I have genetic hearing loss and wear hearing aids that allow me to hear perfectly fine with them in. Recently I have been thinking about going to flight school to eventually become a commercial pilot, I am aware that I need a class 1 medical for this though I am not sure if my hearing will disqualify me.
Drew,
This is a question for an AME (Aviation Medical Examiner). While it may be possible, only an AME can tell you for certain.
Adam
1 Like
Drew,
I found this article that may answer a few of your questions before paying for an appointment with an AME. Hope it helps!
Hannah
Drew,
This shouldn’t deter you one bit. I have a Cochlear Implant on my left side (full deaf in both ears) and I have my Class 1 Medical. With you just having normal hearing aids, you may even get approved on the spot just by conversing with your AME, you never know unless you reach out to them. The link Hannah posted above is exactly how it goes in the step-by-step process.
In my case, I did get deferred and had to send A TON of additional medical info to OKC for review, but that is normal. You may also need a SODA (in my case, I did not). As long as you can show you can excel in the hearing proficiency/audiology test & reports, then you shouldn’t have trouble getting approved.
Side note: If you do get deferred, It may take a while to hear back from OKC if you don’t get approved on the spot, so be patient. I got deferred and it took about 5 months of back-and-forth information requesting/sending with OKC. So just stick with it and you’ll be fine.
Best of luck on your journey,
Michael