JAR class one medical EEG
 

I went over to Gatwick for a class one initial medical. Passed everything great apart from what i have been told was - and i quote 'an apparent minor abnormality in the electrical activity in my brain'. After going back for a sleep deprived EEG, the abnormality was still present and class one certification was denied!! I have never has any form of seizure, there is no family history and i have never had any head injury or been unconcious.

After having received a letter from Gatwick telling me that the EEG is 'unfortunately an unreliable test' i started to look into the whole EEG thing a bit more. The JAR has been debating over the last couple of years whether or not to keep the EEG on as a test due to it's innacuracy and debate amongst leading neurologists as to whether it is a reliable test to determine whether someone will have a seizure or not.

I am currently appealing the decision and attended a consultation with a private nerologist who looked at the trace they did at Gatwick. He said that i was not in any way photo sensitive - (i.e. the flashing lights weren't going to cause a seizure) and that there was only one spike during the hyperventiliation. He said that about 1 in 100 people show the signs of abnormality that will never have a seizure and has agreed to repeat an EEG with me privately. He said i have no risk to my health and if i was a patient of his under normal circumstances he would not need to give me any treatment or label me at risk of having a seizure. However the JAR only see black or white as the regulations stipulate - abnormality of any king = fail.

Another MASSIVE LOOPHOLE in the JAR regulations is that if you already hold an FAA, a canadian, australian, new zeland, or south african medical none of which require an EEG, they will convert it without giving you an EEG. So basically they are saying we dont care if you have an abnormailty so go right ahead and fly since you already have a nice big medical that cost about 4 times less than ours.

However i was told by the doctor that i cannot go that route because they will have the abnormality on record at Gatwick. So right now my only option is to get an FAA medical train in america or one of the MANY other countries that doesn't require an EEG and then find work in one of those countries and then come back and hope to God they will give me a break. UNLESS OF COURSE I RUN AROUND HYPERVENTILATING FOR THE REST OF MY WORKING LIFE!!

Anyone have any ideas if this all sounds plausable?

Class 1 EEG
 

Hello All

I had my class 1 several days ago, all was straight forward and the results of the tests (exept EEG ) were confirmed to be ok on the day. As I was a little worried about the EEG I asked if it would be ok if I could call in a couple of days to get verbal results for the EEG, only reason I was worried about these resultsts was that have never had an EEG before.
I called Gatwick this morning and they said that an abnormality had shown up on one part of the test and that the Senior Technician would review it on Monday, as you can guess im very worried about this as this could mean my dream of being a commercial pilot are finished.
The lady on the phone did say that this was pretty normal and the Senior Tech needs to review at least half of all the results, I got the impression that she was saying it doesnt automatically mean a fail, or maybe she was just saying that coz she could hear the dissapointment in my voice.

Has anyone else had an experience like this ?????????

Gareth : How have you progressed with your appeal ???????

Regards

Howski

My understanding is that the CAA don't agree with having to do the EEG and would be quite happy to scrap the test. However because 1 or more the other JAA countries wish to keep it as part of the medical then the CAA have no choise but to keep it has part of the Class 1 medical.

Howski,

I just had my initial class 1 at Gatwick yesterday. Just as yourself everthing was fine except some abnormalities on the EEG even although I've never had a head injury or a seizure of any kind. I was told that this had to be refered to a specialist and would be over a week before this would happen.

What happened with your EEG? Did everthing work out in the end?

Cheers,

Fwlookle

QUOTE

Another MASSIVE LOOPHOLE in the JAR regulations is that if you already hold an FAA, a canadian, australian, new zeland, or south african medical none of which require an EEG, they will convert it without giving you an EEG. So basically they are saying we dont care if you have an abnormailty so go right ahead and fly since you already have a nice big medical that cost about 4 times less than ours

I hold an FAA class 1 medical and i am going for a CAA class1 soon i would be very interested in finding the official source to this loophole.


Thanks and good luck with the appeal

I believe to recieve the renew standards JAR initial medical you require a FAA comercial licence on top of your FAA class 1 medical certificate.


Best of luck with your appeals gents.

I had an EEG testing today.. and got a 'mildly abnormal' diagnosis (generalised sharp waves and theta waves).

Do I have a chance of passing the Initial class 1 or is this automatically disqualifying?

Yes, it is true. If you hold an ICAO CPL or higher then you don't have to do the EEG or have a chest x-ray.
The medical at Gatwick is also cheaper. (~£200)

As far as I can tell any abnormality whatsoever has to be reviewed by a specialist. I THINK most of the time these are dismissed, sometimes you get asked back for a sleep deprived test. The technician told me not to worry too much as loads of people get referred to a specialist but they only fail between 6 or 8 people a year on the EEG out of about 1200.

I say THINK as I'm still waiting on a specialist to review mine!