Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if his Department will consider the potential merits of introducing a practical colour vision assessment for commercial pilots.

This Government is committed to ensuring that no one who is safe to fly commercial aircraft is barred from doing so. Regarding colour vision regulations, this means being able to assess the extent of colour vision deficiency accurately, and calibrating requirements to maintain safety standards without unnecessarily penalising those with relatively mild colour vision deficiency. The CAA’s view as regulator is that the Colour Assessment and Diagnosis (CAD) test currently used provides the most accurate and reproducible assessment of an applicant’s class of colour vision. It would therefore not be appropriate to offer a wider range of tests, as the CAD is suitable to the safety requirements of UK aviation.