FAA Form 8500-8 help

Airline Pilot Questions & Answers
1

Hey Guys, I have a question about filling out my FAA form 8500-8 on MedXpress and was hoping someone might have experience with this. I had LASIK over the summer, and I’m trying to figure out where I add that, if needed to the form. There is a question in section 18 asking if you’ve had eye or vision trouble except glasses, and also there is another question on section 19 asking about visits to doctors etc… in the last 3 years. Do I need to note the Lasik surgery in both sections 18 and 19, or is 18 looking for eye issues that have not been resolved, and is my visit to the Lasik surgeon need to be listed on 19? Just wanting to make sure I’m answering the form correctly so I’m not chasing my tail trying to fix a problem. Thanks for your help.

2

Brad,

I would ask my AME but if you only got the surgery to stop wearing glasses than the answer to question 18 is no because you didn’t have other vision issues. You do need to put in under surgeries and apparently there’s some paperwork they’ll want to see.

https://www.faa.gov/about/office_org/headquarters_offices/avs/offices/aam/ame/guide/app_process/exam_tech/et/31-34/rp/

Adam

3

Brad,

Be prepared fir the FAA to ask more questions than normal about your LASIK. From what I have heard, they almost always approve it, but they do ask a lot of questions.

Chris

4

Brad,
If it were me, I’d answer “no” to 18, since lasik falls under vision correction aka glasses. Then for 19, yes if you had the surgery within the last three years. Either way it comes up and you can ask the AME if you filled out the form correctly for your situation.

-Hannah

5

Thanks everybody for your input. I reached out to the AME, and I think the answer Hannah indicated for questions 18/19 are correct. As to extra paperwork, she did not indicate that I needed to provide any other documentation at this point. I guess I’ll find out at my exam in 2 weeks. I’ll try to post the process in case any other students have similar circumstances/questions.

6

Hey Guys,

A little late getting back to giving an update on this post. I had my Med exam and it was the same as my prior one a year ago. Since I was past the time frame of potential changes in my vision related to Lasik, they just did the checks as normal. So, really no sweat or extra paperwork when getting a physical after lasik.

7

Brad,

I am glad it went well for you. They asked for quire a bit of paperwork after my LASIK, so it must vary based on certain criteria.

Chris