Medical & HealthNews and debate about medical and health issues as they relate to aircrews and aviation. Any information gleaned from this forum MUST be backed up by consulting your state-registered health professional or AME.
In addition to waterpau's post, if youve had l@ser surgery....if your pre-op prescription is outside the initial requirements then the deviation is a long-term one, not short-term. So the UK aircraft restriction remains on your medical indefinately, and you need to separately plead with the other JAA authorities for their permission.
This is due to fineprint in the rules... With l@ser surgery the renewal limits dont apply, even if you're going for a renewal!
This isnt the case for you, invisible me, because you are within the initial limits. Just thought Id add this for anyone in this position.
.......if someone lose his jaa 1 class medical (for example uk issued) but still within limits for a 1 class uk medical and during this period he is working for a company flying uk registered aircraft, can this person maintain his job with this company or automatically he's going to lose it??
That's a tricky question. I might be over-simplifying, but as I understand it, if a chap loses his JAA Class 1 medical, then he won't be able to fly aircraft for remuneration on any of the European countrys' registers. That's on the condition that loss of medical was related to falling outside of JAA medical standards...
Whether the CAA might issue a restricted class 1 medical (restricting a pilot to perhaps flying day-time VFR commercially only within the UK, if there is such work) as long as they meet ICAO medical standards, I don't know. Anybody?
I've been having a good look around about vision and astigmatism is my pitfall.
I looked at 3 previous prescriptions from the past 2 years, 2 years ago my astigmatism was only -1.0, then 6 months ago it said it was at -2.25, and then about 1 month ago it said it was at -1.75.
As you can see this is very annoying, I'm going to get another eye test next week and see what it comes out as.
When you go for the medical, do they test your eyes or do you just hand them a current prescription? I'm worried that if I get a high street eye test it might come out as within the requirements so I go and cough up £500 for the medical and it is over.
I am only 22 so I am really hoping my astigmatism will stop getting worse now or at this rate I might be over the renewal requirements after I've spent all my money on training.
It seems like I have several options:
1) Wing it and hope my astigmatism is within the requirements on the day.
2) Get LASIK, which I don't really want to but it might be my only option to become a pilot.
3) Wait and see if the CAA expand the astigmatism requirements next year.
Im in exactly the same position,(Astig 2.5) with much consideration i think im going down the LASIK route. However im only 19 and plan to get the surgery after finishing uni in a couple of years, so with a bit of luck the astigmatism limits may be dropped. Im writing to the CAA as we speak so il let you know how it goes...
Today's eye test says I have exactly -2.00 for my astigmatism, the optomitrist said that it varies from optomitrist to optomitrist on how they assess the astigmatism as it is not completely acurate, some will put it a bit lower than it is and some a bit higher, I guess it does not help that it seems to only go up in .25 increments.
Congratulations on being inside the initial limits - here's hoping that the CAA medical chap measures you at the same level. In reality, I would imagine a degree of leeway is applied due to inaccuracy of measurement so even though you're on the border, you should be fine. Given your age, your astigmatism should now be static for the rest of your life and even if it does increase slightly,you should remain within renewal limits.
Hello there
I am 15 in my GCSE year. I want to become a pilot. I don't know exactly how good my vision is and i don't need glasses. But i don't want to do physics at A level if my eyesight is not up to the job.
I would like answeres as to how hard the medicles actually are, how strict, and when i should consider taking one.
Any responses would be much appreciated
Thanks in advance
Hello there
I am 15 in my GCSE year. I want to become a pilot. I don't know exactly how good my vision is and i don't need glasses. But i don't want to do physics at A level if my eyesight is not up to the job.
I would like answeres as to how hard the medicles actually are, how strict, and when i should consider taking one.
Any responses would be much appreciated
Thanks in advance
The first thing that you should do is have an eye test. I believe that they are free at your age. Good Luck.
MO91,
Go to the caa website and look up the eyesight requirements, print them off and take them to your optician, he/she will be able to tell you if you make the grade. However, being so young leaves your eyesight to changes, so keep your options open when choosing your A-levels, dont do Physics unless your good at it!
Good luck.
Hi guys im new to the forum so i apologise if this has allready been covered. I am looking into becoming a commercial pilot however i had l@ser surgey 3 years ago.
If my vision prior to my l@ser surgery was beyond a certain level does that mean that i have no chance of being able to pass the medical. Also if this is the case how are they aware of to what degree the vision was.
Have a look at some of my previous posts. I was -8 pre-op and have met class 1 stds since having my surgery in 1998. Above (worse than) -5 pre-op and you're pretty well snookered as far as class 1 medical is concerned. I'd love to corrected but changes to policy don't happen overnight
I had my surgery 3 years ago, I went for a checkup today and all is stable and fine. The problem that I have is that I was -8.75 Pre-op. I thought that this would rule me out however when I spoke to the CAA the young lady told me I should send my details in with a report from my surgeon saying that I am stable and have no side effects? Has anybody else come across this before, and if so what has been the out come?
If you were -8.75 then that completely rules out a Class 1 medical, sorry! The UK CAA normally gets around poor eyesight by issuing a deviation to get past the initial medical (limits are now -6), and removing at a revalidation (still -8). With l@ser surgery, they cannot remove the deviation if you were past the initial (-6), although you can still fly UK (G- reg) aircraft with this deviation.
The EASA when they replace the CAA for medicals may remove deviations altogether. I don't know how this will affect those us of with deviations as yet.
I'm not sure you can even get a Class 2 medical, since you are outside the limits (-8), but don't quote me on that. You need to speak to the head guy at the UK CAA medical department.
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