Primary Legislation: Civil Aviation Act s27B(1) - s27B(2)
Secondary Legislation: CAR Part 67.63
Form: Accredited Medical Conclusion – Request for Identification of Experts [PDF 1 MB]
Conducted by: Expert(s) identified by the Director for the case concerned

Action by the Medical Examiner

The Accredited Medical Conclusion (AMC) process provides individual case consideration for applicants who do not meet the medical standards. If an applicant fails to fulfil the standards prescribed in CAR Part 67 then an AMC may be sought in order to consider issuing a certificate under the flexibility provisions of the Act. The decision to apply flexibility is entirely discretionary.

A Medical Information Sheet intended to assist applicants, but also useful to Medical Examiners, is available at:

Medical Information Sheet: Accredited Medical Conclusion [PDF 37 KB]

Frequent questions and answers are also available at:

Accredited medical conclusion FAQ

To seek an AMC the Medical Examiner (ME) must make an application to the Director for identification of expert(s), via the Aviation Medicine Team. The form is available at:

Accredited Medical Conclusion – Request for Identification of Experts [PDF 1 MB]

The ME should state on the application if he/she is willing to be identified as an expert. See below for information that must be provided with the request.

Action by the Director (Aviation Medicine Team - CAA)

The Director, or delegate, will then identify medical expert(s) acceptable for the purposes of conducting the AMC for the case concerned.

If the ME does not wish to be identified as an expert, all information in relation to the application should be forwarded with the request to the CAA. Otherwise all the information relating to the specific condition(s) under consideration should be forwarded to the CAA.

In practice, one or more of the following scenario(s) may occur:

No further information is required by the Director to identify the expert(s)

If the Director is satisfied that he can identify expert(s) on the basis of the information provided, he will do so. The ME will receive an e-mail providing the name(s) of the expert(s).

Further information is required by the Director to identify the expert(s)

If the Director cannot identify the expert(s) on the basis of the information available he will seek additional information prior to identifying the acceptable expert(s).

Medical Examiner is identified as acceptable expert

If the ME is identified as the only expert, the ME must conduct and document an AMC. The expert can ask for advice from the CAA and consult with flight operations or any other appropriate expert as may be necessary.

The ME can charge CAA for their time spent conducting the AMC. Invoices must detail the name and client number of the applicant and the time spent conducting the AMC, in 15 min increments. This time is exclusive of any time spent on the assessment and its documentation.

In some cases the Director may identify the ME as expert together with another expert.

Medical Examiner is not identified as an acceptable expert

In that situation the named experts are most often Medical Officers employed by the CAA. They may need further information and call upon the ME, acting under delegation, to require further tests. However, more often the expert(s) request the necessary information directly from the applicant.

Communication of Accredited Medical Conclusion

Medical Examiners named by the Director as acceptable experts for the case concerned should document their own AMC in writing. This is best done on a separate document from the MAR unless very short.

The AMC should identify the condition(s) considered and describe the special circumstances identified such that flight safety will not be compromised.

In the case of AMCs conducted at CAA a letter or email detailing the completed Accredited Medical Conclusion will be sent to the ME.

Once in possession of an AMC, the ME must continue with the assessment with due consideration to:

  • The relevant ability, skill, and experiences of the applicant and the operational conditions; and
  • The applicable conditions, restrictions, or endorsements when the safe performance of the applicant's duties is dependent on compliance with those restrictions, conditions, or endorsements.

The AMC will generally list these limitations as part of the special circumstances identified.

The limitations are imposed by way of restrictions, conditions and endorsements on the certificate.

The ME can be more restrictive but cannot be less restrictive than any restrictions or conditions identified by the AMC as constituting special circumstances.

Key points

The assessing ME:

  • Must request identification of experts using the form provided on the CAA website and include adequate information on the form;
  • Should indicate if willing and available to act as expert for the case concerned;
  • Should send to CAA all information relevant to the condition(s) under consideration;
  • Should send the complete documentation relating to the application if not wishing to be identified as an expert;
  • If identified as experts, the ME should document their own AMC;
  • Must complete the assessment as soon as practicable once in possession of the AMC;
  • Must endorse the certificate in accordance with the AMC;
  • The ME can charge CAA for the time spent conducting the AMC, but not for time spent doing the assessment. ID of applicant and time spent must be given.