There are different levels of Colour Blindness. All you need to know is if you are "Defective-Safe" or in Aviation Medical terms : CP III (Colour Perception 3). This is the ICAO standard applied by the Indian Air Force doctors at all their Medical Centres all over India. The eye technician, the Ophthalmologist and the officer/doctor doing your final General Medical all know this assessment as it is given to all Civil pilots who come to them for medicals and are Colour Perception "Defective-Safe". Failing the 24-plate Ishihara test is an immediate fail for any pilots wanting to join the Air Force as pilots (not your case).
You are first assessed using the 24-plate Ishihara test. If you make 4 or more mistakes on that test, you are then required to do a "Lantern Test". This could be the Farnsworth Lantern Test or the Edridge-Green Lantern Test where you are required to identify individual colours as they are displayed to you using vaied levels of background light and aperture settings. A pass on the lantern test will give you a "Colour Perception Defective-Safe (CP III)" assessment which is fine and ok for a Class 1 medical for the DGCA who will later on give you a final medical Assessment on paper. This assessment will remain in your Permanent Medical Records (PMR) forever and every medical renewal you do thereafter will indicate to the doctor/technician doing your test that you need to do the Lantern test for Colour Vision after doing the Ishihara (book) test.
Not sure of your level of colour blindness, but I am of the opinion that all is not lost for you. Get the Lantern test done at any private Ophthalmologist to figure out if you pass that. Then take that report back to the doctor who did your Class 2 medical and advise him of the IAF/DGCA/ICAO colour perception standards and ask him to redo your medical and forward your file to the DGCA for the final Assessment of the IAF doctor who sits at the DGCA office for this purpose.
If you live in Mumbai and require the reference of an Ophthalmologist, go to Dr.M.D.Oomrigar at Dinar Bldg, Santacruz (W) Station Road. He is also an Air India panel doctor.
Dr. M. D. Oomrigar, Santacruz West, Mumbai - asklaila
Good luck and hope you are awarded a PASS!
