EASA Medical Strengthening
 

I imagine quite a few folk have seen the reports of EASA introducing a more thorough approach to the investigation of mental health amongst pilots. Am I correct in thinking that the medical itself probably won't be any more difficult to pass?

The emphasis from what I can tell seems to be on the increased monitoring of pilots who are deemed to be a risk (i.e. previous mental health issues) as opposed to introducing blanket bans on any particular conditions which were not there before.

The basic Class 1 Medical standards don't change although the proposal that EASA have included in the Opinion to the EC includes a pre-line flying psychological evaluation, mandatory drug and alcohol testing and greater scrutiny on any historical mental health indicators such as familial attempted suicide and personal self harm.

Other changes will affect AME reporting and there will be measures in place to prevent medical 'tourism'.

I had a psych evaluation with tests and interview during initial for class 1 back in 2004.


Preventing medical tourism is understandable, as many clinics are losing millions of revenue and our pilot community is a valuable asset.

Most of the States don't currently administer any formal psychological evaluation though, hence the introduction and some structure.


The medical tourism issue is aimed at preventing an applicant who fails a medical for whatever reason in one State, travelling to another and successfully passing having masked the reason why they were previously unsuccessful.