policy matters
GermanWings tragedy
underscores importance
of mandatory reports
Section 6.5 of the Aeronautics Act
states:
6.5 (1) Where a physician or an
optometrist believes on reasonable
grounds that a patient is a flight crew
member, an air traffic controller or
other holder of a Canadian aviation
document that imposes standards of
medical or optometric fitness, the physician or optometrist shall, if in his
opinion the patient has a medical or
optometric condition that is likely to
constitute a hazard to aviation safety,
inform a medical adviser designated
46
Dialogue Issue 3, 2015
by the Minister forthwith of that
opinion and the reasons therefor.
When a report is received by
Transport Canada, its Civil Aviation Medicine Branch will investigate each report and determine the
application of the medical standards
of fitness outlined in the Canadian
Aviation Regulations based on the
results of its investigation and not
just the contents of the report.
“Please rest assured that such
reports viewed by fellow physicians
are treated with the same professional standards of care and regard
for privacy as any other interaction in health care,” said Dr. David
Salisbury, director of medicine,
Civil Aviation, Transport Canada.
For more information about
mandatory reports, please read our
Mandatory and Permissive Reporting policy at www.cpso.on.ca.
photo: istockphoto.com
F
ollowing the recent tragic
events of the Germanwings plane crash in the
Alps, Transport Canada is
reminding physicians of their mandatory obligation to report pilots
who have a condition, disease or
treatment that poses a risk to flight
safety.