I cannot see any medical justification for this
Let's be clear at the outset, I'm NOT defending any form of officialdom . . . . . and it's true, most people would think that if you can read the 6/6 or the 6/5 line on a standard Snellen chart, then that should be that !
BUT . . . . . . . scientifically and medically there is absolutely no doubt that anyone with a HIGH degree of myopia ( say -5.00 or -6.00 or even worse) has a very significantly increased risk of retinal detachment in later life. I know this, it has happened to my own daughter. A detached retina, if deemed predictable, MIGHT be thought of as too much of a risk in someone on whom thousands of pounds of training is about to be lavished ( eg - as an ATCO or as an ATPL ).
The question I am not expert enough to answer ( there may be someone on here who is ) is : "If the VA is improved from 6/60 to 6/6 by Lasik surgery, is the risk of later retinal detachment decreased correspondingly ? "
Anyone know enough to enlighten us on that ?