By IANS,
New Delhi : High blood pressure and obesity make the air crew unfit for flying duties, said the aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).
Announcing fresh medical guidelines here, the DGCA has asked the Airports Authority of India (AAI), airline operators and other concerned agencies to compulsorily adhere to its guidelines.
The regulator said these were mandatory standards for airlines and they would have to get blood pressure of their crew members checked and conduct medical examination for obesity too.
If any crew member was found to be suffering from hypertension or high blood pressure in the tests conducted 24 hours before flying, they would be taken off from flying duties, the DGCA guidelines said.
The DGCA has set a blood pressure limit of 140/90 as the upper limit for normal person.
As regards obesity, the regulator has acknowledged that there are no universally accepted standards to measure obesity.
But it suggested body mass index (BMI) as one of the better methods to measure obesity.