ATCO.MED.B.080 Otorhinolaryngology

Regulation (EU) 2015/340

 

(a)       Examination:

(1) A routine otorhinolaryngological examination shall form part of all initial, revalidation and renewal examinations.

(2) Hearing shall be tested at all examinations. The applicant shall understand correctly conversational speech when tested with each ear at a distance of 2 metres from and with his/her back turned towards the AME.

(3) Hearing shall be tested with pure tone audiometry at the initial examination and at subsequent revalidation or renewal examinations every 4 years until the age of 40 and every 2 years thereafter.

(4) Pure-tone audiometry:

(i) Applicants for a class 3 medical certificate shall not have a hearing loss of more than 35 dB at any of the frequencies 500, 1000 or 2000 Hz, or more than 50 dB at 3000 Hz, in either ear separately.

(ii) Applicants who do not meet the hearing criteria above shall be referred to the licensing authority and undergo a specialist assessment before a fit assessment may be considered. Initial applicants shall undergo a speech discrimination test. Applicants for a revalidation or renewal of a class 3 medical certificate shall undergo a functional hearing test in the operational environment.

(5) Hearing aids:

(i) Initial examination: the need of hearing aids to comply with the hearing requirements entails unfitness.

(ii) Revalidation and renewal examinations: a fit assessment may be considered if the use of hearing aid(s) or of an appropriate prosthetic aid improves the hearing to achieve a normal standard as assessed by fully functional testing in the operational environment.

(iii) If a prosthetic aid is needed to achieve the normal hearing standard, a spare set of the equipment and accessories, such as batteries, shall be available when exercising the privileges of the license.

 

(b)       Applicants with:

(1) an active chronic pathological process of the internal or middle ear;

(2) unhealed perforation or dysfunction of the tympanic membrane(s);

(3) disturbance of vestibular function;

(4) significant malformation or significant chronic infection of the oral cavity or upper respiratory tract;

(5) significant disorder of speech or voice reducing intelligibility; shall be referred to the licensing authority and undergo further ORL examination and assessment to establish that the condition does not interfere with the safe exercise of the privileges of the license.

 

AMC1 ATCO.MED.B.080 Otorhinolaryngology

ED Decision 2015/010/R

 

(a) Examination

(1) An otorhinolaryngological examination includes:

(i) history;

(ii) clinical examination including otoscopy, rhinoscopy and examination of the mouth and throat;

(iii) clinical examination of the vestibular system.

(2) Ear, nose and throat (ENT) specialists involved in the aero-medical assessment of air traffic controllers should have an understanding of the functionality required by air traffic controllers whilst exercising the privileges of their licence(s).

(3) Where a full aero-medical assessment and functional check are needed, due regard should be paid to the operational environment in which the operational functions are undertaken.

 

(b)       Hearing

(1) The follow-up of an applicant with hypoacusis should be decided by the licensing authority. If at the next annual test there is no indication of further deterioration, the normal frequency of testing may be resumed.

(2) An appropriate prosthetic aid may be a special headset with individual earpiece volume controls. Full functional and environmental assessments should be carried out with the chosen prosthetic equipment in use.

 

(c)        Ear conditions

An applicant with a single dry perforation of non-infectious origin and which does not interfere with the normal function of the ear may be considered for a fit assessment.

 

(d)       Vestibular disturbance

The presence of vestibular disturbance and spontaneous or positional nystagmus requires complete vestibular evaluation by a specialist. Significant abnormal caloric or rotational vestibular responses are disqualifying. At revalidation and renewal aero-medical examinations, abnormal vestibular responses should be assessed in their clinical context.

 

(e)       Speech disorder

Applicants with a speech disorder should be assessed with due regard to the operational environment in which the operational functions are undertaken. Applicants with significant disorder of speech or voice should be assessed as unfit.

 

 GM1 ATCO.MED.B.080 Otorhinolaryngology

ED Decision 2015/010/R

 

HEARING

(a)       Speech discrimination test: discriminating speech against other noise including other sources of verbal communication and ambient noise in the working environment, but not against engine noise.

(b)       Functional hearing test: the objective of this test is to evaluate the controller’s ability to hear the full range of communications that occur in an operational environment and not just through a headset or speaker.

(c)        Prosthetic aid: the functional hearing test to be carried out with the prosthetic aid in use is to ensure that the individual is able to perform the functions of his/her licence and that the equipment is not adversely affected by interference from headsets or other factors.

(d)       Pure-tone audiometry: testing at frequencies at or above 4 000 Hz will aid the early diagnosis of acoustic neuroma, noise-induced hearing loss (NIH) and other disorders of hearing. Particular attention should be paid in cases where there is a significant difference between thresholds of the left and right ear.