This may be a long post (and is one of my first!), so bear with me!
Just before starting my ATPL training I had Laser eye surgery on both eyes. With an initial requirement of -5.00 / +5.00 dioptres I was initially outside the JAA requirements, since my left eye was at -7.00, with a slight astigmatism. The UK CAA advise against LASIK for all sorts of reasons, but I went ahead and did it anyway, for two reasons: first of all, there was no way I was going to get a Class 1 if I didn't, and secondly, if I couldn't be a pilot, I would at least be able to dispense with contact lenses in everyday life!
The surgery went perfectly, leaving my with 6/4 in both eyes. The lower the second number, the better the vision, so 6/6 is "normal", and 6/60 is terrible. This is the European system, as it uses metres: the Americans use feet, which is why 6/6 = 20/20 and 6/60 = 20/200, in case you were wondering. My eyesight is now exceptional: I have no blurring, haze, haloes or night vision problems whatsoever. (Moorfields Eye Hospital, if you were interested!)
The UK CAA issued me with a Class 1 medical with a JAA deviation, which means I am allowed to fly all UK-registered aircraft, but would need to seek permission from other countries (mainly European - for example, the US FAA only stipulates 20/20 or better corrected
or uncorrected, and is not worried at all about laser surgery).
For revalidation, the limits do indeed increase to -8.00 dioptres of myopia (short-sight), with the upper limit remaining at +5.00 for hypermetropia (long-sight). However, this does not apply to eyes corrected through surgery! Obtaining this tiny nugget of information involved an incredibly long trawl through CAA/JAA paperwork!
So, where does this leave me? Obviously, as the proud owner of a UK-issued fATPL I can fly any UK aircraft, but am limited to UK only: not an excellent prospect for any UK carrier who have some foreign aircraft. There have been rumours for years about the JAA limits being increased, due to many tests on lager surgery patients, but nothing has happened yet.
I have a solution, which I am currently pursuing. I am contacting the various European authorities for their permission to fly their aircraft, regardless of whether or not I ever will. Armed with letters from most of the European aviation authorities, whenever anyone queries my "restriction" on my licence, I can now point out that there is in fact no reason why it will restrict me whatsoever. The legal documentation may place a restriction, but none of the member states will exercise that restriction. I already have such letters from three authorities.
Why am I telling you this? If enough people act on this information, and prove that there is no need for such a restriction on laser surgery, perhaps the JAA will finally take note and bring the restriction in line with current corrective measures (e.g. glasses).
Here's hoping...
