The ratio of pilots deemed medically unfit to fly has dropped sharply since 2021, and Transport Canada says it’s “closely monitoring” the possible causes.
Just 0.29 percent of the over 52,000 pilots medically screened last year were deemed unfit to fly compared with 1.09 percent of the approximately 45,500 pilots screened in 2019, before the pandemic lockdowns, according to data tabled in the House of Commons.
Normally, a drop would suggest pilots were healthier on average, but the scale and timing of the decline has prompted some to look for other causes.
Although no cause is yet clear, the decline came after Transport Canada started letting pilots undergo medical screening remotely.
“Transport Canada is aware of the change in this indicator,” said spokesperson Sau Sau Liu in a statement to The Epoch Times, adding that the department “remains committed to closely monitoring the situation and factors that may be influencing this change.”
Transport Canada initially allowed remote screening in response to COVID-19, and even though the virus and public health restrictions are now in the rear-view mirror, it has not rescinded the policy but has instead extended it until 2025.
The department’s data shows that of the 46,089 pilots who underwent their annual medical examination during the 2018 calendar year, 428 failed the exam, while 498 of the 45,565 pilots screened in 2019 failed. That represented 0.93 percent of pilots deemed unfit in 2018 and 1.09 percent in 2019.
Remote medical assessments have been allowed since May 2020, and there was no notable change that year, with 0.95 percent of pilots deemed unfit.
However, the ratio plunged in 2021, with 0.64 percent of pilots deemed unfit, and fell further in 2022 (0.41 percent) and 2023 (0.29 percent, or 150 out of 52,184 pilots screened).
Comparing the 2019 data with 2023 data shows a 74 percent drop in the ratio of pilots deemed unfit.
Asked to shed light on the matter, Transport Canada responded that it “prioritizes safety above all else when delivering licenses and when assessing medical fitness for pilots.”
“The mandate of Transport Canada’s Civil Aviation Medicine Branch is to ensure aircrew and air traffic controllers are medically fit, while closing gaps in scientific knowledge of civil aviation medicine,” Ms. Liu said.
Transport Canada tabled the data in the House of Commons in response to an April 4 order paper question from Conservative MP Arnold Viersen.
Mr. Viersen asked a range of questions on aviation safety, such as the number of medical events in Canadian airspace since 2018 and how medical screening has changed for pilots.
Transport Canada did not mention the exemption of in-person medical screening for pilots that was implemented in 2020, and only noted the addition of screening questions regarding cannabis use.
The in-person screening exemption was re-issued in March 2023 and extended for two years.
“This was originally granted in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic, to limit face-to-face interactions and reduce the unnecessary exposure of healthy medical certificate holders to potentially hazardous healthcare settings,” says the Transport Canada website.
The department says telemedicine now has benefits beyond the pandemic and offers more flexibility for applicants, such as those in remote areas.
In-person medical exams are only
required if the holder of a medical certificate underwent
the previous two assessments remotely. The telemedicine assessments are valid for one year, which means a commercial pilot could
go for three years without
a direct examination by a physician.
Commercial pilots under 40
must have a medical exam every year,
but those who
carry out single-pilot
flights with passengers on board or are over 60 need to have one every six months.
“Aviation personnel, although not basically dishonest, may not volunteer information which may affect their medical certification,” it says.
