After I submitted my TOPE entry Olaf wrote back and asked about my son.
Those of you who have been around here for a long time will remember
that he came very close to death after flying his helicopter into high
voltage transmission lines. Despite plunging 205 feet to the ground he
survived... but only just barely. His surgeons said he had lost more
than half of his blood and was about 20 minutes away from dying when he
was airlifted to the emergency room. Here's what has happened since as
I related it to Olaf.
--------------------------
Amazingly, it has now been 4 years since his helicopter crash. After
about 18 months off work for recovery from the accident he was finally
obligated to go to the FAA (US Federal Aviation Authority) to see if
they would re-issue his flight license. Since he still had some
ocassional (1 or 2 per day) and brief (2-3 seconds) instances of vertigo
the FAA would not return his license unless he was certified as 100
percent symptom free for a minimum of one year.
The New York State Police then hired a doctor that certified (without
ever examining him) that he could return to duty as a road patrol
officer along with a major reduction in pay and rank. He was not happy
but did this for quite some time until his neurosurgeon discovered what
had happened and became irate with the police.
The neurosurgeon testified that Scott had suffered some unknown degree
of brain damage and that any other trauma to the head would have unknown
effects and could easily kill him. Working as a road patrol officer he
would eventually likely get into scuffles with arrestees which might
easily prove fatal. Ultimately, after a lot of legal hassling and
wrangling and calling in of arbiters, the State Police were obliged to
place him on medical disability retirement. Then, after a lot of other
legal hassling and wrangling they were obliged to reinstate his rank and
pay as a pilot for purposes of computing his retirement income. (Which
doesn't actually exist but more on that later)
Meanwhile, since he was also a New York Army National Guard captain and
helicopter pilot the army sent him off to Fort Rucker Alabama to be
examined by army flight surgeons there. After a lot of testing and
deliberation the army decided that he was still suited for flight
status. The major difference between the army and FAA here is that the
State Police fly with a single pilot. The army always flies helicopters
with two pilots. Therefore, the army considered that his brief bouts of
vertigo were not important since a second pilot could take over if it
ever became necessary. He has since put in a fair number of hours on
simultors and as command pilot on real helicopters without incident.
After being told that he would be placed on medical disability
retirement (and being then not yet 40) he began looking for another job
and eventually was offered a position as a training coordinator for the
post 9/11 TSA (Transportation Security Administration). He was made
responsible for the training coordination of several hundred luggage
inspectors at three different airports.
However, this didn't last very long before the Army National Guard
promoted him to major, sent him back to Fort Rucker for extensive
training in helicopter logistics planning and support and then packed
him off to Iraq for a year. That's where he is now and working his butt
off but is not on flight status at the moment since he's never been
trained on a Blackhawk. These days he's riding only as a passenger.
They fly low and fast to avoid ground fire and he gets very nervous near
power lines when he's not in control.
We're hoping he'll be back within a few months and hope his job with the
TSA will still be there for him. Since the TSA job pays a little more
than the State Police disability retirement income, the state doesn't
actually have to pay him anything until he has passed what would have
been the 20 years of service date. That's not so far away so he will
soon have that as additional income.
So, in a nutshell he's doing OK and hoping soon to resume a more normal
life. The insurgent rocket and mortar attacks are fairly ineffective
but disconcerting nevertheless.
Chuck Norcutt
==============================================
List usage info: http://www.zuikoholic.com
List nannies: olympusadmin@xxxxxxxxxx
==============================================
|