A 20-year-old trainee pilot has pleaded guilty to not disclosing his medical history when trying to obtain the medical certificate he needed to fly passenger aircraft. Bradley Gosney, of Blackpool, applied for a Class 1 Medical Certificate but did not disclose ongoing medical issues. A pilot's licence is only valid if the pilot has a current Medical Certificate.
Appearing before Preston Crown Court on 11 February, Mr Gosney was sentenced to a two-year community order, which includes 250 hours of unpaid work.
The Court heard that Mr Gosney had undergone a medical examination in 2016 with a specialist Aero-Medical Examiner to gain the required medical certification and had signed a declaration confirming he had never suffered from a range of health conditions and disorders. However, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) learned that he had in fact failed to declare medical conditions.
Explaining its decision to prosecute Mr Gosney, Alison Slater, Head of the CAA's Investigations and Enforcement team said: “Pilot integrity is at the heart of aviation safety and the CAA will continue to enforce the law where medical issues are not declared.”
Since 2018, the CAA has successfully prosecuted two other pilots for non-disclosure of health conditions when applying for Medical Certificates.