Courses Taught

Aircraft Accident Investigation (AAI)
Aviation Safety Management Systems (ASMS)

Gregg Bendrick, MD, MPH

Biography

Dr. Gregg A. Bendrick is a Medical Officer in the Case Review and Appeals Branch of the Aeromedical Certification Division of the FAA Civil Aerospace Medical Institute (CAMI) in Oklahoma City, addressing waiver (i.e. “Special Issuance”) requests for medical certification by pilots flying commercial passenger-carrying aircraft, as well as other commercial or general aviation pilots. In this capacity, he assesses the aeromedical risk posed by the medical condition to flight safety and determines if that risk has been acceptably mitigated using established criteria. He also determines follow-up procedures to ensure aeromedical risk continues to be mitigated. He has served in this position since June 2017. Before that, Dr. Bendrick served as the Chief Medical Officer at the NASA Neil A. Armstrong Flight Research Center (formerly known as the Dryden Flight Research Center), located at Edwards Air Force Base in California.  In addition to overseeing all aspects of the center’s occupational health program there, he served as the center’s Chief Flight Surgeon, attending to NASA test pilots and astronauts; he has directly supported six (6) Space Shuttle landings as the NASA Emergency Medical Services Coordinator and as Post-Flight Medical Monitor. He also served as the Fatigue Risk Management Officer for the Stratospheric Observatory For Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA), an airborne telescope that once operated out of the Armstrong Flight Research Center. In 2012, he served as one of two Flight Surgeons on a NASA Engineering and Safety Center (NESC) Task Force analyzing the hypoxia-like incidents associated with the U.S. Air Force (USAF) F-22 fighter aircraft. In 2017, he again served on an NESC Task Force, this time analyzing the unexplained physiological episodes associated with the U.S. Navy F-18 fighter aircraft.

Dr. Bendrick was born and raised near Chicago, Illinois, and attended the University of Chicago for his undergraduate and professional education. There, he earned the Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree, the Masters of Science (MS) degree, and his Medical Doctorate (MD). After completing a Transitional-Year Residency in Pontiac, Michigan, he entered active duty with the U.S. Air Force. Initially, he worked as an Emergency Medicine Physician at Misawa Air Base in Northern Japan. He then became a Squadron Flight Surgeon at Yokota Air Base near Tokyo, after which he returned to the United States to accomplish a Residency in Aerospace Medicine, followed by a Residency in Occupational Medicine, both at Brooks Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas. During this time, he completed his Master of Public Health (MPH) degree at the University of Texas. He was later assigned to Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana, where he served for over two years as the Chief of Aeromedical Operations. After a total of nine years of active service, Dr. Bendrick voluntarily separated from the Air Force with an Honorable Discharge. He joined the Ochsner Clinic in New Orleans, Louisiana, where he practiced as an Occupational Medicine Specialist until 2001 when he assumed his duties at the NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center.

Dr. Bendrick is a Fellow of the International Academy of Aviation and Space Medicine (IAASM) and a Fellow of the Aerospace Medical Association (AsMA). He is Board Certified in Aerospace Medicine and Board Eligible in Occupational Medicine.  Dr. Bendrick has authored several technical papers on various aspects of Aerospace Medicine and has co-authored the book Breaking the Mishap Chain, a NASA publication analyzing the human factors associated with various flight test mishaps. He has also published a novel.