--- title: Skin Cancer Risk Higher For Flight Attendants and Pilots, Study Says description: Pilots and flight attendants are twice as likely to suffer from the skin cancer melanoma when compared to the general population. canonical: https://time.com/3264646/airline-flight-crews-melanoma/ author: Justin Worland article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-09-03T20:00:06.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-21T09:59:33.310Z article:section: Health og:title: Skin Cancer Risk Is Higher For Flight Attendants and Pilots og:description: Pilots and flight attendants are twice as likely to suffer from the skin cancer melanoma when compared to the general population. og:url: https://time.com/3264646/airline-flight-crews-melanoma/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Skin Cancer Risk Is Higher For Flight Attendants and Pilots twitter:description: Pilots and flight attendants are twice as likely to suffer from the skin cancer melanoma when compared to the general population. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Skin Cancer Risk Is Higher For Flight Attendants and Pilots  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Sep 3, 2014 8:00 PM UTC  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Sep 3, 2014 8:00 PM UTC Pilots and flight attendants are twice as likely to suffer from the skin cancer melanoma when compared to the general population, according to a new _Journal of the American Medical Association_ [study](http://www.elabs10.com/c.html?ufl=a&rtr=on&s=x8pbgr,2082i,2kek,761i,er83,fa23,j4oh). Looking at data compiled from more than 260,000 people in 19 previous studies, the paper expanded upon past research that has suggested that flight crews are at a heightened risk for melanoma. The cancer, which kills nearly 10,000 Americans each year, is the most deadly variety of skin cancer in the United States. The study suggests that occupational hazards like getting more exposure to UV radiation may contribute to the increased incidence of melanoma. The intensity of UV radiation increases by 15% for about every 3,000 feet above sea level, and planes regularly fly at 35,000 feet above sea level or higher. For years, federal authorities have kept close track of ionizing radiation that could cause other cancers, but there has been little consideration of UV radiation. The study notes “important implications” for flight crew members, but doesn’t provide recommendations for policymakers. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3264646/airline-flight-crews-melanoma/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3264646/airline-flight-crews-melanoma/"},"headline":"Skin Cancer Risk Is Higher For Flight Attendants and Pilots","datePublished":"2014-09-03T20:00:06.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T09:59:33.310Z","description":"Flying increases exposure to UV rays that could cause melanoma","url":"https://time.com/3264646/airline-flight-crews-melanoma/","keywords":["Research","Travel","health","skin cancer","Flying","melanoma"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Justin Worland","jobTitle":"Senior Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/justin-worland/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/research/","name":"Research"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3264646/airline-flight-crews-melanoma/","name":"Skin Cancer Risk Is Higher For Flight Attendants and Pilots"}}]}] ```