orange2dope

A new FAA policy went into effect on July 24th 2008. This new policy requires that the FALANT test must now be taken at every medical exam rather than only once. The problem here is that only a few AME's in the country have this test, and they will eventually retire. This pretty much makes the FALANT test inaccessible to the majority of the people who want to take it, unless they are fortunate enough to have an AME near by with one. Everyone else who wants to take it will be required invest LOTS of extra time and money to find an AME with one at every exam, which in my book is discrimination. You cannot rely on this test if you are going to be flying for a career. This new policy is absolutely ridiculous and needs to be challenged in court! The OCVT test administered by the FAA, is a very risky test to take because you only get one shot for life, and factors like weather conditions can make this test easier or harder to pass! The OCVT is now the only option for the roughly 8% of people with minor color deficiencies who want a LOE. This is obviously a political issue rather than a safety issue. From what I can interpret, this is a violation of the ADA. Can you guys give me some input here!

rickair7777

The ADA is probably not going to help...that one has already been tried.

In the late 90's several pilots sued some majors (UA and/or AA IIRC) over not getting hired due to their uncorrected vision. They tried to claim ADA, but the airlines won because it was determined that the need to wear glasses does not constitute a disability, which has to significantly impair daily living. I suspect color vision would be the same. Besides this is FAA, not the airlines so it would be harder to sue them.

joepilot

About 15 years ago two legally blind sisters tried to get pilot jobs at United. (They could see with Coke bottle type glasses, but legally blind without).

The court decided that "not being blind" was a bona fide occupational qualification for being a pilot.

Joe

vagabond

orange2dope, if you believe that you have a legal claim, that you have been wronged or that the legal system can provide the proper redress, you should contact a good lawyer to file a lawsuit on your behalf. After some research, this lawyer will tell you if your interpretation of the ADA is correct. Or you can contact your state EEOC and file a discriminatory claim.

Any opinion on the forums is just that - opinions from pilots. Most are good ones, but they carry no weight in a court of law. Even my opinion here is less than useless!

Dan64456

The key difference in this case is that bad vision does, in fact, impede safety... Being slightly green weak does not. Not even close.

SAT FLYER

I second that!

rickair7777

Exactly what level of color vision is safe or unsafe will be determined by the FAA...that is their statutory responsibility, and a court would be loath to interfere with something like that barring obvious misconduct on the part of the rule-makers (conflict of interest, bribes, etc).

The airlines got sued because they required a higher vision standard than the FAA did...that is asking for it, and fewer airlines even bother doing their own medical exam these days.

But based on the existing legal precedent regarding uncorrected vision, an ADA claim on color vision would get thrown out because poor color vision is not a disability per the ADA. It does not really impair daily living...even traffic lights are mounted in a specific order so you do not need to actually see the color, only which one is lit up.

If a bunch of folks get screwed by an FAA rule change, you guys should get together and lobby the FAA and congress. A lawsuit would probably be a last resort.

rotorhead1026

Orange -

Here's a thread that might help.

http://www.airlinepilotforums.com/pi...r-allowed.html

My understanding is that if you've already got a color vision SODA then you're grandfathered, although if it's not for a Class I then it doesn't apply when you DO go for this class.

I say this in the most friendly and fraternal way ... calm down. Get some facts. There are AME's around who specialize in this sort of thing. Find one. It'd be a shame to get wound up over color vision only to bust a medical over hypertension! :D

Lawsuit? C'mon ...

AOPA has a medical forum (there's a link to it on the thread above). ALPA aeromedical is a good source if you're eligible. Like the slogan says ... "information is power". :)

skidmark

If if you already have a "SODA" are you grandfathered in or not?

rotorhead1026

Yup, AFAIK. Cal your issuing AME to be sure. :)