The National Transportation Safety Board is recommending that the FAA revise the application for a medical certificate to include specific information about sleep apnea.

The recommendation calls for the FAA to “elicit specific information about any previous diagnosis of obstructive sleep apnea and about the presence of specific risk factors for that disorder.”

It also asks the FAA to implement a program to identify pilots at high risk for obstructive sleep apnea and require that those pilots provide evidence through the medical certification process of having been appropriately evaluated and, if treatment is needed, effectively treated for that disorder before being granted unrestricted medical certification.

For more information: NTSB.gov/recs/letters/2009/A09_61_66.pdf