I had Two long talks with people about CASA this weekend. Neither of them were reassuring.
One was with an Optometrist acquaintance who had completed the CASA course but on reading the CASA legal agreement to be appointed a CASA testing officer, declined to sign it.
The reasons were:
(A) The ocular standards required for pilots were far too strict in his opinion. One misread letter is a fail. He felt that the standards were ridiculously tight to the point where he could just about fail anybody if he had a mind to.
(B) CASA required him to report to CASA even the suspicion of a developing condition of any sort. For example, Glaucoma, which, according to him, may take Thirty years before it has a detectable effect on vision. Then of course eye photography now provides indications of potential cholesterol, diabetes and blood pressure conditions, he said. Needless to say, once reported to CASA Aviation Medicine, the medical certificate is only going to get issued by CASA after thousands of dollars of further tests each year. The Optometrist felt he was being asked to be a CASA spy, since even consultations not related to a medical certificate still required him to dob in any pilot he thought might have an issue.
(C) CASA waved the big "Conflict of interest" stick! If he tested a pilot and discovered his vision needed correction via prescribing glasses, then these had to be prescribed by a second separate Optometrist because he had a conflict of interest!!!!!!!
Can you believe that??? Here is CASA, the most conflicted entity in the entire country - regulator, policeman, judge, jury and executioner all rolled into one, and they are primly telling a professional Optometrist to beware of conflict of interest???? This just beggars belief!
As he explained it. If you go to a CASA approved Optometrist for an eye test, not even not connected with your medical certificate, you risk getting reported to CASA!
Furthermore, here is a freedom of information request for someone: How many "renew by CASA only" pilot medical certificates exist and what are the numbers issued by year for the last Ten years or so? I have a sneaking suspicion that a little empire is being built in the medical section by inflating the numbers of medical certificates that require CASA consideration to renew them.
Second conversation was with an ex public servant senior enough to hob nob socially with Ministers and even the PM. When I explained my perplexity at CASAs alleged behaviour, he explained that it was consistent with neither major political party wanting anything to do with aviation at all.
The only workable solution according to him was political. Industry talking sweet reason to the regulator is a waste of time, even internal CASA staff talking sweet reason to their bosses is a waste of time. The bosses have been told to just ensure that aviation does not impinge on the body politic. The pilots have about the same political pull as prisoners rights groups - nobody cares.
The solution needs to be political action including the possibility of strike action that gets positive (not negative) media attention, and given pilot disunity that isn't going to happen.