MED.A.010 Definitions

For the purpose of this Annex (Part-MED), the following definitions shall apply:

— ‘limitation’ means a condition placed on the medical certificate or cabin crew medical report that shall be complied with whilst exercising the privileges of the licence or cabin crew attestation;

— ‘aero-medical examination’ means an inspection, palpation, percussion, auscultation or any other means of investigation for determining the medical fitness to exercise the privileges of the licence, or to carry out cabin crew safety duties;

— ‘aero-medical assessment’ means the conclusion on the medical fitness of an applicant based on the evaluation of the applicant as required in this Annex (Part-MED) and further examinations and medical tests as clinically indicated;

— ‘significant’ means a degree of a medical condition, the effect of which would prevent the safe exercise of the privileges of the licence or of the cabin crew safety duties;

— ‘applicant’ means a person applying for, or being the holder of, a medical certificate who undergoes an aero-medical assessment of fitness to exercise the privileges of the licence, or to carry out cabin crew safety duties;

— ‘medical history’ means a narrative or record of past diseases, injuries, treatments or other medical facts, including unfit assessment(s) or limitation of a medical certificate, that are or may be relevant to an applicant’s current state of health and aero-medical fitness;

— ‘licensing authority’ means the competent authority of the Member State that issued the licence, or to which a person applies for the issuance of a licence, or, when a person has not yet applied for a licence, the competent authority as determined in accordance with FCL.001 of Annex I (Part-FCL);

— ‘colour safe’ means the ability of an applicant to readily distinguish the colours used in air navigation and to correctly identify aviation coloured lights;

— ‘helicopter emergency medical services (HEMS) operation’ means a “HEMS flight” as defined in point 61 of Annex I to Regulation (EU) No 965/2012;

— ‘investigation’ means the assessment of a suspected pathological condition of an applicant by means of examinations and tests in order to verify the presence or absence of a medical condition;

— ‘accredited medical conclusion’ means the conclusion reached by one or more medical experts acceptable to the licensing authority, on the basis of objective and non-discriminatory criteria, for the purposes of the case concerned, in consultation with flight operations or other experts as necessary, for which an operational risk assessment may be appropriate;

— ‘misuse of substances’ means the use of one or more psychoactive substances by aircrew in a way that, alternatively or jointly:

(a) constitutes a direct hazard to the user or endangers the lives, health or welfare of others;

(b) causes or worsens an occupational, social, mental or physical problem or disorder;

— ‘psychoactive substances’ means alcohol, opioids, cannabinoids, sedatives and hypnotics, cocaine, other psychostimulants, hallucinogens, and volatile solvents, with the exception of caffeine and tobacco;;

— ‘refractive error’ means the deviation from emmetropia measured in dioptres in the most ametropic meridian, measured by standard methods.