AME MEDICALS ABOLISHED.

[howell]

Any news on when the CAA will cast aside the need for AME Medicals.

[Chris Martyr]

Funnily enough, there was a similar query on the BMAA forum recently. Amongst the replies was quite an interesting one-liner from Geoff Weighell, in which he says that the CAA will be responding in April 2016 . There seems to be an equally interesting situation across the pond , as the FAA look to be heading in a very similar direction.
I must say, I'm also looking forward to seeing the outcome of all this. When the CAA start putting out consultations on a subject like this, it often signifies the shape of things to come and I don't believe it will be anything like the dreaded airspace consultations , where one half of the aviation community is fighting the other half, this one's a bit more clear cut and has a pretty unanimous body of support behind it I reckon.

[Alan Kilbride]

You may think it's clear cut.

Except some of the AMEs who have vested interest in making £120 for a session with someone who they neither know or have the evidential medical history of.
I am all for a thorough medical, but as someone who has regular medicals for my profession, I see the whole Pilot medical scheme as a scam to extricate cash from as many people as possible including new AMEs who have to pay a Kings ransom to be able to conduct medicals that a trained Monkey is almost capable of.
Why did the Austro/German empire create such a fuss over EASA medicals when no one else did? Do their pilots crash more than any other due to bad health?
Show me the evidence.....and I mean show me, not patronize me.

[Chris Martyr]

Hmmm, I'm all worried now. Has Alan seen something that I haven't. Am I looking at this too simplistically ? Well I didn't think so .
Christopher's post relates to the CAA consultation , which most of us probably received back in about August regarding pilot medical declarations as opposed to Class 2 medicals carried out by an AME.

It means that , along with LAPL and NPPL , CAA-PPL holders may soon , subject to consultation, also be able to obtain a medical by a declaration of fitness to their GP, as opposed to jumping through the AME Class 2 hoops.
The OP was simply enquiring as to when we may all hear a response, which hopefully will be around April 2016.
Now, that all seems pretty clear cut to me , and will mean that many recreational pilots will be spared the rigmorale of the £120.00 a throw [and the rest] AME's that Alan refers to.
Licences issued by the "Austro/German" empire will mostly be confined to CPL/ATPL type licences. And not really applicable to what most of us fly .

Incidentally, anyone who reckons that the Euro-Meddlers have made a right dogs breakfast of pilot licensing should talk to engineers who had to exchange their old Section-L licences for these wretched EASA Part-66 licences
I'm not going to even start .

[howell]

As I read the CAA paper I understood that if you were fit to hold a driving license you were fit to hold a PPL. So unless it comes to be that your GP can dob you in to DVLA we should be able to fly on Happy Days.

[Alan Kilbride]

My point is that there were extremely robust views put up by the AME fraternity when lapl medicals were discussed and if anyone thinks for one minute they will go away, they may be very much mistaken. The costs in time and money in becoming an AME is an investment I wouldn't like to make. If I had, then losing such a large proportion of my customer base would seriously upset me.
I have yet to see evidence that a Class 2 medical issued by an AME is as valid as a medical supplied by my own practice.
My own practice would base their opinions on my current state of health alongside my medical history and as such should be promoted as being safer then 1/2 hr having a similar consultation with someone who doesn't know me from Adam.
I haven't seen anything more than you Chris. I am just aware that there are forces working in the background that have vested interests.
Alan

[Chris Martyr]

I can see what you're getting at now Alan. Your post has caused me to do a bit of "google-trawling".

