60 months to age 40, then 24 months to age 50, then 12 months thereafter — Page 79, Lesson 126

Let’s pick this up right where the medical validity periods leave off, because the next block is about what happens when you can’t get that medical done on time, and then the hard age limits that govern commercial flying. First, Medical Examination Deferment. Annex 1 to the Chicago Convention — that’s the ICAO standard that sets out licensing rules — allows the Authority to defer a medical examination, at its discretion, for a licence holder who is operating in a remote area where medical facilities simply do not exist. So the idea is: you’re out in the bush, there’s no doctor, you can’t get the exam done, so the State can push the requirement back. But here’s the critical warning, and I want you to hold onto this tightly: this is not a JAA acceptable procedure. If you are exercising the privileges of a JAA licence, you must have a valid medical certificate in accordance with JAR-FCL-3, full stop. The deferment is an ICAO-level option, not something a JAA pilot can rely on. Now, when ICAO does allow deferment, it comes in three specific shapes. First, a period of 6 months for aircrew not engaged in commercial aviation. Second, for aircrew engaged in commercial air transport, two consecutive periods of three months — so up to six months total, but in two three-month chunks — and this is only permitted if a favourable report is obtained after examination, or, where no approved medical examiner is available, a favourable report from a medical practising physician. That report has to be sent to the authority of the State of Licence Issue. Third, a single period of 24 months for a PPL holder — a Private Pilot Licence holder. So remember the contrast: non-commercial aircrew get one six-month block; commercial air transport crew get two three-month blocks with a favourable report required; and a PPL holder gets one 24-month block. Different categories, different deferment lengths. Now we move to Age — this is the hard limit. The holder of a pilot licence will not be permitted to act as the pilot of a commercial air transport aircraft once the age of 60 has been reached — with one exception. The exception is when he or she is a member of a multi-pilot crew, and he or she is the only pilot of that crew who has reached the age of 60. So a 60-year-old can keep flying commercially, but only in a crew of more than one pilot, and only if they’re the sole pilot over 60 on that crew. Then Age 65. Once the age of 65 is reached, a pilot shall not act as a pilot of an aircraft engaged in commercial air transport — that’s an absolute bar, no multi-pilot exception. And note the national variation: some JAA states limit this age to 60 — meaning those states won’t even allow the multi-pilot exception; they cap commercial flying at 60 outright. Finally, we open the section on Licences and Ratings for Pilots with the General Requirements. A person is not permitted to act as PIC — that’s Pilot in Command — or co-pilot in certain categories of aircraft unless he or she holds the appropriate licence. The licence categories are: Aeroplane, Helicopter, Glider, and Free balloon. So the licence you hold must match the category of aircraft you’re operating — you can’t fly a helicopter on an aeroplane licence, and so on. That’s the full picture here: the deferment rules and their JAA limitation, the age-60 rule with its single-pilot-over-60 exception, the absolute age-65 cut-off, and the licence categories that gate who can act as PIC or co-pilot.