Telephone No.

24622495 GOVERNMENT OF INDIA AIC

Telegraphic Address: AERONAUTICAL INFORMATION SERVICES
Commercial : AIRCIVIL SL. No. 02/2012
DIRECTOR GENERAL OF CIVIL AVIATION
NEW DELHI OPPOSITE SAFDARJUNG AIRPORT
Aeronautical: VIDDYAYX
E-Mail: dri@dgca.nic.in NEW DELHI- 110 003.
Fax : 01124629221
27th March, 2012

F. No. AV. 22025/DMS/Med

This AIC is issued for dissemination of decision of permitting induction of DGCA

empanelled Class I Medical Examiners to conduct Class I Renewal Medical
Examination and outlining the procedure for the same.

(E. K. BHARAT BHUSHAN)

DIRECTOR GENERAL OF CIVIL AVIATION

CONDUCT OF CLASS I RENEWAL MEDICALS OF CIVIL AIRCREWBY DGCA

EMPANELLED CLASS I MEDICAL EXAMINERS

1. To overcome the steady increase in the number of Class I Medical Examinations

being conducted at the Indian Air Force (IAF)Civil Av Med Centers, which at times,
leads to increased waiting time for appointments for such medical examinations, a
review of the current practices was undertaken by DGMS (Air) and DGCA. In view of
trained and experienced specialists, well versed in the practice of Aviation Medicine, are
now available in the country and in keeping with international practices, it has been
decided by the competent authority,to allow conduct of renewal medical exams by a
limited number of DGCA empanelled Class I Medical Examiners.

Guidelines for empanelment as Class I Medical Examiners

2. Qualifications of the Examiner. The examiner shall meet the following

requirements:-
(a) Academic qualifications.
(i) A post-graduate degree in Aviation Medicine, ‘Or’
(ii) A post-graduate degree in Medicine with a minimum two months
formal training in Aviation Medicine.
(b) Experience. The examiner shall hold the following experience :-

1
 (i) A one year tenure at IAM/ AFCME/ MEC(E) or DGCA approved
Class I Medical Examination Centres/ DGCA Medical Assessor, ‘Or’
(ii) A ten year experience in the medical department of a DGCA
scheduled operator with direct and continued responsibility of medical
fitness of civil aircrew alongwith a one year experience of being a DGCA
empanelled Class II Medical Examiner with an unblemished record. ‘Or’
(iii) A five year experience of being a DGCA empanelled Class II
Medical Examiner with an unblemished record.
(c) Other Qualifications.
(i) Shall be registered with Medical Council of India/ State Medical
Council.
(ii) Shall have the requisite infrastructure and facility to conduct the
medical exam (location, place, timings, IT, medical eqpt). Certain reputed
consultants in ENT, Ophthalmology, Cardiology, Psychiatry may be co-
opted by the examiner. Similarly, diagnostic facilities may also be co-
opted. In case of Labs, they must be NABL accredited. It will be the
responsibility of the examiner to facilitate the medical exam in the least
possible time and with minimum inconvenience to the aircrew.
Note: Serving specialist officers of Indian Air Force/ Indian Navy/ Indian
Army or doctors currently employed with an airline would not be
empanelled as Class I Medical Examiners.
3. Application. The information about the empanelment shall be made available
periodically in Jan and Jun of each year in the ‘Public Notices’ section of the DGCA
website (http://dgca.nic.in). Application on plain paper requesting for empanelment and
agreeing to abide by governing regulations shall be submitted to‘Medical Cell, DGCA
HQs, Aurobindo Marg, New Delhi – 110 003’ by courier/ post/ person. The envelope
shall be super-scribed ‘Application for Class I Examiner’. Application by Email/ Fax shall
not be accepted. Application should clearly outline all requirements outlined in para 2
have been fulfilled.
4. Professional Interview. Based on the total number of applicants and the
applicants fulfilling the qualifications mentioned in paragraph (2) above, a suitable
number of candidates will be called for a professional interview to empanel the Class I
Medical Examiners.
(a) Board. The interview board would have representative ofDGCA, DGMS
(Air) (SrAdv (Av Med)) and DMS (CA)/ JDMS (CA).
(b) Place. The interview shall be conducted in the office of JDMS (CA)/ DMS
(CA) at DGCA Headquarters.
(c) Professional awareness. The following aspects will be assessed and given
weightage:-
(i) Awareness of provisions regulating the Class I renewal medicals
including DGCA CAR & AIC and ICAO SARPs.

