Pilot safety and risk-management are always top-of-mind for Meredith Holladay, the owner of a small flight school.
But the possible side effects of the COVID-19 shots present a new, difficult-to-gauge risk for people in aviation, she said.
“It’s been a known issue,” Holladay told The Epoch Times. “But what do you do about it?”
Holladay and other aviation advocates say that pilots need to be better informed about vaccine-related risks; about tests that can detect hidden problems, and about treatments that can help them continue to fly safely.
That’s why Holladay Aviation and US Freedom Flyers (USFF), an aviation-rights group, offered a free seminar and cardiac-testing event earlier this month–a movement they hope will spread across the aviation world.
More than 100 aviation professionals came to Jacksonville, Florida, for the Jan. 9 safety seminar, believed to be the first of its kind, according to Josh Yoder, president of USFF.
Among the 25 attendees who agreed to be tested, 16 showed markers for myocarditis and heart muscle inflammation, Yoder told The Epoch Times.
He believes that most of the tested people were pilots because the event was tailored to the aviation community.
The tests were done anonymously; no proof of identity or aviation license was required. That’s because the goal wasn’t to do a “study,” Yoder said, the goal was to help people find out whether they might have hidden problems and guide them to get help.
A Classic Standoff
While the Jacksonville event’s findings involved a small population, it’s still disturbing to see myocarditis detected in 64 percent of those tested, said Yoder. To him, it’s another signal that many pilots, flight attendants, and other people may be suffering from undetected cardiac issues, even with no symptoms.
In 2021, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) acknowledged reports of a rise in myocarditis following COVID-19 injections, especially among younger males. In a statement updated on Jan. 23, the CDC called the shots “safe and effective,” and declared that serious side effects are “rare.”
By Janice Hisle
