Effective January 1, 2025, there have been updates to FAA color vision protocols. If you do not meet the FAA’s color vision standards, you risk having a restriction applied to your FAA medical certificate. Previously, the FAA’s protocol for assessing your color vision was to have your Aviation Medical examiner (“AME”) administer one of a series of color vision instruments. Every applicant would be checked for color vision during every FAA medical examination. In many cases, this left applicants at the mercy of the type and quality of the color vision test offered by their AME. The risk, of course, is that if you fail all the tests available, your AME will issue you a medical certificate with a limitation stating: “not valid for night flying or by color vision signal control.” Failing one of these tests resulted in having to undertake the Operational Color Vision Test (“OCVT”) and for first- and second-class applicants to also undertake a Medical Flight Test. If these tests were passed to FAA satisfaction, the FAA would issue a Letter of Evidence or Statement of Demonstrated Ability, and the AME wouldn’t have to include a restriction on your certificate. All of this has generally changed with the updates to FAA color vision protocols.
With the updates to FAA color vision protocols, the FAA will require applicants to undertake one of three available color vision tests utilizing digital testing equipment. Why the change from the FAA’s current protocols for color vision testing? Digital equipment will presumably mitigate the risk of manipulating the color vision testing currently in place, as well as avoid the risk of ineffective or sabotaged testing due to issues with older, printed materials.
The updates to FAA color vision protocols will mean that applicants who already hold an airman medical certificate with no color vision restrictions will no longer have to test for color vision deficiencies. Moreover, applicants who have previously been issued a Letter of Evidence (“LOE”) or Statement of Demonstrated Ability (“SODA”) will not have to undertake the new digital testing. Essentially, these applicants will be “grandfathered” into their current class medical certificate without a color restriction. The only time these applicants will have to undertake the new digital testing is if the applicant wishes to upgrade class medical certificate (i.e., from third-class to first- or second-class medical certificate).
Only first-time applicants (no matter the class applied) and pilots with current color vision restrictions will be required to take one of the new digital tests. The good news is that if the applicant passes the new digital testing, the previous restriction will be removed. Applicants who may require color vision testing as a part of routine evaluation may have to repeat the digital color vision testing. The only nuance is that applicants who are upgrading their class medical certificate will require the new digital color vision testing, as though they are applying as a new applicant. For example, if you last applied for and were issued a third-class medical certificate but wish to upgrade to a first-class medical certificate, you will have to undertake color vision testing at the time of the first-class examination.
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