Definition
The practice of a pilot taking medication — prescription, over-the-counter, or otherwise — without consulting an aviation medical examiner or other qualified medical authority to determine whether the medication, the underlying condition, or both are compatible with safe flight.
Plain English
Treating yourself with medicine on your own, without checking whether it is safe to fly while taking it or while having the condition you are treating.
Context Anchor
Seen in night flying and night vision discussions, especially where the FAA warns that illness, medicine, fatigue, and alcohol can reduce a pilot’s ability to see and perform at night.
Derivation
From 'self' (acting on oneself) and 'medication' (from Latin 'medicari' — to heal or treat). The term highlights that the pilot is both the patient and the prescriber, with no qualified second opinion.
Why Pilots Care
Many common substances can reduce night vision adaptation, cause blurred vision, or produce drowsiness that directly increases risk during night flight.
Grounding Statement
Before a night flight, even a common medicine can matter if it changes how clearly you see, how awake you feel, or how quickly you respond.
Intuition Check
Self-medication does not just mean taking illegal drugs or misusing medicine. In aviation, it can mean taking any medicine on your own before flying without knowing whether it is safe for flight.
Example Sentence 1
Before her night cross-country, she avoided self-medication and called her AME to confirm that the allergy tablets she was considering were safe for flight.
Example Sentence 2
Many cold remedies are forms of self-medication that the handbook warns can reduce a pilot's ability to see at night.