MoonShot

I use to have the SODA for my color vision and a few years back went through the EAA (yes with an E) to get a "letter of competence" vs. the SODA. FWIW, my new AME said that they prefer to see this letter to the SODA after the FedEx 727 crash being somewhat attributed to the color blind FO (this month's AOPA mag. has the story). Its just a paperwork deal. The EAA took care of it no problem. I just keep that letter on file at the AME and never have to take the color test.

To get the SODA, I did the light gun test too. CAUTION though, if you fail this test, you'll always have the night flying restriction on the medical. If you try the other approved tests, I think that you can take them until you pass. Someone correct me if I'm wrong. In hindsight, I'd have done the light gun test last.

rickair7777

It is worth noting however, that all military flying jobs (and most non-flying officer jobs) will require perfect color vision. They are quite anal about this and it is not waiverable, so you may want to steer your kid towards the civilian end. He could still go enlisted in some specialties, if he wanted to serve and get VA education benies.

SkyWestPilot1

Thats what I figured. At 12 I can still influence him alot, thats why I thought I'd better find this out now. Thanks again.

Thedude

That is illegal under the ADA.

JetJocF14

SkyWestPilot1: When I was 16 and learning to fly I had a tough time passing the Faa color blind test and was initially going to get a third class with no night flying stamped on it. Really was going to put a dampner on my airline dreams. Somehow passed the retest.

Later when I was flying Tomcat fighters for the Navy I discovered as mentioned above that the Navy uses a Farnsworth Latern setup for the colorblind test. It is a device that shoots out 2 colored light like red over white or green over green, or white over white. In fact the other way which are called psudocromatic plates is the find the number in the circle. This is the test most FAA doc's use but in fact the Navy does not consider psudocromatic plates to be a valid test. Also a lot of people have a tough time reading the number unless it really pops out at you.

So in a nustshell after almost 700 carrier landings and about a third of them at night. I've been flying for the airlines for the past 22 years. Have your son tested using other means. Good luck.........

P.S. Thank god the spelling gene isn't connected to the eye gene or I'd really be screwed.

motoboy

I actually had no night flying restrictions placed on my student pilot certificate, even if I eventually get this waivered by the FAA could it negatively effect a possible airline career?

JetJocF14

I don't think so. If you can see the colors you can see the colors. That dosen't mean some airlines won't give you a ration of s*it. When I was interveiwing at A/A and doing the color test, nurse Rachet told me I was color blind. I said I'm not I have over 700 carrier landings and the Navy dosen't let people who might be land on aircraft carriers. Especially at night. Still had to get a letter from my flight surgeon and this was where I was introduced to the reason the navy uses the Farnsworth Latern system.

After I sent in the letter to A/A I was called in for phase-2.

Good Luck............

motoboy

Cool, thanks alot.

rickair7777

That's what you might think. However...many airlines publish hiring mins that exclude waivers or restrictions (other than corrective lenses). In the late 90's the airlines spent a great deal of money and fought some major legal battles to ensure that the ADA will not be applied to airline pilots in most cases.

The key cases involved the requirement for vision that was 20/100 uncorrected. This used to be the FAA standard for a 1st. Class Medical, but the FAA dropped this requirement in the mid-90's and went to the standard used today: Correctable to 20/20. Several majors (UA and AA for sure) decided they wanted to keep the 20/100 uncorrected requirement and rejected some applicants who held a first class medical. Some of these pilots sued under ADA, and the end result was this:

The ADA only applies to disabilities which significantly impair the person's daily living. 20/400 vision was determined to not impair normal living because it can easily be fixed with glasses/contacts. Therefore the ADA did not apply to these pilots. I assume color-vision issues would also be found to not impair daily living.

Basically anything that would actually impair daily living to the point of qualifying for the ADA would probably disqualify you from a first class medical anyway.

The good news is that I think all of the airlines (except probably AA) have dropped the 20/100 uncorrected requirement, which was silly to begin with.

rickair7777

It depends on the nature of the waiver...many airlines will not accept a medical with a waiver (see their web pages). In your case you would want to get a letter of competence from the FAA authorizing an AME to issue you an unrestricted first class based on previous demonstrated ability to see colors. An airline would only see a clean first class medical in that case.