2
 (ii) Direct and continuous association with the conduct of Class I
medical examinations.
(d) Finalisation of results. The interview board recommendations shall be
approved by DGCA after the inspection of facility (para5below) report is
appended.
(e) Frequency of Interview. The Board shall be constituted six monthly as
announced through the DGCA website (http://dgca.nic.in). In case applications
are received after the announced due date,they shall automatically be
considered for the next interview board.
(f) TA/DA.No TA/DA shall be payable to the prospective Class I examiners
irrespective of the outcome of the interview.
5. Inspection of facility. It is expected that the Class I Medical Examiner shall
have an office with a telephone connection with Internet facility and Fax (for purposes of
according appointments/ interactions with aircrew/DGCA). A place for filling up of
necessary forms and conduct of examination would also be required. The Class I
Examiner may choose to conduct the entire medical examination by themselves or co-
opt other specialists/ hospitals/ institutes for ENT/ Ophthalmology/ ECG/ lab tests. The
onus will be on the Class I examiner to ensure that the medicals are done
comprehensively and complying with ethical standards hence he/she should make
these co-opted entities also aware of the significance of aviation medicals and its
implications. The co-opted entities shall have to be disclosed by the examiner. An initial
inspection of the facility of the Class I examiner would be mandatory. The initial
inspection shall check on all aspects including availability of office space, phone
connection (with internet), reception, appointment system, record maintenance,
availability and adequacy of basic medical equipment and co-opted referral facilities.
The co-opted facilities shall also be inspected. A specific look out shall be done for
employment of highest ethical practices and use of evidence based medical practice
while avoiding unnecessary/ infructuous investigations. Subsequent inspections would
be done prior to grant of extension of Class I Examiner status and as and when felt
necessary by the DMS (CA).
6. General guidelines.
(a) The empanelment of Class I Medical Examiners shall be for a period of 3
years and shall be extended for a period of three years at a time, subject to re-
assessment.
(b) The initial and mandatory medicals at IAM/ AFCME/ MEC(E) shall
continue as per existing policy. These include five yearly medicals from age 35,
all medicals after age 60, every fourth medical before age 40 and every seventh
medical after age 40.
(c) The number of Class I medical examiners shall be restricted to a
maximum of 25 in the country. West Zone comprising of the States of
Maharashtra, Goa and Gujarat shall have eight examiners, South zone
comprising of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala will have six
examiners, North zone comprising of Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh,

3
 Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh,
Chattisgarh, and Rajasthan, six examiners and East zone including States of
Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Orissa, and seven North East states will have
four examiners. This may be reviewed after two years. Selection between
applicants will be the decision of DGCA and will be based on qualifications,
experience in civil aviation in India, facilities available with examiner, distance
and location. The decision of DGCA in this regard will be final and flexibility to
adjust the number of examiners per zone would also rest with him depending
upon the requirement.
(d) The Class I Examiners shall be given DGCA registration numbers which
they would have to incorporate in the rubber stamps that would be affixed by
them on the CA-34/ 35.
(e) Reference material to be used (Civil Aviation Requirements (CAR) Section
7 Series C, Part I, Aeronautical Information Circulars and link to ICAO Handbook
of Civil Aviation Medicine (unedited version 2008)) are available on DGCA
website (http://dgca.nic.in/medical). It shall also be shared with Class I Examiner
by the DGCA Medical Cell in electronic format.
(f) Tele-consultation on administrative/ professional aspects may be carried
out with DMS/ JDMS (CA) at AFNET 21125173/ 011-26187375 at Air HQ RKP
between 0900 and 1030h, at 011-2461 0629 at DGCA from 1100 to 1730h or on
email doctor.dgca@nic.in.
(f) Audit. Work audit shall be conducted for all such examiners and records
maintained.
(g) Dispute resolution. PDMS (S) at Air HQ RK Puram(on behalf of the
DGMS (Air))would be the authority to resolve professional and administrative
disputes that may arise during the conduct of such medicals by Class I medical
examiners. DGCA would be kept informed of the proceedings of such cases as
and when they arise.
(h) Dis-empanelment. A Class I Medical Examiner may be de-empanelled
from the DGCA Class I Medical Examiners panel at the discretion of DGCA. A
professional misdemeanor may lead to debarment for 6 – 18 months depending
upon the severity of the offence. A second offence would entail permanent
debarment from the list of approved medical examiners. Such decisions would be
vetted at DGCA and this Dte Gen and records maintained.
7. Conduct of Class I Medical Examination by Class I Medical Examiners. The
steps involved in the conduct of Class I renewal medical by a Class I medical examiner
will be as follows:-
(a) Accord of appointment. Based on the contact details of the examiner on
the DGCA website, prospective aircrew/ candidate shall contact the examiner by
phone/ email. The examiner shall grant an appointment after verifying that the
medical is not due at IAM/ AFCME/ MEC(E) either by virtue of the periodicity or
by a specific annotation on CA-35/ Medical Assessment issued by

