Employment options for 'Not valid for night time flying or color signal control'

[AirJordan007]

Does anyone know if there are gainful employment opportunities for a Commercial Helicopter Pilot (w/experience) that has a 'not valid for night time flying or color signal control' restriction on their medical? Not entirely sure if this restriction is going to harm my friends chance of getting her foot in the door with a reputable operator.

[[email protected]]

Do you mean she is red/green colour blind?

[AirJordan007]

I think that is what she said.

[AirJordan007]

Yea, I just confirmed with her. It is most common in males, but woman can also suffer from this deficiency. Does anyone think that she could still get a job as a helicopter pilot on a N registered aircraft. Also are there are pilots out there that could share this deficiency?

[gulliBell]

I would think in a single pilot operation that a color vision defect would be disqualifying.

[DOUBLE BOGEY]

AirJordan, some medical authorities (UK CAA Included) used to offer offer a "Lantern" test to determine the quantity of the defect in colour vision. I am unsure how this translates in EASALand. Could be worth checking out.

[[email protected]]

A chap I went through training with passed all the stringent RAF medical checks and it was only discovered he was red/green colour blind during helicopter night flying when he couldn't see the differences in the angle of approach indicator.

As DB says, there are better tests nowadays which may identify the level of your friends problem.

[helonorth]

I would think the night flying restriction would be a deal breaker for most companies, even if they don't regularly fly at night. Maybe a tour operator, though.

[AirJordan007]

Apparently she has went through OCVT ( Color Vision Test) and passed the map portion, but got a few colors wrong on the airstrip and that is what she ended up with on her medical. Her hopes are to be able to secure a job with a fire fighting company and she is hopeful that it is possible on account of being posted to a fire base, essentially away from the airport.

[havick]

Sounds like said pilot will be relegated to utility world, so best to start targeting experience towards that end.

[gulliBell]

If she was flying my helicopter and couldn't readily distinguish between red and green, particularly in EFIS cockpits where a performance parameter indication (rising bar) turns from all green to all red when reaching a limit, well, I wouldn't want her flying my helicopter if she couldn't readily tell if she was operating in the red or the green.

[Hedge36]

The issue isn't in distinguishing red from green in the cockpit - it's that (most often) distant and small lights are difficult to distinguish. This is why the on-field signal light test used to be the difference between living with a restriction or getting on with your career.

I am red/green deficient and never knew it until the Navy told me. Until that time I'd worked as an electrician for a number of years and had never found myself unable to determine which side of an aircraft or boat I was looking at (turns out the other visual cues make up for the color deficiency).

A sympathetic flight surgeon would often use his or her best judgement to determine whether or not you were able to carry out your duties without issue. Now, liability fears make that a non-starter, and you pretty much have to fly with a DE to prove that you can work around it.

Your friend will likely never work in passenger-carriage operations unless the employer is playing fast and loose with their insurance carrier.