While I won't say they are 'stringent', there are a number of issues with FAA medicals with which divers do not have to contend. Aviation medical examiners (AMEs) have a detailed set of guidelines that they must follow. These are standardized (a good thing) and the (limited) physical assessment performed by the AME focuses to a great extent on cardiovascular fitness and vision. The FAA is particularly interested in any condition that might compromise a pilot's ability to fly / control the airplane. Notably, aviation medicals (including FAA certificates), like diver Medical Statements, also rely to a considerable extent upon pilot self-reporting, and that can be an issue, if a pilot chooses not to disclose certain pertinent information (the German Wings crash last year is a prime example). However, unlike diver Medical Statements, FAA medical certificates issued by an AME can be rescinded by the FAA after they review the documents submitted by the examiner. The AME can issue a medical certificate, but the FAA has up to 60 days to say, 'Sorry, you can't keep it.' This actually happens, infrequently but often enough to cause a number of pilots to grouse that the FAA is arbitrary and capricious. And, if a pilot is caught falsifying information on the medical questionnaire (putting a 'No', when a 'Yes' is true), their pilot's license will quite probably - and quite quickly - take on the characteristics of a piece of bread left in the oven way too long. By the way, many AMEs are NOT pilot's. Finally, rest assured that the FAA has no particular interest in the welfare of the pilot, who might be exposed to stressful conditions while flying. The agency IS concerned about passengers in the plane, or innocent bystanders on the ground, who might be injured or killed if a pilot becomes incapacitated, and loses control of the airplane, secondary to a medical event.
I fully agree. This would resolve a great deal of the frustration that you see expressed in discussions like this.
