Spontaneous Pneumothorax, Class 1 & 2

[17thhour]

Hi, I tried a search and surprisingly little came up actually.

I have a UK PPL, and on Thursday I had a Spontaneous Pneumothorax (SP). It wasn't a big one and my lung didn't fully collapse. It was only about 4cm big. I didn't need anything done to it other than getting it asperated with a needle through my back into my pleural cavity(i think, i'm no doctor)

I'm young, fit and healthy, and I'm 18 years old. I'm also tall and thin, and I understand this occurs commonly in people of my anatomy.

What I am asking is, what are the repercussions of this on my would be career as an airline pilot within the UK. And have I now lost my class 2 medical. OBVIOUSLY before I next fly I will discuss this with an AME, but I am at uni right now and have no plans to fly in the near future as I can far from afford it, so it's not completely urgent yet.

Are there others out there who have had an SP and continued to fly with a Class 1 or 2? What about as an ATCO? Are my dreams in effect shattered? :sad:

Thanks a lot.

Update

I just wanted to update this so that anyone in a similar position in the near future can get an up to date opinion.

I called the CAA Medical Division who as it turns out are a nice bunch.

The Medical Officer on duty talked me through what my options were. As is the case for me right now, I am "temporarily unfit" and will be for 6 weeks after my respiratory consultant concludes that I am totaly recovered. (Which was about a week and a half after the incident to be honest!)

Once my certificate is re-instated I will be restricted to flying with a safety pilot.

If it was a Class One medical I had, I would be unfit for one year- after which I could re-apply for a Class One again.

Thanks everyone for your replies.

[Pat42]

I know that for ATCO's an spontaneous pneumothorax will temporarily void your medical certificate pending assesment by a respiratory physician. It's not necessarily a permanent disqualification but will depend on the opinion of the physician and review by an AME. I would assume that it's something similar for a class 1/2.

Your best bet would be to give the CAA medical group a call.

[gingernut]

a little dated, but similar discussed here http://www.pprune.org/medical-health/98088-pneumothorax-class-1-a.html

[dc61]

Yes it happened to me in my early 20's. My brother and uncle too. All tall and thin. All good since and Class 1 held as ATCO for 20+ years.

For those who've not experienced it. It hurts like hell with some breathlessness. Glad it never happened again. Mine fixed itself.

[27mm]

Some years back, Hunter pilots would occasionally suffer a condition known as "Hunter's Lung" IIRC. It was caused by pulling high G levels whilst breathing 100% oxygen instead of Airmix and resulted in a partial collapse of a lung - the recovery was simply to relax the G and then cough (to re-inflate the lung). I'm fairly certain that no one ever suffered any subsequent ill-effects, even with numerous occurrences.

[Bad medicine]

27mm,

"Hunter Lung", acceleration atelectasis, or a number of other terms, are quite different to a pneumothorax, and do not have the same implications for long term fitness.

Cheers,

BM

[27mm]

Thank you, I stand corrected.

:ok:

[tom775257]

Don't worry too much, a friend of mine is an FO for Flybe; he had two spontaneous pneumothorax. In the end he had to have an operation, either way AME was happy for him to return to flying as an airline pilot after a period of time (if memory serves 2 months after the operation).

If I remember i'll call him and ask him to respond to this thread.

Best wishes,
Tom.

[Captaincgh]

Could you please tell me how you feel after your first flight
I had a pneumothorax months ago i havent fly since then
Honestly im scared of an other one