Deaf pilot earns FAA instrument rating

AKRON (AP) -- A former Wall Street banker with a dream to fly became the first deaf pilot to earn an instrument rating from the Federal Aviation Administration.
The rating means that Stephen Hopson, who was born deaf, is allowed to fly in bad weather where visibility is low.
FAA regulations had not previously allowed deaf pilots to obtain instrument ratings because they require two-way verbal communication with air traffic controllers to guide them.
But Hopson, 45, completed his flight exam Friday, about four months after starting lessons with the American Winds Flight Academy in Akron.
"This is a dream come true," said Hopson, who learned to speak and lip read as a child.
Hopson obtained federal permission to seek the rating. He then moved from Michigan to Akron and began working with the academy to develop a method for him to communicate with the ground, said American Winds President Mike Kolomichuk.
They came up with this: Hopson flies with another instrument-rated pilot who relays orders from air traffic control using shorthand messages on a dry erase board.
The co-pilot acts only as a messenger and has no decision-making control, Kolomichuk said.