The NTSB has apparently indicated that the co-pilot’s color deficiency was a contributing factor in last year’s FedEx accident in Tallahassie, FL.
As a color blind pilot, the reaction from the FAA could be disturbing. It seems as though the co-pilots difficulty in understanding the PAPIs may have have been a factor in the aircraft flying too low and unexpectedly trimming some of the trees on the approach.
It seems to me (and yes, I am very color blind and have a SODA - Statement of Demonstrated Ability, aka “waiver”) that in the enlightened age of ADA, the “3 Bar VASIs” are a much more efficient system. They do not rely on color perception to work. For reasons unknown to me, they are pretty rare, and many pilots have never seen them. I actually learned to fly at an airport that used 'em.
For those who have never flown using one, the system can be described as three panels that line up in a row if you are on the glide path. If you are high, the middle bar appears to rise above the outer two and conversely, if you are low, the middle bar descends below the outer two.
In a lot of ways it is similar to the GS indication and gives very precise indications of just how far above or below the glide path you are. I have always preferred this system as it is easy to fly a teensy weensy bit high (I prefer to do that VFR unless a short landing is necessary). At night, the three panels are each illuminated by a single horizontal light (similar to a flourescent tube or neon bar), and the three lines of light either line up, or as noted above, reflect the direction and magnitude of your deviation.
Of course, while it seems like it would be logical to deploy a system that overcomes physical abnormalities (‘challenges’ for the PC crowd), the FAA is going to spend a whole mess of money to study the potential hazards presented by color blind pilots.
Are there any other color blind folk out there and what have your experiences been?
Sounds like he was more than color blind. Why did he not see the trees?
If you tell me he was flying at night, it is illegal for color blind pilots to fly at night.
I only get two of the 11 (?) plates on the color vision test, so I qualify as “color-deficient”. I, too, had to identify light gun signals to get the waiver. There’s no restriction on my license re: night flying.
That said, with my level of deficiency I can’t imagine having a problem with any VASI I’ve seen. RED is really RED, WHITE is really WHITE. I have found that the GREEN on rotating beacons is almost indistinguishable from the WHITE - to me it just seems dimmer and maybe a tiny bit greenish. Similarly, when driving, sometimes the green lights don’t really stand out from the white street lights.
I first found out I was “color blind” in high school. One of my biology texts had a plate with a bunch of dots that said “ONION”. The legend said that this was a color vision test - those with normal color vision would see the word “COLOR”, those with a red/green deficiency would thee the word “ONION” and those rare people who were completely colorblind would see nothing at all. I thought I had caught a mistake in the textbook until I pointed it out to others who showed me where the word “COLOR” was. Kinda shocking to me, because RED has always seemed RED to me, and GREEN, GREEN.
For curiosity, a (somewhat warped) version of the Ishihara test is here.
I am also mildly colour deficient I had to go for a lantern test which I passed to be able to have no restriction on my licence. The surprising thing is that I discovered my deficiency only at the age of 45 during my first aviation medical. I suddenly understood why my wife always criticized my colour matching ability when dressing up around here also, the majority of airport are using PAPI lights but I am lucky and see them allright or I should say I can see the difference…
Sounds like he was more than color blind. Why did he not see the trees? If you tell me he was flying at night, it is illegal for color blind pilots to fly at night.
You will need to take a special medical flight test, where you are asked to correctly identify light gun signals from the tower. This may be conducted by a designated examiner or by an FAA inspector. If you pass, you will be granted a Statement Of Demonstrated Ability (SODA) certifying that you are medically fit to fly under the special issuance provisions of FAR 67.401.
Sounds like he was more than color blind. Why did he not see the trees?
If you tell me he was flying at night, it is illegal for color blind pilots to fly at night.
Totally incorrect. If a pilot is infact color blind and passes this special light gun test given by the FAA then he can fly at night. You would be surprised how many color blind pilots fly for the airlines.
This whole incident has fatigue written all over it. One day when a few more airplanes are made into lawn darts maybe the airlines and the FAA will change their stance on this issue.
