Things to consider

Medical requirements

To be a professional pilot you must be able to obtain and hold a CAA class 1 medical. This will require yearly examinations by a CAA registered medical examiner in most cases, but for some pilots on certain operations it may require an examination every six months.

To hold a CAA class 1 medical, you must not have any medical condition that may interfere with your ability to safely use your licence and operate an aircraft.

Examples of conditions that may exclude you from being able to obtain or hold a medical are problems such as migraines or other severe headaches, epilepsy, a history of psychological disorders such as depression, or heart conditions.

If you are applying for a CAA class 1 medical you will also need to meet vision and hearing requirements, the medical examiner will test your lungs and you will also be required to take a chest x-ray.

If you are going to train at an organisation such as NMIT or Massey University as a full time student using student loans to pay for your training, then it is a requirement under the Code of Practice for professional pilot training that you have a current class 1 medical. The Code of Practice can be found under the Training Providers section of this site, giving you the full selection criteria you will have to meet in order to be able to study as an equivalent full time student.

If you should have any further questions about a condition that may affect your ability to fly further information can be found on the CAA website www.caa.govt.nz. under the CAA rules index, part 67, or consult your doctor.

It is strongly recommended that wherever you are going to train, you ensure your eligibility for a CAA class 1 medical before you commence pilot training.

Age requirements

In order to hold a professional pilots licence you must be at least 18 years of age. You can however, start your flying before this because you can fly solo at 16 and gain your private pilots licence at 17, as long as you meet the medical and fit and proper person requirements.

Fit and proper person

To hold a licence or a medical you must satisfy CAA that you are a fit and proper person to do so, as a requirement of the Civil Aviation Act 1990.

The criteria considered for the fit and proper person test are:

The CAA are interested in these issues because they may be indicative of some underlying latent condition, such as alcoholism or drug addiction, and your overall fitness to be in control of an aircraft and passengers. Additionally, should you want to become an international pilot then a clean record is important to ensure that you are permitted entry into many overseas destinations.

Assessments are made on an individual basis. This means that the weight and relevance applied to any of the criteria is at the discretion of the CAA, and may vary based on the licence or medical being applied for. For example, you may be eligible for a Commercial Pilots Licence, but not for an Instructors rating.

On the other side of the argument the CAA is not confined to the criteria listed above and they may look at any other matters including, if relevant and appropriate, asking for a full criminal conviction history.

It is a serious offence to not provide truthful and honest answers in an application, but convictions will not necessarily mean that you would not be a fit and proper person. That would depend on whether or not the convictions are deemed relevant to your safe participation in the Civil Aviation System.

It is also important to remember that once you have your licence or medical, you must continue to satisfy the fit and proper person test, and you must notify CAA of any information that could affect that status.

For more information on the fit and proper person test please contact the CAA or you can find out about it on the website www.caa.govt.nz. under the Pilot section.

You can also find out more about the Civil Aviation Act (under Rules and More-Civil Aviation Act)

If things go wrong

Because your fitness to fly depends on your health and your conduct, you may find that circumstances beyond your control render you unfit to fly temporarily or even permanently. An example of this may be if you were involved in a car or motorbike accident and suffered a head injury. This may affect your eligibility for a class 1 medical.

If, for whatever reason, once you have commenced your training you find that you are unable to hold a pilot’s licence or aviation medical then there are options open to you. You can use the training and experience gained to go into many of the different fields of aviation, such as accident investigation or teaching aviation theory to new students, or you may find that you’re better suited to a role within the management or business structure of various aviation-orientated businesses.

Either way it is a good idea to at least think about what you may do if you were unable to continue flying for any length of time.