Originally Posted by
thunderbird five
A fella I worked with some years ago truthfully told his DAME that he had a glass of wine each night with his dinner. This somehow flagged him as a possible alcoholic and he had to jump through all sorts of expensive hoops to clear his name. Absolute true story, not "I heard about some guy...."
Colourful stories, gossip and hearsay involving AvMed don’t surprise me at all, I saw the disjointed machine in action for myself.
Upon starting ab initio flying training, I applied for a Class 2 medical. The DAME asked whether I’d ever operated machinery under the influence of alcohol; I advised the DAME of a drink driving offence a decade earlier, I also voluntarily completed an alcohol intake questionnaire (at the suggestion of the DAME). I was at the time usually sharing a bottle of wine on the weekend with my partner, and having <5 stubbies of beer a week. CASA subsequently advised that I had “admitted” to consuming alcohol and was required to undergo blood testing for a biomarker of alcohol abuse (carbohydrate-deficient transferrin [CDT]). Not many labs conduct this analysis (due to low demand), and by the time I could get a doctor appointment and referral, it took a number of weeks to get results as the analysis is also not conducted often. Results of the test were fine (I had no reason to doubt this).
Due to advising of my drink driving offence I was also requested to provide a police check so CASA could determine that I was a fit and proper person. Funnily enough, this is not a valid reason for VicPol to issue a police check, so I had to lie and state that it was for an aviation ‘job’, by then I was getting sick of the appointments (time off work) and paperwork I had needed to gather and provide...
It took greater than 4 months to receive my medical (with included conditions and reduced medical period). In that time my flying training was severely restricted as I wasn’t allowed to solo. To say my skills and safety in the air deteriorated is not an overstatement, I basically had to start all over again.
This was my first interaction with our aviation regulator and I was appalled at their approach. I myself have a decade of regulatory experience: CASA is not adopting a ‘risk-based’ approach (particularly with regard to reducing regulatory burden), and assumed I was guilty without adequate information. I offered all the truth to my DAME, and felt that I was penalised by CASA for doing so; this is a very poor regulatory model as there is no incentive for regulated entities - you and I - to comply.
Many pilots I now know advise students to
“tell them nothing”, I hear it all the time and I now understand why! After this dealing with CASA, I promptly opted out of ‘My Health Record’; I can only imagine one day in the future that CASA will overreach, abuse their powers and submit a request to court for the release of a pilot’s private information during the course of an investigation.
p.s. I am a fit young person with (fortunately) very few health issues in my life, I genuinely feel for those at the other end of the spectrum and their dealings with CASA.