rationale behind eyesight requirement?
hi folks, like many of you here I've always wanted to be a pilot since I was little. it's terrific news that SIA is finally hiring cadet pilots again, but most heart-wrenching that I am ineligible based on this requirement: "Myopia of not more than 500 degrees and astigmatism of not more than 125 degrees".
I'm trying to find logical answers as to why SIA would impose such a requirement, when:
1) CAAS Class 1 only requires vision correctable to 6/6, which i verified by emailing the Civil Aviation Medical Board.
2) Some current SIA pilots could very conceivably have eyesight poorer than the above requirement as eyesight does deteriorate with time. If it is that important that SIA pilots have eyesight within the specified boundaries, shouldn't SIA be consistent and find such pilots unfit to fly for SIA then? I don't think there has ever been an SIA pilot let go for eyesight while still holding a Class 1.
3) Similar to my second point, it is not unconceivable for cadets to have eyesight within SIA limits at the start of training, which then deteriorates beyond SIA's requirements over the course of training. Is the cadet to be let go then?
4) Airline pilots with eyesight poorer than SIA's requirements continue to fly safely all over the world as we speak.
5) Based on the research i've done (admittedly not exhaustive), I have yet to come across an airline that sets an eyesight requirement that is more stringent than what is required to get a Class 1 from their country.
6) Would a pilot with myopia of 600 degrees be a poorer pilot than one with 400 degrees, or one with perfect vision?
7) Imposing such a requirement would deprive SIA of a pool of applicants who would otherwise make great pilots, perhaps even better pilots than some cadets who have the better eyesight.
I guess you get my point by now. What I seek is a rational explanation behind SIA's requirement, if it actually exists. Hopefully you folks can help shed some light, and I intend to enlist the help of SIA, ALPA-S and CAAS too, along with any individual SIA pilots I can track down. I hope you too would consult with any subject matter experts you might know and help us all become more informed. It would be a terrible, terrible pity to let a man's dreams be foiled by a perverse lack of common sense.