wrestler170

Does anyone know of another commercial airline pilot who has to wear glasses, had cataract surgery before and/or is 20/50 but still able to fly?

I want to be a pilot but I had cataract surgery when I was younger and see 20/50 with contacts. I have talked to a few in the industry and they have said that the strict sight requirements are a thing of the past and they know many pilots who fly with serious diseases and with glasses and or contacts.

So, i would love any advice from anyone! Thank you!

rockelino

I don't think that's an issue. Go get an aviation medical (even a class-III) and find out for sure. You'll need it to solo anyway.

Zerosilver84

FAA website has the eye limits on there. Here's the link https://www.faa.gov/about/office_org/headquarters_offices/avs/offices/aam/ame/guide/standards/

Looks like 20/50 corrected might be a disqualification. Distant vision has to be 20/20 corrected for a first class medical.

Bottom line is go to an AME and see if you can pass a first class medical eye exam.

AllYourBaseAreB

20/50 is pretty bad, is that distance or near? If you can get a class 1, you qualify, special issuance or not

Azpilot06

If you have a stable, non-progressive condition, and can demonstrate that you’re able to accomplish necessary aviation tasks (tuning radios, seeing runway numbers, identifying other airplanes, etc), you may be able to get a vision waiver through a statement of demonstrated ability (SODA). This is a near-permanent vision standard waiver, and is the pathway by which some pilots maintain a first class medical on vision below first class standards.

The process is not short, is not particularly easy, and you have no valid medical while the FAA spends 6-9 months chewing on your paperwork. At the end of it (if approved), the FAA will issue you a first-class medical that’s good for -one day-. That medical is so you can act as PIC for your medical flight test with a FAA examiner, who will run you through the SODA tasks in flight. The tasks are not difficult, and if you can’t pass them, you probably shouldn't have a third class medical either.

SODA is a one-and-done waiver, so the juice is worth the squeeze if you know you want to fly for a living. That said, since it does require a MFT where you’re acting as PIC with pax aboard, it probably makes sense to get a third class, get your PPL, and then plan to be grounded for 6-9 months while you see if you can upgrade.

Good luck, if you decide to pursue it.

highfarfast

I would talk to someone from here before I actually went to an AME:

https://www.leftseat.com/

rickair7777

You probably need to talk to an aviation medicine consulting company to get a definitive answer. AMAS is popular and there are others.

It is possible to get a SODA (statement of demonstrated ability) via a medical flight test to demonstrate that you can safely fly with <20/20 vision. A medical flight test involves going up in a small airplane with an FAA inspector, I'm not sure how that would be handled with someone applying for an initial medical with no pilot experience. I suspect you might need to take some flying lessons first, you do not need a medical to take lessons with an instructor.

Also are both eyes 20/50? Or just one? If you have one good eye, it's pretty easy to get a SODA, there are one-eyed airline pilots out there, literally with eye patches.

If your vision with both eyes is 20/50, I'm not sure they'd go for that honestly. The vision limit for private pilots (PPL) is 20/40, I could see them allowing you a third class medical for PPL with 20/50, but a first or second class for commercial flying seems iffy. Again a consulting company should know the answers.

Do you already have corrective corneal implants? Many pilots get those, and enjoy good distance vision. If you look into that, for aviation you probably want monocular implants for distant vision in both eyes. The FAA does not like multi-focal implants, or having distance correction in one eye and near correction in the other. The FAA is more tolerant of near and intermediate vision, the standard is 20/40, so you can just wear cheaters if necessary.

May need to look into getting the surgery done again, most folks have much better results than 20/50 but of course I don't know if you have some complication which would affect that.

wrestler170

Good afternoon all, I am curious about some of the medical requirements to be a commercial pilot? I have had several discussions either online or with some people I know personally that are or were an airline pilot for a major airline but wanted to get some more info from others in the industry. I have had cataract surgery when I was younger and now see 20/50 with contacts/glasses. That is my only medical issue. From those who I have had conversations with, they stated that the eye sight requirement for a first class medical is not near are strict as it use to be and had relaxed significantly. Another person said they had flown with pilots who were missing fingers, blind in one eye and had cancer (different people for each) so it shouldn't be and issue to get cleared.

Does anyone here know of any other pilots who have had cataract surgery or eye sight like mine and have any insight into this situation or any insight at all?

Thank you!