PLT529: Prescription and OTC Drugs
What code PLT529 covers, why the FAA tests it, and how to study Prescription and OTC Drugs before your checkride.
Recall physiological factors - prescription and over-the-counter drugs
What this means for your checkride
Over-the-counter and prescription medications can impair a pilot as much as the condition they treat. Antihistamines, sleep aids, and many cold and allergy remedies cause drowsiness or slowed reactions. A pilot must weigh both the drug's effects and the underlying illness before flying, and when in doubt, not fly.
Medication side effects are a common, underestimated impairment, so the FAA tests judging OTC and prescription drugs for flight.
Pilots think only prescription drugs matter. Common OTC antihistamines and sleep aids are among the most impairing; read the label warnings and wait several dosing intervals before flight.
Where to study it
A code on your test report is an area of deficiency. An authorized instructor must review it with you and endorse that review before you take the practical test, and the examiner may revisit it during the oral. Study it until you can explain it out loud, not just recognize the answer.