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View Full Version : Would you tick the box?


carterma
21st Jun 2006, 13:10
Its a familiar story to a lot of you who read this forum I'm sure, but I have been denied a Class 1 medical. The reason is I'm a migraine sufferer. Firstly I would like to say that I fully understand the decision here, and I genuinely believe the staff at the CAA do try and accomodate each case within certain sensible limits.

My question is, in some cases do people "forget" to mention certain conditions if they themselves believe them to be inconsequential to safety?

My migraine affliction is so mild that I genuinely forgot to mention it on my Class 2 form (which incidently the CAA happily renewed in lieu of my Class 1).

I have one attack every year to 18 months or so. The attack has two phases, a "weird" phase that lasts about 15 minutes (hand numbness, light sensitivity and peripheral vision weirdness), and a head-ache phase that lasts a day (although this is very mild). So I am technically out of action for 15 minutes every 12 to 18 months. They also always strike on a weekend or holiday (although I can never be sure of this in the future).

I think I made the right decision to declare this, I'm an "honesty is the best policy" kind of guy, it just got me thinking about others who may want a career in this industry more than me and are prepared to do more to get it.

Interested to hear your thoughts...

FYI - for you migraine sufferers, the CAA told me to come back after 3 years without an attack, but this is because mine are so infrequent. If you suffer one a week, they might let you come back in a few months!

bafanguy
21st Jun 2006, 22:43
caterma,

As difficult as the decision was, you did the right thing. As you will find with all issues in a flying career, you don't want to spend one minute "looking over your shoulder" to see if someone has caught you doing something you shouldn't. The sleepless nights just would not be worth it.

Better to just lay it all on the table at the outset...fight it out...get that mess over with...and get on to the good things.

You have already demonstrated character. Now fight the b@stards till the last breath to get your Class 1. You have already won.

You will, of course, keep us posted on your progress.

Requiem
30th Jun 2006, 18:01
Humm... I am planning on being a pilot in Canada. I will need a Canadian Class 1 medical. I used to suffer very frquent migranes more than one a week. Now I very rarely suffer from them. Would I be denyied a Canadian Class 1 Medical?

Thanks for any imput

Twink
20th Jul 2006, 12:09
Hey,I used to suffer from migraines (attack free for nearly two years now) and I managed to get my Class 1 in New Zealand. My Medical Assessor sent me off to a neurologist, who cleared me. Perhaps an option for you to explore?