A lack of uniformity in assessing pilots with color vision deficiency (CVD) is encouraging “aeromedical tourism,” with pilots seeking out aeromedical examiners in countries most likely to accept their particular deficiencies and issue medical certificates, according to a new study.1
The study was conducted by Dougal B. Watson, principal medical officer of the New Zealand Civil Aviation Authority, and a report on its findings was published in the February issue of Aviation, Space, and Environmental Medicine. The report concluded that “the medical assessment of CVD applicants is not performed consistently across the world. Factors that favor uniformity have been inadequate to encourage countries toward consistent medical assessment outcomes.”
This inconsistency does not conform to “the highest practicable degree of uniformity in medical assessment outcomes,” the report said.
Setting Standards
CVD is an inability to see some shades of color…
