LASIK of For ATCs?

[Flightjock30]

To all pilots and ATCS,
I hold a 1st class medical, but I can not be an ATC according to a website I went to that said you must have a prescription equal to or better than -5.50. My question therefore is if LASIK surgery is acceptable for Air Traffic Controllers? I am willing to take on the risk to get it done. Thanks.

 

[ATCER]

I have had Lasik... so has a dozen people I work with. I also work with people that have terrible uncorrected vision. I have no idea what -5.50 for a prescription means


As far as I know we only have to have vision corrected to 20/20 ... If you check out the FAA website that lists requirements for ATCS it also states that.

http://www.faa.gov/careers/employment/atc-quals.htm

We hold the equivalent to a second class medical, if you can hold a first class medical you will have no problem.

 

[Vector4fun]

What website was that? I've seen that figure before I think, but it was for European ATC medical standards I believe. Don't think you'll have a problem if you already hold a 1st Class.

 

[smellthejeta]

The vision standards for ATC, although a cose approximation of a second class airman's medical, have slight differences. For a flying class physical, you walk in, pass the test, walk out. If you can't meet the letter of the law, there are some ways to still be PIC in an aircraft.

ATC is not quite the same. No waivers/SODA's for vision. Your perscription must fall within a particular range. Be aware that there are a couple of different ways to write a perscription, and one of them has can "fail" you and the other can "pass" you. For 99% of the flying public, the two exams are synonymous. For that 1%, the technicalities have to be looked at closely.

 

[Lrjtcaptain]

one my of coworkers did lasik about 3 months ago. Sounds legal to me

 

[Sniper Bob]

Might also consider PRK. Basically the same procedure, except they scrape off the top layer of the eye instead of cutting the flap. The recovery time is longer, but once you are healed, you're healed. From what I remember, the flap never really heals.

I originally went in for LASIK. I told them my situation and they convinced me to go with PRK. They (the physicians) said they have seen trouble (vision fogging up) with LASIK patients when they are at high altitudes.

 

[DorkProp]

I've had no fogging problems since my LASIK 5 years ago.

 

[Pugh]

Sorry for the thread hijack, but I have a question for LASIK/PRK patients. Is there a certain age you should be before getting surgery like this? I know vision gets worse with age, so if you got surgery at 18 would it be a waste since it'll just get worse anyway?

 

[Flightjock30]

I NEED to have either LASIK or PRK done! I have quit my flying career from a regional after 4 1/2 years to attend college full time to become an air traffic controller with the FAA. I want to be an ATC more than anything in the world (I sound like a little kid, I know). I will not be able to become one however if I do not do something about my vision.
I am disqualified from becoming an ATC because I need corrective lenses for both near and far vision (legal for ATPs to have, but not acceptable for ATCs). I also have too strong of a prescription that corrects my vision to 20/20. I only found this out 5 days ago or so and have been in a terrible mood ever since. The FAA is going to be hiring in large numbers starting in 2006 (theyve already resumed hiring at EnRoute facilities) and I want to get on the list to get hired and enjoy a six figure salary with full federal benefits. John

 

[Vector4fun]

I NEED to have either LASIK or PRK done!
[snip]
I am disqualified from becoming an ATC because I need corrective lenses for both near and far vision (legal for ATPs to have, but not acceptable for ATCs). I also have too strong of a prescription that corrects my vision to 20/20. John

I still don't know who's telling you this.?! Man, I work around controllers that have to carry two pairs of glasses because simple bifocals don't get it done. I've been wearing bifocals for years. Have a great eye doc who helped optimize them for my work environment.

 

[DaveJ]

By the way, the -5.50 is in diopters (a measurement of lens strength). A negative number means you're nearsighted and a positive number means you're farsighted. I'm -4.5 in the left eye and -6.5 in the right eye. The difference between -4.5 and -6.5 is quite a bit. I can read the alarm clock with my left eye, but it is a total blur with my right eye. My brother was worse. He was -9.5 in one eye but had lasik and is now 20/20. I'd say go for lasik or prk.