The ballyhoo amongst the AME fraternity stemmed from the response to CAP1214, the consultation which was out between Oct and Dec 2014, dealing with the CAA'a role as medical regulator/service provider. I seem to remember that my AME's nurse [also his wife] telling me about a rather heated meeting that they attended at CAA-LGW concerning the above.
Even if CAA-PPL's get to operate using a GP issued Declaration, they will still come under the oversight of the CAA and the AME's will still also be carrying out examinations of Professional air crews, ATCO's and those with EASA-PPL's . I guess a cynic would say that they are passing over the CAA 'gold plating' to an external source.
Anyway, I am still hoping that the consultation which the OP referred to , which appeared last Summer linked in to the LAA Newsletter will all turn out OK. The title of the thread perhaps should not read 'AME Medicals Abolished' , as that is patently not the case. But I think I know what he means.

[Alan Kilbride]

I have my fingers crossed for a happy result Chris. I can only assume this would apply to flying in the UK for the time being, with a view to expanding into EASA land once we are able to use evidence that Pilots aren't dying at the controls because their own doctor was not qualified by the powers that be.
I am all for using evidence to prove a case and feel that we need to prove something that doesn't happen, yet the AME monopoly don't need to prove that it will. Quite bizzare in my opinion.
I had a quick look at the costs and time involved for a GP just to become qualified to conduct Class 2 medicals. Eye watering and really shambolic. No wonder they want to protect their interests.
Having a class 2 medical doesn't seem much different to a HGV medical except for the ECG every other year, but surely a GP is able to conduct such a complicated task. It's only an indication that you may have had an episode, not that you will have one. The boxes on the PC screen don't look too difficult either.
AME for class 1 and above should be acceptable, yet doesn't stop a Pilot from having a heart attack or one of those brain thingies at 35000ft over the Atlantic.

I know what you may be thinking................self opinionated little sh**e, but it takes all sorts.

Alan

[howell]

The original intention with my post was to generate some discussion amongst us hobby pilots.
Over the years I have held a PPL and as time has gone along I began to question the relevance of the medical.
As the CAA have been arriving at the conclusion that the safety of pilots who pass CAA Medicals appears to have no bearing on making flying safer.
One could look at the millions of car drivers who roam around our roads creating a far greater hazard for all manner of reasons even if they are medically fit!!
It may well be more helpful to add in medical information to the GASCO Safety evenings and make it mandatory for pilots to attend these annually as the GASCO Evenings could be more relevant to flying on a practical level.

[Chris Martyr]

I've just read Brian Davies' column in the latest LA mag [Jan'16] . Although not really about licensing , but one of the lead-in phrases is ; "If I were 18 again". Well, I think the old boy has inadvertently hit the nail right on the head. All of this is an age thing isn't it ?
If we were all to start again, we'd probably go into a flying club , look at the choices, I.E. Full EASA PPL or EASA LAPL. Both allow flying in Europe, except one of them is more orientated to hobby flying.
Both can have medicals issued by an AME , but with the LAPL you can have it done by your GP as it doesn't entail so much.
Were a flying school to go into the other types of licences around, the student would probably wonder what the hell they were on about.
Anyway, wind the clock back to when most of us started flying and it was even simpler ! All you had was "the PPL". That nicely leather bound ,gold embossed piece of treasure that you just wanted to show off to everyone . Then one day they removed the class3 medical for a class2, then to restrict the damage done, they brought in the NPPL, then they said you could use your CAA-PPL as an NPPL , then it changed again and said you couldn't, then came the EASA licences and by then us poor old fuds didn't know if we wanted a sh*t or an 'aircut.........
Anyway, the possibility of the CAA-PPL being removed from needing a class2 medical is good, good news . You can still use it abroad if flying a non-EASA type, which is most of us isn't it ?

I'm sure that once the dust has settled amongst the AME fraternity, they will find that their workload isn't much different than before. Also, ironically, given that GP's don't appear to have any hard or fast tariffs for these charges , it may even be feasible for some to continue using an AME for their medical matters.
Roll on April , hopefully we will have a chance to choose.

Apologies to folk who've not got the mag yet. But there's a great pic of that Lord Rotherwick chappie in it , and his RV, G-LEMI [ funny, I wouldn't have had him down as a MotorHead fan, ]