ATC medical - eye sight restrictions?

[pumuckl]

Hi there

Does anyone know if the eye sight restrictions for a medical for the ATC are the same as that for a class 1? I tried to ring NATS, but could not get an answer as the person dealing with it was away. It also does not seem to say anything on the CAA website about it.

I understand that for a class 1 medical eye sight up to -5 is ok, and the difference between your eyes is not to exceed 2 dioptres. Is this the same for the ATC?

Thanks in advance.

[HelenD]

Not sure if its any help or not but I have recently been issued with a UK CAA class 1 by the CAA at Gatwick as I wish to become an ATCO. I sat the medical before applying to NATS because I have another medical issue that is not related to eyesight and I thought I would find out if I met the standard or not since the medical is way down the line. On initial application before I finally had the Class 1 certificate I was told that my eyesight did not meet the Class 1 standard. I found this odd as indications from Gatwick were that my eyesight would not be a problem. Once I finally got the Class 1 certificate 2 weeks ago I put a copy of that and the letter in the post to NATS, I also emailed them saying I now have a Class 1. The email response I recieved back said that the original response they gave was incorrect and I should have been told that I dont meet the eyesight standard for NATS. I now feel my chances of being an ATCO are now almost non existant especially as I wish to do area. Hopefuly the copy of the certificate and its covering letter will help
This begs me to ask why does an ATCO need better eyesight than a pilot?

Ps Having hunted high and low it seems that NATS don't publish their medical criteria. From what I have heard I do believe they use the Class 1 standard though that won't explain the response I have had from them.

[pumuckl]

Thanks very much for your response. I managed to ring the CAA today and spoke to one of their doctors. He wanted me to fax to him my optometrist prescription which I did. My worst eye is -3.25 (my other one -1.75) and I know that for a class 1 medical up to -5 is ok, however, I wanted to clarify the ATC restrictions.

Although the doctor told me that -3.25 will be no problem, he did mention that at the moment the upper limit is -3, so theoretically I would be -0.25 over, which is not good (although as I said, he didn't think it was a problem and sometime soon the ATC standard will be the same as the Class 1, ie. -5) - may not be soon enough though!

I will try and check with NATS again tomorrow to see what they say as they handle the applications...

[Warped Factor]

ATCO licensing and medical standards are in the process of being harmonised Europe wide.

The proposed medical standards can be found here (http://www.eurocontrol.int/src/documents/deliverables/sru_hum/documents/licensing/med_req_g.pdf).

Other info on the programme which may or may not be of interest is here (http://www.eurocontrol.int/src/html/sru_hum.html).

WF.

[pumuckl]

Thanks, WF! Do you know if the ATC is already using these guidelines in practice? Any idea when these guidelines may become 'the law' in the UK?

I just rang NATS and they couldn't give me an answer re eyesight restrictions! I managed to speak to someone, but apparently the person that might know is again not in today. I was told just to apply and they would let me know whether it is a problem...I'm a bit worried I'll be in the same predicament as HelenD.

Weird that no-one seems to know for sure!

[Warped Factor]

pumuckl,

We've just gone over to the new European licence, but I'm not sure when the medical changes.

You can find the current UK medical standard here (http://www.caa.co.uk/srg/med/default.asp?page=529).

If you can't get an answer from NATS try phoning the CAA medical section on 01293 573700.

WF.

[pumuckl]

Thanks, WF - I saw that site, but I just wanted to be absolutely sure about what the position is right now! Thanks also for the other links you gave.

I rang NATS again today and managed to be put through to their medical centre (different to the CAA medical centre). I spoke to Dr Roberts who was very helpful.

He basically confirmed that at the moment the cut off in terms of short sightedness for an ATC initial medical is still -3 with no more than 2 dioptres of difference between the eyes and no more than 2 of astigmatism. He did mention that the JAA wide proposed regs will come in at some stage, but are not in force just quite yet.

However, he confirmed that given my age (29) my eyesight will be stable and thus at -3.25 (combined with my other eye measurements) I will have no problems obtaining an initial ATC medical. Phew! :8

Just need to pass the 'other' selection tests now...

p.

[Warped Factor]

Glad to hear you got the required info in the end.

Best of luck with the application.

WF.