Jail for Diabetic Pilot

There's a lesson to be learned in this news article: Don't lie on your aviation medical certificate application.

Pilot Ronald Crews was sentenced to 16 months in prison for lying about a medical condition that led to a diabetic seizure while at the controls of a Cape Air Cessna 402. This all happened in 2002 when Crews was then 50 years old and had been flying with Cape Air for four years and had not disclosed to the FAA his insulin dependency.

As a result of such non-disclosure and his undisclosed condition leading to the incident that put four passengers in danger, he will serve two years probation following his prison term.

The flight in question occurred on February 8, 2002 out of Martha's Vineyard for Hyannis. The four passengers were spared from disaster thanks to the efforts of Cape Air security supervisor and pilot trainee Melanie Oswalt. Oswalt was then 24 years old and had 48 hours of flying experience. She managed a gear-up landing at the Provincetown airport, quite a ways from the intended destination.

The U.S. Attorney's office said that Crews had hidden his condition from the FAA for his entire life. Crews pled guilty (and probably got a deal) to four counts of making false statements to a federal agency, something that no one would want on their record.

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