Long-standing Class 1 declared unfit years later – SOLI deadlock
 

I’m looking for practical ideas or experience rather than medical opinions.

I hold an EASA ATPL and earned my living as a professional pilot for many years.
I originally held a UK Class 1 medical, which was transferred to the LBA in 2019 without any objections. The medical was renewed several times thereafter.

In 2024, without any new medical findings or any change in my condition, the LBA reassessed the case and reached a different conclusion, declaring me unfit.

Since then, the LBA has also refused to allow a SOLI transfer to another EASA authority, effectively preventing any independent reassessment by a different CAA.

I’m not asking for a medical judgement here, but I would be interested to hear whether anyone has:
– seen similar cases where a long-standing medical was reinterpreted years later without new findings, and
– experienced a situation where the current authority then blocked SOLI, leaving no practical route for a second opinion.

At this point, I’m simply trying to understand whether anyone has ideas or has seen workable ways out of this kind of deadlock.

Can you not just go and get a new medical from a different Authority? I don't see how any authority can block a SOLI. Surely it's up to the new authority whether they take you or not. If the LBA won't let you go then you always have the option to surrender your LBA licence and jump through whatever hoops are necessary to get a fresh EASA licence. Have you got a CAA ATPL? There are still authorities that will give you an EASA licence based on your CAA one.

Thanks for your thoughts.

Under Part-MED and Part-ARA, once a licence has a defined State of Licence Issue, another EASA authority cannot simply issue a new Class 1 independently. A SOLI requires cooperation between authorities and transfer of the full licensing and medical records.

In practice, without that transfer, another authority will not reassess the case.

Surrendering the licence does not necessarily remove the underlying medical status or the historical record, which would still need to be disclosed.

That’s essentially where the deadlock arises.

I am no expert in SOLI but reading the legislation it is not intended to be used to obtain a second opinion nor to circumvent an Authority's refusal to provide a medical. Is this not a situation where you do not have a license so there is nothing to transfer? If so then you would need to challenge the review of your records. This is obviously not what you want but depending on the details may be the easier path. You are welcome to DM me.

Thank you – that’s a reasonable observation.

My understanding is that ARA.GEN.360 does not contain an explicit prohibition on transfer in cases where a medical has been revoked. The associated GM appears to envisage that full licensing and medical records, including any enforcement history, are to be transferred so that the receiving authority can make its own assessment.

I fully accept that SOLI is not designed as an appeal mechanism. However, if transfer were categorically refused in such situations, it would effectively mean that a single authority’s reinterpretation becomes structurally final, with no possibility of independent reassessment within the EASA framework.

That structural aspect is what makes the situation difficult.

Germany has had an issue with their medical confidentiality laws and transferring medicals - is it to do with that?

I agree with Radgirl. Challenging the LBA decision may be the only route. That said, my own and others' experience with Transport Canada attempting to get reasoned and complete explanation from aviation medical authorities is tooth gnashing and hair pulling difficult:mad:

Your pilot association or union may have a medical panel that may be able to help you. AOPA and EAA in the US do good work helping pilots regain medicals.

Thank you – yes, the formal route is currently being pursued.

I agree that these situations can become surprisingly rigid once an authority has taken a position.

I’m also exploring professional association support in parallel.

deltahotel Thanks – confidentiality has been mentioned in other contexts, but in this case the issue is not data protection as such. The transfer would be based on regulatory cooperation between authorities, and full consent on my side would of course be given.

The difficulty arises from the interpretation that a revoked/suspended medical prevents transfer altogether.
Radgirl I have sent you a DM.

Contact a lawyer
 

I am sorry to read that.
In this situation I would contact a lawyer for advice. I can recommend Stefan Hinners or Schroeder & Schroeder. They are specialists for air law and medicals.
And maybe ask the LBA to send you the files (Akteneinsicht). If nothing happens, try again. You can DM me if you need more information.
Good luck :)

I would recommend you to get advice from a lawyer. I can recommend you Stefan Hinners or Schroeder & Schroeder. They are experts in air law, medicals and dealing with the LBA. You can write me if you need more information.

I have been in contact with both. No help (unfortunately).

I am sorry to read that :( . Maybe try to contact Vereinigung Cockpit. Also maybe some doctors can help (Dr. Roland Quast from AeMC Stuttgart).
Also I heard some EASA states accept if you send them your files. So you have to request the your medical files from the LBA. Also I would recommend to contact austro control, they seem to be more pragmatic. Good luck with your research.

@EASA-Transfer:
I just wonder about whether you're observing what's happening currently considering the LBA and it's Aeromedical Section (Referat L6).
First of all, the LBA points out, that it does not support transfers, once the applicant is unfit to fly and his/hers medical revoked. Written here https://www.lba.de/DE/Luftfahrtperso...izin_node.html "Änderung der Rechtsauffassung des LBA zum Transfer bei Untauglichkeit..."
As stated above, there is no legal reason to deny the transfer, the EU doesn't have any objections, only the LBA wants to prevent this as they're are now under close scrutinity of the EASA (next EASA-Audit planned for the 20th of May) and the German Ministry of Trafic, Infrastructure etc (BMV).
Forget about the mentioned lawyers, both are low brain lawyers with no real opportunites and the only matter they're interested in is grabbing your money. Nina Naske in Braunschweig might be more professional, however to mandate her will cost you 20000-30000€ at least.
May be you better check with Nina Coppik - https://flugtauglichkeit.info ?

Secondly, there has been a "Runder Tisch" with the BMV the 9th of February in Berlin, with a follow-on (virtual) meeting 4 weeks later. Read about this on the site of the Vereinigung Cockpit

https://www.vcockpit.de/newsroom/vc-...offen-benannt/
https://www.vcockpit.de/newsroom/meh...ungsverfahren/

I guess you better should adress to them and the "Arbeitsgruppe Operational Health Management" (AG OHM), [email protected], as an anglosaxon forum with only low participation of german pilots wont help you (as most of the countries represented here have professional national aviation authoritites in contrary to Germany)

Farnsworth I have also been in contact with VC ... no help. Just talked to one of their lawyers last week.
Do you know, which EASA authorities accept the medical record send by the applicant, rather than the outgoing authority?
Or even doing a new initial EASA Class 1?
However, even if some EASA CAA accepts my medical file send by me (or my AME), or in case they accept a new initial Class 1 at one of their AeMCs, how to get the licence transfered? Any ideas are appreciated. Thanks.

Hi @Memphis_Hubert,
Yes, I do follow the latest "developments" in Germany, just struggling to see any improvements. Agreements are still not being adhered to, and emails remain unanswered (Feb/Mar 2026).