Lasik etc changes afoot?
 

Rumour has it that CAA will now consider granting initial class 1 certification to people who like myself, have undergone refractive eye surgery. I believe there is a limit imposed in respect of pre-operative prescription, though in the case of lasik specifically, this seems groundless.
Can anyone shed any light on this.

I spoke to the CAA this week and they said that they would consider giving C1 medicals to people who have refractive surgery. They do not recommend refractive surgery for initial medical, but the optometrist did not say it was unacceptable.

However, for 12 months after the surgery you are declared temporarily unfit and are grounded. During this time you are required to have an assessment of you eyesight at 6 and 12 months post op to determine if your eyesight is still within the limits.

Word of warning, refractive surgery is not acceptable for correcting longsight and astigmatism, if the astigmatism was greater than +/-2 before undergoing surgery (this is the Cyl value on your prescription).

Most of the information is set out on the CAA website, however I would recommend speaking to the CAA directly about your individual case.

[This message has been edited by dcb (edited 18 August 2000).]