SURGICAL OPERATIONS, EYE PROTECTION, HUMIDITY, DIURNAL RHYTHM, PREGNANCY, AGEING POLICY, UNFIT TO FLY PROCEDURE, EAR PROTECTION, AND STERILISED CLEANING WIPES

Surgical Operations

Authorized Medical Examiner advice shall be sought prior to returning to flying duties following any surgical operation.

Eye Protection

The crew members should protect their eyes in bright sunshine by wearing sun-glasses. In flight the lighting in the cockpit should be regulated during dark.

Vision Correction

All flight crew members who are required by the Authorized Medical Examiner to wear corrective lenses in order to satisfy visual requirements laid down for granting of licences, are required to carry a spare pair of spectacles with them on all occasions whilst operating their licence.

Spectacles, either corrective or anti-glare, when worn by flight crew during flight should be of a type of frame that allows maximum peripheral vision. The examination for the prescription of a spectacle correction should ideally be carried out by an examiner with some understanding of the problems of vision in aviation.

Near Vision Correction

Where the only correction necessary is for reading, pilots should never use full lens spectacles while flying because the pilot's task requires frequent changes from near to distant vision and the latter is blurred by reading glasses. Half moon spectacles or lower segment lenses with a neutral upper segment should be used in these circumstances.

Near and Distant Vision Correction

Where correction for both near and distant vision is required, bifocal lenses are essential and pilots should discuss with their medical examiner the shape and size most suitable for each segment. Where triple correction is necessary for reading the instrument panel range and distant vision, then specialist advice is required.

Refractive Eye Surgery

Crew members undergoing refractive eye surgery shall report the fact in advance to an Authorized Medical Examiner. The crew member shall be declared unfit for flying duties as follows:
• For flight crew members, the minimum unfit period after refractive eye surgery shall be 12 weeks;
• For cabin crew members, the minimum unfit period after refractive eye surgery shall be 2 weeks.
Each case shall be reviewed by an experienced ophthalmologist acceptable to the Authority. This report shall be submitted to an Authorised Medical Examiner for clearance to return to fit status.

Humidity

The relative humidity of cabin air is much lower in-flight than that to which humans are accustomed. Coffee, especially black coffee being a diuretic (kidney stimulant) can exacerbate the effects of reduced humidity. Symptoms resulting from low humidity are dryness of the nose, mouth and throat and general tiredness. To avoid this it is advisable to increase water intake.

Diurnal Rhythm

It is a well-established fact that our bodies have a diurnal cycle or rhythm. This means that our chemical, psychological and physiological activities are high during our normal waking hours, and are low during our normal sleeping hours. They reach the lowest point at about 3 to 5 in the morning. When we fly across time zones, i.e. either East to West or West to East, we may interrupt our diurnal cycle. To minimise the tiring effects of interruption to our day-night biological cycle we should when away from home adhere as much as possible to home time for sleeping, eating and bowel function (if on short layover), and take adequate rest before flight.

Pregnancy

A crew member who becomes pregnant must immediately, upon becoming aware of such pregnancy, notify that fact to her management (Chief Pilot or Cabin Crew Manager). Certification of ‘unfitness to fly’ shall be in writing from the attending physician and shall indicate the expected date of delivery. Upon receipt of such a notice, the crew member will be removed from flying duties.

Ageing Policy

A crew member who has attained the age of 65 years shall not act as a flight crew member on company aeroplanes.

When operating flight crew member is older than 60 years, any other member of the same flight crew must be younger than 60 years. Chief Pilot is responsible for updating flight crew pairing lists accordingly.

Unfit to Fly Procedure

In certain cases a crew member may (and should) declare himself as unfit to perform applicable crew duties and responsibilities. Some examples of such cases are:
• Acute excessive fatigue;
• Sudden nausea or other severe unfavourable physical symptoms;
• Anxiety attacks or other severe unfavourable psychological, mental and/or emotional symptoms, etc.

After declaring himself unfit to fly, crew member shall explain his case to the applicable superior manager (Chief Pilot, Cabin Crew Manager). Applicable superior manager shall keep the record of unfit to fly events.

Where the superior manager has reasonable doubt about continuing fitness of a crew member, he shall request a crew member to submit himself to unscheduled examination by the Authorized Medical Examiner. In such a case a crew member shall provide written statement by Authorized Medical Examiner that conditions causing temporary unfitness to fly are no longer applicable, before acting as a crew member onboard of Company aeroplane.

Ear Protection

Flight personnel are encouraged to use suitable earplugs in noisy environment (i.e. when performing exterior walkaround).

Sterilised Cleaning Wipes

Flight crew should use the sterilised wipes provided by the Company to clean their headsets before wearing them. These wipes can be used to clean some commonly used controls in the flight deck to reduce the risk of contamination. However, these wipes are not suitable for cleaning navigation displays. Specialised screen cleaning wipes must be used for this purpose.