Class II medical certificate

The entire process takes a lot of time, which ensures a very long answer, but with that being said I can promise you with all the minor details, be patient and have a good read. 

• When to apply?

The best time is to apply a year before you plan to start flying. That means you must apply for it during your summer vacations if you plan to start flying right after your 12th standard. Or you can very well lose an academic year if you plan to do it after your 12th results are out. 

• Will my medical condition/ problem cause any problem?

That is the very reason these tests exist, to get assessed if your condition is a problem!

• Does wearing glasses mean disqualification?

No. Take me for instance I have -1.75 and -2.00 diopter corrective lenses on the left and right eye respectively and I was cleared to “exercise the privileges of my license” wearing my glasses.

• Is having a class 2 mandatory in order to get a class 1?

Yes, indeed. Class 2 is the initial assessment and your registration as a pilot in DGCA. Without a class 2 you won't get your PMR, Pilot Medical Report number which is mandatory in order to apply for class 1.

• Can my family doctor give me a class 2 medical certificate?

Unfortunately not. It can only be provided by a handful of doctors certified by DGCA for the purpose. 

• Can I go for flight training without these certificates?

You can start flying with a class 2 medical certificate but you can't get a commercial pilot license or a job without a class 1. It is always a wise idea to get class too before you pay the hefty fees with a class 2 only to be disqualified when it comes to class 1.


Most people tend to disqualify themselves and overcomplicate their situation/medical condition without even getting assessed. It is my humble request, no matter what go ahead with the assessment. I am not a doctor or proficient in aviation medicine to comment if you will be cleared to fly on your first attempt. If you have any medical condition, it only ensures additional testing and it being mentioned in your certificate, disqualification is rare and only prominent in extreme cases. There are cases where even the most experienced Captains are deemed “temporary unfit to fly”. Don't worry it is very common and I was nearly a victim too.

• Step - 1: Fix an appointment

You need to visit DGCA's website and search for the medical and class 2 medical examiners under it. A PDF will be downloaded with the list of doctors, certified by DGCA. The list is divided into 4 sections namely East, West, North and South. Just need to call any doctor you will be comfortable with. They will initiate the process by briefing you over the call and fixing an appointment whenever you are free.

Please use a desktop or laptop for this purpose, government websites are not optimized for mobile handsets. The website you need to visit is dgca.nic.in

• Step - 2: Initial tests

I might have told that only DGCA registered doctors are allowed to do the assessments, but a majority of the tests involved are to be done at your local hospital provided the departments have NABL or NABH accreditation. You must carry the reports to the doctor who will do your class 2 assessment. However, NABL/NABH accreditation is provided for individual departments, not the entire hospital. Only the reports bearing NABL

                                                               

Or NABH logo are valid. They must have one.

These tests to be done are divided into these departments. The reports are valid only for 4 weeks.

• Radiology

You need to get an x-ray of your chest, both mastoids and sinuses. The x-ray film won't have these logos, but the reports with the doctor's comments, enclosing the film must.

• Mammography and UGC lower abdomen

Only applicable for female applicants, I don't have much idea about it but it is x-ray and UGC based.

• Pure tone audiogram

Your hearing will be tested with various frequencies of sound as well as bone conduction of sound. It must bear the logos as well.

• Blood

You must do these with an empty stomach, blood TC, DC, ESR, Hb% and grouping with Rh. But if your BMI is 25 and above, you need to do more tests, namely blood sugar with fasting and PP after 75 gm or oral glucose load, HBA1C, T3, T4, TSH and lipid profile. Again the logos are mandatory.

• Urine

R/E, M/E with comments on specific gravity, sugar, protein and microscopic elements. The logos are mandatory.

• ECG

Perhaps with the recent trend high BMI and heart problem are way too common. You might get the comments sinus followed by comments like trachaecardia. The term sinus itself means normal heat but trachaecardia means more beats than normal, so make sure you are relaxed before you go for ECG. Again the logos are much needed

• ENT and eye

These reports won't have the logos of accreditation, non existent, so instead the doctor's name, qualification, medical registration number and attestation of youe signature by the doctor is needed.

For ENT, the doctor just has to check and comment your ear, nose and throat is normal or abnormal

For eyes, there are just two mandatory tests with the rest being stated if possible, they will be done by the class 2 examiner too.

First is colour perception test and you must clear this or you will be rechecked by Martin's lamp test.

The second and perhaps the one most of you might be curious about is distant vision. Don't worry you will be checked with the prescription glasses you need and you need to score 6/6.

• Documents

You must carry at least 16 passport sized photographs with your name and birth date printed below, original as well as xerox of class 10 pass certificate with marksheet, verification papers from board not needed, original and xerox of birth certificate and the rest are subjected to availability.

Have a look at the document your class 2 doctor will email you.

• Step - 3 : Assessment

It is the phase when you finally get to meet the doctoe doing your class 2 medical assessment. Most tests, they tend not to tell you why they are doing so just to ensure you can't fake it. But I will mention a few

• Colour vision test
• Near vision test for at least N-5 category.
• The other eye tests mentioned as “if possible” in the image above.
• Overall posture.
• Clubbing of nails to check for lung disorders.
• Blood pressure.
• Cardiovascular capacity.
• Time for heart rate to return to normal after 3 minutes of jogging.
• Dental records will be kept too, defects and decays won' effect the assessment result.

And the phase below, which you must know now or you will end getting embarrassed and shocked

• Height and weight check while being nude.
• If you are a male check of testacles, foreskin and the penis.
• If you are female check of the labias, cervix and vagina. They will check the breasts too.

On a side note when you go for class 1 they will check the rectum and anus too, so be mentally prepared.

These are part of the CA-34A form, to be filled by the examiner. They will provide it and all other necessary forms on spot.

• Step - 4: Self declaration of overall health and family history.

Now this part can't be checked by the doctor and you need to precisely mention everything from the given options in the form as a tick for yes and cross for no. If found wrong, it is a punishable offense with fine and jail and a ban from flying.

This is a part of CA-34 form too. You can obtain this from the forms section of DGCA website, but not necessary.

• Step - 5: Verification

The examiner will verify your xeroxed documents and originals side-by-side. They will be attested by the examiner and must bear your signature too. Originals will be returned back to you as soon as the verification is done.

• Conclusion

Your reports and xeroxed documents along with the filled CA-34 and CA-35, which is confidential, will be speed posted to DGCA within a week. The normal processing time is 4 weeks minimum in DGCA office but on average 6 months of delay can be expected.

The examiner will return a copy of the CA-35 back to you. The assessment itself takes around 3 hours. The examiner will put this stamp- FIT FOR CLASS-II INITIAL MEDICAL ASSESSMENT.

The rest are confidential and do take care of your health. If you want details about any medical condition, visit the DGCA website and click on the related rules from medical section.

Safe landings.