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The first Canadian with pre-existing insulin-dependent diabetes has just been awarded the medical certificate required to have his commercial pilot licence. Austen McDonald and his father, Capt Ed McDonald, of Edmonton, Alta., had been advocating for years for Transport Canada to make a change to its policies to allow this.
“Up until now, pilots who already had their commercial licence when they became insulin-dependent could apply for a medical certificate to keep flying,” said Ed. “But no one who already was on insulin could do the same. It really made no sense to us.”
Canada has been a world leader for over 15 years in allowing commercial pilots to continue flying while taking insulin for their diabetes and has amassed thousands of hours of flying time without any diabetes-related safety incidents.
“There’s really no way to judge the ability of an individual to control their blood sugar based only on the age at which they developed diabetes,” said Dr. Peter Senior, endocrinologist at the University of Alberta and chair of Diabetes Canada’s Professional Section. “There was no medical justification for preventing people with diabetes from applying for the certificate needed to get their commercial pilot licence when hundreds of people who were already pilots when they developed diabetes continue to fly safely.”
Canada’s safety record and the McDonalds’ advocacy–supported by Diabetes Canada–encouraged Transport Canada to reconsider and ultimately amend its practices.
“Diabetes Canada is pleased to see that this last barrier to Canadians with diabetes applying to become commercial pilots has been removed,” said Dr. Jan Hux, president and CEO of Diabetes Canada. “The risks associated with a person with insulin-dependent diabetes piloting a plane must be assessed on a case-by-case basis, and we commend this important action by Transport Canada in now considering all pilots with diabetes, regardless of age of onset.”
As the first beneficiary of this ground-breaking change in policy, Austen McDonald could not be happier. “All I’ve ever wanted to be was a pilot. Now nothing is standing in my way.”
