CASA Class 1 medical validity period
 

Hi all
Just wondering if anyone else has gone down the same path and the result?

Received my Class 1 after a months delay in assessing, I understand there's a backlog from covid, this is not a spray against CASA.

The validity is just under 5 months as starts from application date not issuance date so I've lost over 16% of my expected validity.

I have raised an enquiry/suggestion to CASA that it is unfair and unreasonable that I am penalised for something totally out of my control.
Once assessed there were no additional tests/information required regards my application.

Be interesting to see the response.

Cheers

If I renew my class 1 medical that has just recently expired, will the DAME be able to renew it on the spot and then CASA issues the certificate a few weeks later? As what happened in the past and the medical was issued for 12 months.

This used to happen with the ASIC’s until a good friend of mine who is the founder of the RV aircraft association in Australia, went to the Ombudsman and the situation was rectified.

It sounds like a similar approach may be required to rectify this.

That's what happens in a perfect world. If there's no issues, you can have the new medical (not extension) in your inbox before you leave your DAMEs office. But if it needs a tick from CASA, you'll be waiting the best part of two months at the moment.

Perhaps I should clarify:
- I allowed my Class 1 to elapse as nothing was happening recruitment wise (for me at least) at the start of this year
- over 60yo and appeared in an age "cycle" where I would have to do 2 major medicals 6 months apart, by holding off the major medicals are now down to 1 per year.

My query is why my medical should only be valid for just under 5 months through no cause/delay created by myself.
Cheers

Because Avmed interprets and applies the rules in whatever way will be the most inconvenient, costly and intrusive for you. Of course, it's dressed up in safety rhetoric: The timing is determined by reference to the date on which the examination or whatever happened that produced evidence of your fitness occurred, not the date on which Avmed gets around to assessing that evidence and issuing the certificate, because you could suffer some condition 6 months and 1 day after the examination and bring down a Jumbo Jet. To Avmed, those periods are holy writ. (To qualified medical practitioners and specialists the periods are arbitrary, anachronistic and not justified on the basis of evidence and risk, but Avmed knows better.)

Another thing that has caught a few people out is that for international flights ICAO Annex 1 specifies that the medical is valid for 12 months from the date of issue (6 months from date of issue if you are over 60) and this frequently does not align with the expiry date shown on your CASA medical.

Example ; your CASA medical expires on June 30th, but for convenience you renew it on May 5th. Your new CASA medical certificate (assuming you are under 60) will show an expiry date of June 30th the next year. It will also show the date of your last medical as May 5th 20XX, so if you get ramp checked overseas on May 6th the following year, your medical will be deemed invalid. This has unfortunately caught a few people out.

Just following up on original post.

Pleasant response from CASA, as per regs the validity is based on application date not issuance date.

Suppose fair enough - had it been assessed on application date (May 13th) expiry would have been + 6 months = November 13th....which is the current expiry of the recently received Class 1.

Obviously from my perspective a "bonus" month would have been nice, fortunately I didn't desperately need a Class 1 so the delay in assessment wasn't a deal breaker.

Cheers

I'm not over 60 yet, but due to the delays I thought I'd be a good chap and get my medical done 6 weeks early, especially as I had the reminder text from CASA 12 weeks early.

All good, but now my renewal date is now 6 weeks earlier. Had I done it 27 days early, then I would have kept my original expiry date.... I should have read 67.205 first, but then after that I might not have passed the blood pressure check.:}