USMCFLYR

Oh great....something else for me to look forward too!
So...at least tell me if I got the colors right this time!

USMCFLYR

tomgoodman

A former regional chief FAA AME told me the same thing years ago, minus the "until this is all over with" phrase. He said that it is always easier to get a First Class renewed than to get a Second Class "upgraded" to a First, even with identical medical conditions.

Coach45

Is there a way to get the 2nd upgraded to a 1st. The reason I ask is I hold a color vision SODA for a 2nd class that I got back in 2003. It is not a completly unrestricted medical for I failed the SLT during the day but passed at night. "Not valid for flight by color control signal during daylight hours".

Anyway, I guess I never thought it would take much to get this restriction put on my 1st class, but there is a lot of resistance from the FAA. OKC told me no I could not without taking the MFT again under the new rules, but if I fail the MFT for any reason, they warned me the FSDO administering the test has the power to revoke my 2nd class SODA.

Also I checked the Flight Standards Information System and found nothing to affirm this standard that the FAA is enforcing. The readings did say if you have a 3rd class you cannot upgrade to a 2nd or 1st, but everything that I read treated the 2nd and 1st class medicals the same way.

Any advice is greatly appreciated

Dan64456

I bet you the change they are going to make has something to do with reducing their calls / workload at the expense of the pilot applicant. Those hard nosed pricks have too much power. They are probably getting hammered with calls / requests about this since it is so unreasonable and apparently affects a lot more people than they ever anticipated. So now I won't take anymore prescription drugs to lose my ability to tell colors apart. What a crock. I can't believe this doesn't violate the ADA... Think about it. This DOES affect daily life because if you are desk bound because of it, that can cause depression, etc. You do have to go to the desk pretty much daily, am I right? There are no cases where color vision actually caused an accident. That ups or fedex 727 accident was a hoax. The only thing that had to do with color vision in that accident was the doctors/NTSB attacking it and ignoring all of the REAL causes. (Fatigue, condensation on the PAPI lights, the 2 other pilots looking at the same PAPI and not noticing the red lights EITHER, and the fact that the FO admitted to cheating on the falant to begin with which is besides the point... his deficiency apparently didn't affect red/white discrimination at all.)

The NTSB is a joke as well. Their ex president (now a lawyer) was the same guy that said all turboprops should be grounded after the Colgan Dash 8 q400 accident. How much credibility can we possibly give these people after comments like that? Ambulance chasers. all of them.

rickair7777

Since most of the public does have to go to work in a cubicle, that will probably never be considered a disability.

Who knows? The NTSB specifically blamed the FO's lack of color vision. They are somewhat impartial, and not as prone to political manipulations as the FAA. I doubt they would say it without good reason.

Dan64456

You know what else irks me... Certain doctors get snappy with people who ask them lots of questions about the color vision thing. It's like you know what buddy? What if someone told you that you aren't allowed to be a doctor anymore even if you never made a mistake or did anything wrong?

This issue simply doesn't get enough input from valid and knowledgeable sources.

Wildflyin

Yeah, they sited the FO's color vision as a cause because they have to list every single probable addition (kind of like just about every accident gets listed along with "pilot's failure to..."). The problem here is that you had another pilot who did not have a color vision deficiency.

CaptainTeezy

So what exactly is going to happen???

Coach45

So here is my other point about this MFT deal. How can they possibly enforce this fairly. Where I am from 8 months out of the year the ground is completley covered in snow. This doesn't make sense. If the ops inspector asks me to pick out a black dirt or a non swampy field to land in. Im just gonna laugh. Futhermore, when there is 80+ inches of snow on the ground from an entire winter of abuse, how can one even pick out slight changes in terrain??????

Now I am just complaining and not getting the root of the problem but it is sooo frustrating and I regret not taking care of this a year ago before the rules changed. I am in talks with my AME so I will see what he says.

Does anyone recommend a consulting service??? or would they even be able to do anything in this situation. Let me know.

Coach45

As I am writing on this forum I notice around 1100 people are currently viewing this specific topic. Other forums have talked about a website being launched. Someone out there has to have the resources to be able to do this. It just would be nice get us all together on this one and let the government know how many pilots this will affect. Maybe it wouldn't change things right now but who knows in the future.

Once this industry bounces back there is going to be a severe lack of qualified pilots. The age 65 rule and lack of flight training for new pilots, amoung other things. My fed told me a stat when I took my CFI ride that in 2008 there were 21 new CFI applicants opposed to 120+ in 07'. I know there is a lot of factors that go into this i.e. the hiring boom but at my flight school we have seen a large downturn in flight training and fuel sales.

My point is pilots are needed and the industry may not feel the effect of loosing a few qualified pilots right now but in the future we are going to be called upon. We all should come together on this one.