Make them say it publicly and on the record.
If the FAA starts creating a pattern of medical denials for Veterans, then the only result will be Veterans will start their own patterns of denial on their medical applications or even worse: they won't see anyone so that they don't have to risk a diagnosis/history, and it will be bad for everyone.
Hopefully, my case is more the norm and we can commend the FAA for their understanding of Veteran's Health Issues. They might even view it as a matter of Patriotism.
My hope is for the FAA to allow resolved PTSD to be issued by AME's, without Special Issuance to avoid delays. Its a stretch, but that will only happen if enough people come forward and demonstrate that Veterans can overcome ANY obstacle, including temporary post-deployment issues.
Good Luck!