 

[Flightjock30]

Here is the FAA regulation concering your eyes in order to become an ATC.



a. Eye.


(1) The applicant must demonstrate: Distant visual acuity of 20/20 in each eye separately, without correction, or distant visual acuity of 20/200 or better in each eye separately, with correction to 20/20 in each eye. Glasses or contact lenses are permitted. <----- I have 20/1600 uncorrected so I am disqualified.



(2) The applicant must demonstrate: Near visual acuity of v=.50 (or equivalent according to table of equivalent scale) or better in each eye separately without correction or near visual acuity of v1.25 or better in each eye separately, with correction to v=.50 in each eye. Glasses or contact lenses are permitted.



(3) An applicant who must utilize both glasses and contact lenses to demonstrate acceptable near and distant vision is disqualified.<---- This rule disqualifies me as well



(4) The applicant must demonstrate normal color vision.



(5) The applicant must demonstrate normal central and peripheral fields of vision.



(6) If any medication is routinely required for control of intraocular tension, the applicant is disqualified.



(7) The applicant must demonstrate no hyperhoria or hypophia greater than one prism diopter.



(8) The applicant must demonstrate no esophoria greater than six prism diopters.



(9) The applicant must demonstrate no exophoria greater than six prism diopters.



(10) If examination, including tonometry, of either eye or adnexa reveals any form of glaucoma or cataract formation, uveitis, or any other acute or chronic pathological condition that would be likely to interfere with proper function or likely to progress to that degree, the applicant is disqualified.



(11) An applicant under any form of treatment for any chronic disease of either eye is disqualified.



(12) The applicant must demonstrate full range of motion of external ocular muscles.

 

[SkyBoy1981]

Flightjock, try consulting with an AME that administers the FAA pre-hiring exam. See what options are available and what he recommends. Thats the first exam you'll have to pass, and generally the toughest. From then on out its really just like a 2nd class medical from what I understood. I too looked very seriously at ATC, and was even on the list for CCBC up in PA before I accepted a job with a regional carrier (which so far is working out well). I've always had a fascination with ATC though, and I have pretty bad uncorrected vision, so I have researched it a bit in the past myself and I understand where you're coming from. Good luck.

 

[FracCapt]

I originally went in for LASIK. I told them my situation and they convinced me to go with PRK. They (the physicians) said they have seen trouble (vision fogging up) with LASIK patients when they are at high altitudes.

Never heard of that. I had LASIK 5 years ago, no problems. 20/15 now...was worse than 20/400 before surgery. I didn't do PRK because the FAA required, at that time at least, 180 days AFTER surgery before you could get a 1st class medical. For LASIK, it was whenever your vision had stabilized. PRK is not as stable after surgery as LASIK is due to the epithelial layer regrowing....possibly growing too little or too much, causing vision other than what was targeted before surgery.

LASIK has advanced a lot in the past 5 years, but maybe PRK has too....I haven't kept up with it. When I go to the opthamologist he can't even tell that I ever had LASIK based on looking through the microscope at my eyes.

 

[Flightjock30]

I find it amusing that I can fly passengers around as a PIC of a turbine for a 121 operation, but can not be an air traffic controller where all I have to do is look out of a control tower or at a radar scope. If my contacts became dry and fell out I would just grab my pair of glasses I always carry with me when I fly and put them on! Its not a big deal. Now if I were flying a 172 solo, lost my contact lenses, and didnt have a backup pair of glasses...then that is the only dangerous situation possible. I think even military pilots should be able to wear contact lenses as long as they do not fly fighter jets. Its ridiculous and discriminatory in my opinion because it honestly does not compromise safety.

 

[smellthejeta]

If I have 20/20 in one eye and 20/30 (maybe 20/25) in another eye, can I get a SODA?

What kind of effect would this have on a flying career? Obviously it means nothing to my performance in the aircraft...but to employers?

No SODA's for ATC.