Operational Status of Airman Medical Examinations in Korea

Han, Bok Soon

Abstract

OBJECTIVES
International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) strongly supports that AME (Aviation Medical Examiner) system. AMEs are private physicians, trained and authorized by the government to perform airman medical examinations and to issue or deny medical certificates. In Korea, AME system was introduced in 2000. As of December 31, 2006, there were 48 AMEs in Korea. Applications for airman medical certificate which contain the results of the medical examination conducted by an AME, are typically forwarded to the advisory committee of Aerospace Medical Association of Korea. With a increasing demand for air travel, the number of civil airman population has increased, as a result, airman medical examinations have also increased. Although the number of airman medical examinations are increasing, research related to this field is nil. The purpose of this study was to examine the operational status of airman medical examinations in the calendar year 2006.
METHODS
The data were based on the total reported applications of airmen medical certificate collected in the Aerospace Medical Association of Korea in the calendar year 2006. And all data were examined according to the three categories, which are fit, waiver, and deny.
RESULTS
The total data were 5,713 airman medical examinations which were collected in the calendar year of 2006. This total included 5,292 applications for first class, 162 for second class, and 216 for third class medical certificates. The number of medical certificate issued were 5,010 as fit, 680 as waivers, and 23 as denials. The majority for waivers was consisted of cardiovascular diseases, otorhinolaryngologic and ophthalmologic diseases. Denials were due to phoria, refractive eye surgery, diabetes, and/or coronary artery disease.
CONCLUSION
Some of the denials were made because of the failure to submit required subsequent evaluation reports to the advisory committee of Aerospace Medical Association of Korea. The consequence of negligent or wrongful certification which would permit an unqualified person to take the controls of an aircraft. may result in mishap. For proper issuance of airman medical certificate, the establishment of a guidebook for AME is necessary and database of previous medical records is required. Aeromedical standard is an important factor in flight safety. Therefore, in order to update on aeromedical standards in accordance with evidence-based medicine, more aeromedical research is required and its research findings should be reflected in the revision of standards of airman medical examination in the future.