The purpose of the light gun test is to test the ability to distinguish red from green and white lights. If you pass that test and get the SODA, there is no reason why you could not see a VASI and interpret it correctly.
You will need to take a special medical flight test, where you are asked to correctly identify light gun signals from the tower. This may be conducted by a designated examiner or by an FAA inspector. If you pass, you will be granted a Statement Of Demonstrated Ability (SODA) certifying that you are medically fit to fly under the special issuance provisions of FAR 67.401.
Scott, based only upon my personal experience and not the regs so to speak, but I have no reason to believe that the regs were not properly enforced in my case, when fail the color vision part of the test, your license is limited prohibiting flying “at night” or “when color signals are used.”
The latter point is really not a practical limitation as usually color signals are only used when radios fail for one reason or another. I suppose that if a pilot took off without operting radios and planned on going to a towered airport and thier license was so restricted, there could be an enforcement action. In practice, the circumstances where this would happen are pretty remote. In 1,500 hours, I have encountered such a situation one time after I lost the sole alternator at dusk in my 172 while practicing an approach to a towered airports in VFR conditions. since the situation was akin to an urgent situation, If anything had come of it, I am sure I would have prevailed.
As for the SODA and the light signal test, I was given a daytime test by the tower cooperating with an FAA FSDO officer. I missed one of colors (one of about 8 signals) and ‘failed’ the test. The FAA guy agreed to come by at night and we redid the test. I passed it. (This was not necessary, but he was a nice guy - Yes, I said it a nice FAA guy!) He submitted the paperwork for the SODA with the recommendation that the night restriction be removed, as I passed at night, but the light signal restriction remain. I received an unqualified SODA. Go figure!
Also, while I suppose you can do this test in flight, I don’t think they are normally done so. At least mine wasn’t.
The purpose of the light gun test is to test the ability to distinguish red from green and white lights. If you pass that test and get the SODA, there is no reason why you could not see a VASI and interpret it correctly.
Brian, Actually, you are tested on all the colors that are available on a light signal, which I think include white and yellow. Color blindness, not being monollithic, affects different people differently. I believe there are three different type of color nerve endings in the retinal (rods) and they each are sensitive to certain colors. I recall three of the four types of color blindness are Red/green, the most comon and the type you are referring to, Blue/grey, Total. Each of those types also varies in the degree of deficiency. As far as being an either, “Yes you can,” or, “No you can’t,” I can attest that it is not necessarily that cut and dried!
Bill:
See my below post. We are talking about semantics here. If you can pass the light gun test you, by FUNCTIONAL definition, NOT color blind. See my below post. If you CAN pass the light gun test and get a SODA, then there should be NO ISSUE with seeing the colors of a VASI or any other aviation related colors. It becomes a non-issue. BUt if the pilot IS color blind, then all that I said above DOES apply.
Bill:
See my below post. We are talking about semantics here. If you can pass the light gun test you, by FUNCTIONAL definition, NOT color blind. See my below post. If you CAN pass the light gun test and get a SODA, then there should be NO ISSUE with seeing the colors of a VASI or any other aviation related colors. It becomes a non-issue. BUt if the pilot IS color blind, then all that I said above DOES apply.
Sorry for the confusion. I see where you are coming from. Sometimes much is lost when conversations take place on a message board.
By the way. Why am I checked for color blindness everytime I take my Class I physical? From what I have read and seen people do not develop color blindness? Or do they?
Once again, yours is another example of where you are really not color blind. You used the correct description; you are “color deficient” If you were totally color blind you could not pass the light gun test. As you have found out, if you CAN pass the light gun test, seeing the VASI is not a problem.
I only get two of the 11 (?) plates on the color vision test, so I qualify as “color-deficient”. I, too, had to identify light gun signals to get the waiver. There’s no restriction on my license re: night flying.
That said, with my level of deficiency I can’t imagine having a problem with any VASI I’ve seen. RED is really RED, WHITE is really WHITE. I have found that the GREEN on rotating beacons is almost indistinguishable from the WHITE - to me it just seems dimmer and maybe a tiny bit greenish. Similarly, when driving, sometimes the green lights don’t really stand out from the white street lights.
