Class 1 OML without cpl?

[Tib4400]

Hey all

A weird situation I found myself in.

I I underwent surgery that would put an oml restriction on my class one for two years. not sure what this 2 years period was based on I'm probably going to challenge this anyways as CAA yet to provide evidence to my doc.

Anywhere here's the thing I had my class one medical before surgery. I am doing an integrated atpl course and I'm about to start my CPL training. However, EASA REGULATions are rather unclear on how oml is applied leaving it to state interpretation.

What I have been told is that they can only issue OML to CPL holders, but in order to have CPL I need to have a class 1. Catch 22 huh? There was a guy in the UK with similar experience (he was diagnosed with HIV) and basily the situation was that it's okay to have HIV if you have a CPL but if you don't have a CPL and have HIV you can't have class 1 OML. I don't have HIV but the legal issue is the same essentially.

Question is, can easa grant class 1 OML if I don't have a CPL? I read the relevant par med and it is very vague, does not explicitly state that you can only have OML if you have CPL.

My frustration is that this isn't a fitness question, rather the typical bureaucratic headache.

Thanks for the help!

[Fostex]

I think you have that slightly backwards, the issue of your Class 1 medical does not require any licence to be held, you need a valid medical to exercise the privileges of a licence, not the other way around. Any aspiring pilot can undergo a Class 2 or Class 1 initial medical to assess whether they have any issues contra-indicated to them undertaking flight training. However to hold and exercise the privileges of a CPL, you need a valid Class 1 medical.

In the UK, it used to be the case that an OML could only be applied to an existing Class 1. However that has changed several times in the past couple of years and my Class 1 initial was issued with an OML in 2012 (I had an OML in place for several years following a head injury - since then the OML has been removed). I am not sure of the current status and it does vary country by country in EASA-land. I would advise that you discuss with the local regulatory authority.