4
DGCA.Medical renewals of aircrew with FATA can also be conducted by the
Class I Medical Examiner.
(b) Pilot Medical Records (PMR) from DGCA. The PMR shall not be
dispatched for medicals done by Class I Medical Examiners. Airlines who have
PMR of their aircrew in their custody will also not forward the PMR to the Class I
examiners. The aircrew must carry a copy of the last medical assessment
(issued by the DGCA) and CA-35. Once the digitization of medical records at
DGCA is achieved, access to the archived medical records would be given to the
Class I Medical Examiners also.
(c) Documentation. The filling up of Form CA-34/ 35 by the flightcrew shall be
in presence of the Class I examiner with a specific reference to history and
consequences of withholding relevant information. The identity of the flightcrew
must be positively established at all points including during conduct of
investigations.
(d) Fees. The Class I medical examiner may collect reasonable charges for
specialist consultation(s), administrative and postage/ handling charges.
(e) Investigations. The mandatory investigations required during renewal
medical are specified. Additional tests may be requested based on findings at
clinical examination. Tests will be done at any NABL/ NABH accredited lab/
institution and at DGCA approved Class I centers. The lab/ centre will always
establish the identity of the aircrew and endorse the same. The Class I Examiner
shall give a request for investigation to the aircrew. The aircrew would get the
investigations done at the lab/ centre after paying fee for the same to the lab/
centre. The reports would be sent to the Class I examiner which will be duly
authenticated by him.
(f) Eye & ENT check. The Class I examiner may conduct the examinations
themselves or get it done by a co-opted referral service by a reputed specialist.
(g) General Medical Examination & filling of necessary forms CA-34/ 35.This
has to be by the Class I Medical Examiner. A copy of CA-35 is to be handed over
to the aircrew.
(h) Dispatch of CA-34/35 to DGCA. The completed CA-34 & 35 alongwith all
investigation reports and opinions in original are to be dispatched to Medical Cell,
DGCA by fastest means and records maintained. The envelope shall not be
folded and shall be superscribed ‘Class I Renewal report’. A copy shall also be
sent electronically.
(i) Records. A copy of the CA-34 & 35 and investigation reports shall be
maintained by the Class I Examiner in hard and/or soft copy for a period of five
years.
(j) Reports and returns. A monthly summary of medicals conducted shall be
forwarded to DMS (CA) in the format provided by the DGCA.
(k) Unfit cases & and incomplete medicals. The CA-34 and 35 of cases who
are declared unfit or where the medical is not completed are also to be forwarded

5
 to DGCA with recommendations. Cases of unfitness shall be intimated to/
discussed with Medical Cell at DGCA on priority. Review for fitness after
recommended period of unfitness shall be done at AFCME/ IAM/ MEC (East)/
DGCA only.
(l) Guidance material. The Class I examiner shall be provided with a copy of
guidance and reference materials and CA 34/ 35 to be followed from DGCA.
8. This issues with the approval of DGMS (Air) and DGCA.

***