The law as it stands in Australia, and also in most other parts of the world for that matter, is that the pilot’s Medical Certificate must be issued by the State that issued the licence under which the pilot is flying.
What is unique to Australia is that CASA does not recognise an overseas licence for flying gliders in Australia. To fly gliders here a person must be a member of the GFA and fly under the GFA pilot certification process. Hence a person flying on an Australian pilot certificate must have an Australian Medical. Now GFA has never had authority to accept a Medical Certificate issued by other than an Australian Registered Medical Practitioner. The reason this has not previously been an issue is that overseas pilots were most likely self-declaring their medical status, which still remains an option. However, now that Instructors must have a Medical Certificate, the matter of foreign pilot medicals became an issue because there are a number of foreign pilots coming to Australia to instruct. So GFA approached CASA on this subject and stressed the value of the doctor/patient relationship, and it was agreed that a certificate from a GP with access to the patient's medical history is preferred. So we now have an agreement in principle that foreign pilots who hold a valid ICAO Class 2 or higher Medical Certificate (or equivalent documentation) issued by their licencing state may fly gliders in command while that Medical Certificate remains current. It is anticipated that CASA will shortly approve an amendment to our Operational Regulations to reflect this. So while it is unfortunate that a handful of Australians with an overseas medical can’t use it here, those foreign pilots entering Australia with their overseas issued licence and medical won’t be inconvenienced. Christopher Thorpe From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Matt Gage Sent: Friday, 11 October 2013 5:52 PM To: Discussion of issues relating to Soaring in Australia. Subject: Re: [Aus-soaring] Medicals However, the crazy situation is that if a US pilot holds a class 2 medical, they can fly here using that unless they gain Australian citizenship, at which time they have to suddenly self certify or get an Australian class 2 Or an Australian who has lived overseas for many years is unable to use their class 2 on a brief holiday here Looks like we have badly thought through regs, or possibly the interpretations on the web site are too simplistic. I hope it's the latter Matt On 11 Oct 2013, at 17:25, "Christopher Thorpe" <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> > wrote: An Australian flying on an Australian pilot certificate who is ineligible to self-declare their medical status must hold an Australian Medical Certificate. This is the case even if an Australian also holds citizenship of another country. If the person holds dual citizenship of countries other than Australia and they are ineligible to self-declare, then they will need to provide a Medical certificate issued by the State that issued their Pilot’s Licence. Christopher Thorpe From: [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Ron Sanders Sent: Friday, 11 October 2013 4:30 PM To: Discussion of issues relating to Soaring in Australia. Subject: Re: [Aus-soaring] Medicals What about those who hold dual citizenship?? On 10 October 2013 21:53, Christopher Thorpe <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> > wrote: The Q&A means exactly what it says. An AUSTRALIAN pilot must have an AUSTRALIAN Medical Certificate. I’m not sure how this morphed into the requirements for foreign pilots, but there is a separate page dedicated to foreign pilots at the following link:- <http://www.glidingaustralia.org/GFA-Ops/foreignpilots.html> http://www.glidingaustralia.org/GFA-Ops/foreignpilots.html Christopher Thorpe From: <mailto:[email protected]> [email protected] [mailto: <mailto:[email protected]> [email protected]] On Behalf Of jim crowhurst Sent: Thursday, 10 October 2013 9:37 PM To: aus soaring Subject: [Aus-soaring] Medicals I have just been reading the medicals section of the OPS part of the GFA website and was looking at the FAQ. With respect to overseas pilots, I am confused.... I am an Australian Citizen but hold a Class 1/Class 2 Medical Certificate issued overseas. Can I use this to meet GFA’s medical requirements? No. You must hold a Medical Certificate issued by an Australian Registered Doctor or DAME. This means that regardless of any medical obtained overseas, a visiting pilot on holiday MUST see an Australian doctor and get signed off if they have ever had any of the exclusions, even if they hold a class 1 or 2 medical in their country. Some of the conditions are quite common in the age group of pilots that visit Australia. Surely if they have been signed off in the UK or USA or Germany for example they would meet requirements here? Is there any reciprocal arrangement with certain countries? My concern is that Australia may lose out on overseas pilots coming to visit because of the medical requirements. Has this always been this way or are these new regulations? This is more stringent than EASA, and that's saying something! Can someone knowledgeable explain the rules for overseas pilots or is it simply that "if you can't self certify, see an Australian doctor" and hope they sign off? It's not exactly convenient....... thanks _______________________________________________ Aus-soaring mailing list [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring _______________________________________________ Aus-soaring mailing list [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring
_______________________________________________ Aus-soaring mailing list [email protected] To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring
