IAF changes medical norms to up number of pilots

Rules being relaxed to find more to fly fighter jets

Taking medication for blood pressure or undergoing a laser eye surgery will no longer make an IAF pilot ineligible for the cockpit of a fighter jet.

For, the government has changed the norms to cope with the shortage of fighter
pilots.

IAF’s criteria to pick pilots for flying the mean machines used to be stringent. But some of these norms have now been relaxed to increase the pilot count. Those who take medicine to lower their blood pressure can fly the fighter aircraft. Similarly, those who underwent a Lasik surgery at least a year before flying are also being permitted.

Experienced pilots who wear glasses are permitted to fly the jets, which was not the case earlier. Medical experts advising the air headquarters said these pilots could counter the vision deficiency with their experience.

The air headquarters is in the process of changing another norm, which denied flying permission to a section of fighter pilots who had to eject from the aircraft.

While a section of these pilots return to flying within four weeks, many are denied permission based on a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) check of the spine. Though doctors admit the problems detected through the MRI scan were not related to ejection, they were denied permission to fly the fighter aircraft.

“We are going to change this norm as well. Why should we lose the pilots if the indications flagged by the MRI scan are not linked to ejection. We want to put the maximum number of pilots back in the cockpit,” said an IAF source.

IAF’s medical specialists would discuss these norms with experts from around the world at an international conference on aviation and space medicine in Delhi next week.

All of these steps are aimed at raising the number of fighter pilots in the IAF, which is suffering not only from a depleting squadron strength, but also from manpower crunch.

The government does not disclose the exact number of fighter pilots, but a 2015 Parliamentary Standing Committee report indicates a shortage of pilots compared to other nations.

IAF’s pilot-cockpit ratio was only 0.81 for fighter jets. In comparison, the ratio is 2:1 for  USA and 2.5:1 for Pakistan. The sanctioned pilot to cockpit ratio in IAF is 1.25 for fighters, 1.5 for transport planes and 1 for helicopters. “The insufficiency in the number of available pilots in the IAF deteriorates our operational capabilities,” said the panel.