Yup, my problem too.! However, depending upon the person’s level of deficiency, I can see real problems.
To answer the question of, “Why didn’t he see the trees?” Well, he was flying for FedEx. Perhaps he was flying at night? also, I don’t think the forward and downward visibility of a 727 is that good to ensure that all obstruction would be visible.
The FAA stopped issuing SODA’s (for color vision) a few years back. If you pass the light gun test, the FAA issues you a new medical certificate without any waivers. They send you a letter and keep a copy in your FAA file that you give to your medical examiner at each renewal and you no longer have to take the color vision test.
Bill:
TRUE color blindness is a genetically inherited disorder that is passe on the “Y” chromosome. The reason why that is important is because woman do not get it at all as women do not have a “y” chromosome as that is the one that distinguishes males from females genetically.
So you are asking a good question; why get rechecked each visit?
The answer is there are a number of acquired problems that can influence color vision most of which are drug related. It has become well publisized that VIAGRA is one such medication that can influence color vision and there are several others.
That is why they keep testing you each visit.
By the way. Why am I checked for color blindness every time I take my Class I physical? From what I have read and seen people do not develop color blindness? Or do they?
Bill: As far as I know, Color Blindness is always a genetic defect that is linked (I would have said “sex-linked,” but that would have woken up Dennis[:)]) through the X chromosone contributed by a mother. Color blindness is considered homozygous, meaning that you need two defective genes to be affected, but since it is sex-linked, (OK, I said it) the defective “X” gene from a color blind person’s mother is in effect dominent.
Contrary to popular misconceptions, girls can be color blind, but the father must be color blind and the mother a carrier.
But why are you checked? Becasue it is part of the standard, of course! The last thing the FAA wants to do is to let people start thinking on their own.
Brian: Color blind people tend to make up for the deficiency the same way that others with sensory deficiencies do, they rely on their other senses to a greater extent. I can usually make out the VASIs, but it is more difficult. IF I am flying with someone else, and I need to use them, I ask them to confirm the colors. (Good CRM, if I say so myself.)
Most of the time, I land the way I was taught from day one: look at the target and see if it moves up or down in the windscreen. Sometimes, if I’m feeling really froggy, I just fly my final using the force!
Brian:
I am an AME and I have not been aware that SODAs have officially been stopped but the FAA is trying to decrease their use as it saves final ruling times in the medical certification branch. The letter, you describe, is, in essence, the equivalent of a SODA. The SODA is the same size as your medical certificate; thereby usually making it easier to carry with you that a full sized letter.
You would obviously need to have that letter with you for subsequent FAA medical exams so you can show the doctor you have a waiver for the color test.
Brian:
I am an AME and I have not been aware that SODAs have officially been stopped but the FAA is trying to decrease their use as it saves final ruling times in the medical certification branch. The letter, you describe, is, in essence, the equivalent of a SODA. The SODA is the same size as your medical certificate; thereby usually making it easier to carry with you that a full sized letter.
You would obviously need to have that letter with you for subsequent FAA medical exams so you can show the doctor you have a waiver for the color test.
Brian - I am color deficient and went though much research (speaking to FAA, FSDO, medical examiners, etc.) two years ago prior to taking the light gun test to find out all of my options. You can also take other color vision tests prior to taking the light gun test. You are only allowed 2 times to take the light gun test. You have to take the test at a FSDO office. You can go to a towered airport and have the controllers test the light with you prior to taking the actual test at a FSDO.
The best part about SODA’s no longer being issued, is that the words “SODA” are not stamped on your medical certificate as if you have a handicap. If you apply for any pilot related job, your medical certificate is clean without any waivers, i.e. SODA for color vision. Also, you don’t have to carry the SODA with your medical certificate since there is no waiver on your certificate. You only have to have the letter when you get your medical renewal, thereby eliminating another piece of paper to have to always carry.
around here also, the majority of airport are using PAPI lights but I am lucky and see them allright or I should say I can see the difference…