A
AnAspiringPilot
Guest
Hello everyone,
I am in a particularly difficult position regarding an improperly administered OCVT by a local FSDO, and I am looking for some advice from this community. I have been carrying a color restriction on my medical for a few years and, after completing my commercial license and instrument rating (with 270+ flight hours), I decided it was time to have that restriction removed (I understand that a wiser person would have done this sooner).
I spoke with my AME who advised me that the only option was to take the OCVT (hindsight is 20/20 on doing my own due diligence). I got my letter of approval to take the test and set an appointment with the local FSDO. To say the least (I can provide details as necessary), the two FSDO administrators screwed up in administering the test, resulting in a failure. I immediately reported the events of what happened to the regional flight surgeon’s office, who advised me to write up a narrative of what happened and send it to the office that day to appeal the test. I typed up a detailed report of the incident, and I received a letter from the regional flight surgeon a few weeks later saying my appeal was denied.
There is no doubt that I am color deficient, but I am certainly not colorblind. I have flown approaches with color signals in the past with CFII’s, and have correctly identified the colors.
I reported what happened to my AME who advised me to get help from AOPA Pilot Advisory Services. I went through the channels and did a 30-minute consultation with an attorney who advised me to consult AMAS (Aviation Medicine Advisory Service) before seeking further legal help.
AMAS markets themselves as advocates for professional pilots, and the testimonials appeared very encouraging. The AMAS physician I consulted with spoke with my AME, and they both agreed that the next step forward would be for me to pass one of the FAA-approved office-based color vision tests and appeal my case again.
I flew to Arizona to meet with an AME who offers a few of these FAA-approved office-based tests, and I successfully completed the Keystone View Telebinocular. The AME told me that if I were to have walked into his office that day without this OCVT issue, I would be leaving with an unrestricted 1st Class Medical. I took the results back to my AME, and we appealed again while simultaneously applying for a 1st class medical. I was granted the 1st class medical, but I still carry the color signal/ nighttime restriction. My appeal was denied stating “due to your failure of the daytime OCVT, office-based color vision tests are no longer acceptable.”
I spoke with an aviation attorney last week who is confident that he can get me a second chance at the OCVT (he has been successful in doing this for pilots in the past despite the seemingly irrefutable stance the FAA takes on this matter), but I do not think it is logical to take the OCVT again from FSDO administrators who are not doctors and proved themselves unable to properly administer a test as critical as the OCVT. I have not taken the nighttime OCVT for this reason. From the myriad of other posts around the internet, the OCVT has been a career-ender for many aspiring pilots.
All 3 AME’s I have explained my situation to agree that the FSDO test was questionable at best, and that, despite the OCVT rules, the successful completion of the office-based test should still satisfy the FAA requirements to prove that I can distinguish the colors required to operate an aircraft in a manner that keeps the skies safe.
The ideal end state of all of this is to prove that the FSDO was in error, remove the OCVT from my record, and obtain an unrestricted 1st class medical based on the successful completion of the FAA-approved office-based color vision test. This leads me to my question for you all:
TLDR/ Question for you all:
Do any of you in the aviation community know of ANY resources I could pursue to potentially help with an improperly administered OCVT? Any other AME's who I could contact for advice or who may know of someone who might be able to help? Are there any attorneys/ law offices you recommend who have helped you or someone you know in the past? Thank you!
I am in a particularly difficult position regarding an improperly administered OCVT by a local FSDO, and I am looking for some advice from this community. I have been carrying a color restriction on my medical for a few years and, after completing my commercial license and instrument rating (with 270+ flight hours), I decided it was time to have that restriction removed (I understand that a wiser person would have done this sooner).
I spoke with my AME who advised me that the only option was to take the OCVT (hindsight is 20/20 on doing my own due diligence). I got my letter of approval to take the test and set an appointment with the local FSDO. To say the least (I can provide details as necessary), the two FSDO administrators screwed up in administering the test, resulting in a failure. I immediately reported the events of what happened to the regional flight surgeon’s office, who advised me to write up a narrative of what happened and send it to the office that day to appeal the test. I typed up a detailed report of the incident, and I received a letter from the regional flight surgeon a few weeks later saying my appeal was denied.
There is no doubt that I am color deficient, but I am certainly not colorblind. I have flown approaches with color signals in the past with CFII’s, and have correctly identified the colors.
I reported what happened to my AME who advised me to get help from AOPA Pilot Advisory Services. I went through the channels and did a 30-minute consultation with an attorney who advised me to consult AMAS (Aviation Medicine Advisory Service) before seeking further legal help.
AMAS markets themselves as advocates for professional pilots, and the testimonials appeared very encouraging. The AMAS physician I consulted with spoke with my AME, and they both agreed that the next step forward would be for me to pass one of the FAA-approved office-based color vision tests and appeal my case again.
I flew to Arizona to meet with an AME who offers a few of these FAA-approved office-based tests, and I successfully completed the Keystone View Telebinocular. The AME told me that if I were to have walked into his office that day without this OCVT issue, I would be leaving with an unrestricted 1st Class Medical. I took the results back to my AME, and we appealed again while simultaneously applying for a 1st class medical. I was granted the 1st class medical, but I still carry the color signal/ nighttime restriction. My appeal was denied stating “due to your failure of the daytime OCVT, office-based color vision tests are no longer acceptable.”
I spoke with an aviation attorney last week who is confident that he can get me a second chance at the OCVT (he has been successful in doing this for pilots in the past despite the seemingly irrefutable stance the FAA takes on this matter), but I do not think it is logical to take the OCVT again from FSDO administrators who are not doctors and proved themselves unable to properly administer a test as critical as the OCVT. I have not taken the nighttime OCVT for this reason. From the myriad of other posts around the internet, the OCVT has been a career-ender for many aspiring pilots.
All 3 AME’s I have explained my situation to agree that the FSDO test was questionable at best, and that, despite the OCVT rules, the successful completion of the office-based test should still satisfy the FAA requirements to prove that I can distinguish the colors required to operate an aircraft in a manner that keeps the skies safe.
The ideal end state of all of this is to prove that the FSDO was in error, remove the OCVT from my record, and obtain an unrestricted 1st class medical based on the successful completion of the FAA-approved office-based color vision test. This leads me to my question for you all:
TLDR/ Question for you all:
Do any of you in the aviation community know of ANY resources I could pursue to potentially help with an improperly administered OCVT? Any other AME's who I could contact for advice or who may know of someone who might be able to help? Are there any attorneys/ law offices you recommend who have helped you or someone you know in the past? Thank you!
