Medical Criteria for Passenger Flying on Scheduled Commercial Flights

THE EVER INCREASING number of passengers traveling by air includes a certain proportion who have various clinical disorders. It is frequently found that flying is the most expeditious and desirable form of transportation for the properly prepared and selected patient. However, under certain circumstances, flying may be deleterious to the patient, which requires that certain medical criteria for passenger flying be established. The infrequency of deaths in flight attests to the relative safety of air transportation. This fact is substantiated by the enormous experience of military and civilian carriers in the transportation of patients by air. Before a patient is accepted for passage on a scheduled commercial flight, the following fundamental questions must be considered: Can the patient be moved by any means? Is the patient's clinical condition stabilized? Will the patient's presence interfere with the welfare of the other passengers? An empirical principle was developed many years ago