Collins and Civil Aviation Safety Authority

This matter concerned an appeal by Mr Collins against a decision by the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) to impose a safety pilot condition on his conditional class 2 medical certificate. The dispute centred on whether Mr Collins met the relevant medical standards for holding such a certificate, specifically concerning the risk of incapacitation during flight. The case was heard by Deputy President Bernard J McCabe P.

The primary legal issue before the court was to determine whether Mr Collins met the medical standards prescribed by the Civil Aviation Safety Regulations (CASR) for the issuance of a conditional class 2 medical certificate. This involved assessing the likelihood that Mr Collins would become incapacitated during flight due to a medical condition, and whether this risk posed a threat to public safety. The court was required to weigh the applicant's interest in exercising his pilot's licence privileges against the stringent requirements of air safety.

The court reasoned that the assessment of "likely" in the context of air safety cannot be based on mere statistical probability. Instead, it requires a careful balancing of air safety imperatives with the applicant's desire to fly. The court noted that even a small risk can necessitate action to mitigate it, particularly when public safety is at stake. Drawing on established principles from cases such as *Hall* and *Windows*, and referencing the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) Manual of Civil Aviation Medicine, the court considered that an annualized risk of incapacitation exceeding 1% is generally considered unacceptable in international aviation. The court found that while the precise risk level was not prescribed by CASR, the risk of incapacitation for Mr Collins was real, not fanciful or remote, and significantly different from that of the general aviator population. The court acknowledged that the consequence of incapacitation, such as a stroke in flight, would be catastrophic.