Can you become a fighter pilot if you have lasik eye surgery?

August 21, 2009

Lasik Eye Surgery FAQ:


not that I want to be fighter pilot but my vision ***** and I’ve always wanted to know if I could…

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Tagged as: Eye Surgery, Lasik Eye, Lasik Surgery

{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }

Sporadic August 23, 2009 at 12:40 pm

yes as long as you have the required vision afterwards. But besides eyesight the biggest impairment to being a fighter pilot can be height and sitting height. The physical and mental requirements are so strict only a handful of people make it.

ballsonthewalls August 24, 2009 at 4:55 pm

You’re screwed. Now go cook me a pot roast.

Thanks

jeeper_peeper321 August 27, 2009 at 11:21 am

Nope.

Lasik is a disqualifer.

davidcarllee August 30, 2009 at 6:43 pm

As up until the past few years your cornea is easily damaged by the sudden rush of pressure resulting from a breach in the canopy of a fighter jet. Let’s say this is a fracture of the canopy by a bullet. Let’s say the seal fails. At any rate, your vision fails by the same rate. You’re at 40k feet and the canopy fails. If you’ve had lasik, you cornea fails as well. It’s an issue of pressure. Somebody prove me wrong, but as your pressure environment fails, so do your eyes. You’d be better off applying to the air force wearing glasses than you would having had lasik. I think even commercial pilots can pass wearing contacts more than having had the surgery.

Mike M August 30, 2009 at 7:24 pm

Yes…that would not disqualify you but your eyes must be correctable to 20/20.

hadnt thought of the pressure thing but if my phantom ever came apart at 40000 feet there was a giant shotgun shell under my **** to help me out…

Rich C September 2, 2009 at 6:44 am

You can have Lasik and still qualify to be a pilot in the Navy. Since 2000 it is no longer an automatic disqualifier. You must have 20/20 corrected vision and no other medical complications.

a_wood80 September 4, 2009 at 6:23 pm

No. At one point you couldn’t even join the military if you had had lasik. I’m not sure if that’s changed at this point.

As a fighter pilot, you’re often subjected to G-forces much greater than normal. They don’t know what effect that has on eyes that have been altered with lasik.

andymahan99 September 6, 2009 at 12:14 pm

No. Your vision has to be natural 20/20. High altitudes and g-forces can cause damage to eyes that have been operated on.

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