HIGH REFRACTIVE ERRORS AND THE ACCIDENT INCIDENT RATE IN CANADIAN MEDICAL CATEGORY-1 PILOTS/

Background: Since 1982, the Canadian Civil Aviation Medicine Division has medically certified to Category 1 standard commercial and airline transport pilots whose visual correction was in excess of +/- 3.5 diop ters (D). Method: A review between the years 1982 and 1991 of the 253 pilots who had been medically certified, although they were outside th e standard, was conducted. We determined if there was any difference i n the accident/incident rate in this group as compared with the Canadi an general aviation population standardized to a rate per 100,000 flyi ng hours. The 253 pilots were divided into two groups with Group A hav ing a refractive error outside the range +/- 5.7 D and Group B having a refractive error range of +/- 3.5 to +/- 5.6 D. Results: The Group A rate was within the expected range of accidents and incidents per 100 ,000 flying hours. The accident/incident rate in Group B was significa ntly lower than the expected average. Conclusion: In conclusion, the C anadian Civil Aviation Medicine Division's policy on granting ''flexib ility'' to applicants with moderate to high refractive errors has not affected adversely the accident or incident rate and therefore has not compromised aviation safety.