Sen. Johnson to FAA: Is Agency Aware of COVID-19 Vaccine Adverse Events in Aviation Industry?

Shares Stories from Individuals in Aviation Industry Who Experienced Adverse Events after Receiving COVID-19 Vaccine

WASHINGTON – On Friday, U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) sent a letter to Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Acting Administrator Billy Nolen and Office of Aerospace Medicine Federal Air Surgeon Susan Northrup highlighting accounts from individuals in the aviation industry who experienced adverse events after receiving a COVID-19 vaccine.  The FAA Office of the Inspector General and the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation are copied on the letter.

Sen. Johnson shared the experiences of four pilots and one air traffic controller who suffered severe adverse events following COVID-19 vaccination. “What steps has FAA taken or will FAA take to investigate whether Cody Flint, Hayley Lopez, Greg Pierson, Bob Snow, Wil Wolfe, and other pilots experienced COVID-19 vaccine adverse events?” the senator asked.

The senator also revealed data that he received from a Department of Defense (DoD) whistleblower showing increases in disease and injuries in pilots across DoD. 

The senator wrote, “Based on data from the Defense Medical Epidemiology Database, the whistleblower reported that the total number of disease and injuries in pilots across DoD was 265 in 2016; 252 in 2017; 164 in 2018; 223 in 2019; 2,194 in 2020; 2,861 in 2021; and 4,059 in 2022.   These increases in disease and injuries in pilots across the DoD over the last three years, and particularly over the last year, raise questions as to whether FAA has seen similar increases in disease and injuries in individuals in the aviation industry.”

The letter follows previous reports about the FAA expanding its acceptable parameters used by aviation medical examiners to screen pilots for a heart condition that could affect their ability to operate an aircraft safely. The FAA assured Sen. Johnson’s office that the change in its guidance for aviation medical examiners has “nothing to do with COVID vaccinations.”

Sen. Johnson noted that despite this assurance, “questions still remain regarding the FAA’s decision to issue this change and its awareness of adverse events connected to the COVID-19 vaccines.”

Read more about the letter in the Epoch Times.

The full text of the letter can be found here.