わが国の航空医学適性ウェーバー審査ガイドラインの作成の必要性について

Abstract

The waiver system in aeromedical evaluation provides a method to grant permission for flying to pilots who are unable to meet all of the aeromedical requirements, as long as the medical condition does not threaten flight safety and the experience and skills of the pilot is considered to be sufficient. Some organizations like the United States Air Force already have a well-developed waiver system that has been made public in its waiver guide. According to this guide, the condition and situation in which the waiver will be granted are clearly described for each medical problem and for the flying status/class of the pilot. Necessary medical examinations and the observation period for the waiver application are also indicated. This guide is regularly revised based on recent aeromedical findings. In Japan, while there is no standard guideline for the waiver system, there are two aeromedical waiver authorities, the Civil Aviation Bureau which is responsible for civilian pilots and the Defense Ministry which has its own waiver system for military pilots. Both authorities seem to function well enough to manage this difficult responsibility. However, discrepancies arise as cases are evaluated individually based on the impressions of the medical expert rather than on clear standardized guidelines. Therefore, we aimed to develop a Japanese standardized waiver guideline for aeromedical disposition for both civilian and military pilots. Although the number of aeromedical experts in Japan is limited, we recommend a collaboration of civilian and military aeromedical experts to help establish this guideline. This team of experts should create the guideline by utilizing the guidelines from other countries and organizations, like that of the United States Air Force, in addition to past waiver cases and the current clinical medicine practices in Japan. These are three major advantages for establishing the new Japanese waiver guideline. First, information about the waiver system, medical conditions, necessary examinations or treatments, and application procedures are easily accessible by the waiver applicant (pilot). Thus, correspondence with pilots and the workload of waiver authority staff will be reduced. Second, more Japanese medical staff both in civilian and military aviation can acquire better aeromedical experience and knowledge for waiver judgments using the standard guideline. Third, each authority can make a fair and reasonable waiver judgment. That is, in the case of an accident inflight involving a pilot who was granted a waiver, accountability can be assured by the authority.