The Nation - News from Dec. 18, 1986

The Federal Aviation Administration’s chief doctor has agreed to abide by a medical advisory panel’s decision on potentially high-risk medical appeal cases brought by commercial pilots, FAA officials said. The assurance given in letters to several members of Congress reflects a change in policy by the FAA in its handling of commercial pilots’ medical appeals. In recent weeks, Dr. Frank Austin, the agency’s air surgeon, has been accused by the Air Line Pilots Assn. and medical directors of a number of airlines of approving the medical appeals of dozens of pilots considered unfit to fly.