Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/18/84; site rtp47.UUCP
Path: utzoo!linus!philabs!cmcl2!seismo!harvard!think!mit-eddie!genrad!decvax!mcnc!rti-sel!rtp47!dixon
From: dixon@rtp47.UUCP (Wally Dixon)
Newsgroups: net.aviation
Subject: Re: contact lenses and flying
Message-ID: <32@rtp47.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 26-Apr-85 14:30:43 EDT
Article-I.D.: rtp47.32
Posted: Fri Apr 26 14:30:43 1985
Date-Received: Mon, 29-Apr-85 07:09:53 EDT
References: <59@utastro.UUCP>
Distribution: net
Organization: Data General, RTP, NC
Lines: 38

> I believe that one is allowed to fly if contact lenses are used. This
> raises an interesting issue. My contacts are semi-hard gas permeable,
> giving me excellent vision. They do have serious, and potentially fatal
> drawbacks though, where flying would be concerned (I am not a pilot).
> 
>  The first concerns dust and grit getting into my eyes.
> When this happens, and it has a few times while driving here in Texas,
> I find the irritation incredibly distracting; my eyes blink like crazy,
>  and tears appear very quickly in some instances. In other words my
> eyes demand almost immediate attention, no matter what else I'm doing.
> That this could happen to a pilot with similar contact lenses seems
> very probable to me, placing him in a dangerous situation if he was just
> about to land, or actually taking off. Has
> anyone experienced/know of this problem?
> 
> The second problem concerns the small size of the hard contact lens.
> During the day the pupil of the eye is small, and hence completely
> covered by the lens. However, at night, with the pupil wide open
> in the dark, the edges of the contact lens overlap the pupil
> giving rise to fuzzy streaks about light sources. The cure
> when driving at night is to simply look at the lights of an oncoming
> car for a few seconds. What does the pilot with these lenses
> do when making night-time approaches?
> 
> Padraig Houlahan.
> 

I have been flying with soft contacts since `79, and have had only one problem
with them in the air.  It's probably inevitable that contact wearers will 
occasionally run across sudden grit, folding, etc, and unfortunately I 
guess it's one of the hazards of convenience. The best thing a pilot can 
do to prevent this is probably to keep his lenses clean, and keep his fingers 
away from the eyes. With me, nine times out of ten, folded contacts or foriegn 
objects have been a direct result of eye rubbing, in the air or on the ground. 
In the event something does happen, the only thing to do is to be cool, and
if in controlled airspace, let someone know that there is a slight problem.
If all else fails, maintain self control *big-time* and land with one eye.
     It's really something to think about, though.   I know that I am
going to try not to promote any contact problems myself next time I fly.