Air traffic controllers can apply for job in Braille

IT is a job where one wrong move can mean the loss of dozens of lives.

And – apart from nerves of steel – you would think that an air traffic controller would also need perfect 20-20 vision.

But not on the Scilly Isles, where a position has just been advertised with a job application form also available in Braille.

The airport on St Mary's is owned and operated by the Council of the Isles of Scilly, who insist they are simply following equal opportunities procedures.

But many say it is absurd and a symptom of political correctness gone mad.

“It's just common sense that you would not employ an air traffic controller who is blind or partially sighted,” said one insider on the island's aviation sector.

“It's just one of those things they have got to put on forms. It's got to go on everything these days whether it's relevant or not.”

St Mary's Airport welcomes private and scheduled light aircraft and helicopters from the mainland.

The new post, which would bring to four the number of air traffic controllers, offers a salary of between £34,000 and £36,000.

A high level of qualifications is required for the demanding job of guiding aircraft safely into the hilltop airport, which is often fogbound.

But tucked away at the bottom of the advertisement is the note: “If you require this document in an alternative language, in larger text, Braille, easy read or in an audio format, please contact the Community Relations Officer.”

A spokesman for the Civil Aviation Authority, which licenses air traffic controllers, said it was up to an employer who they took on.

However, all air traffic controllers have to meet international standards and pass a medical, including a stringent eye test.

“They would have to meet the same medical requirement as a commercial airline pilot,” the spokesman told the WMN.

“I would say that, with glasses or contact lenses, they would need good 20-20 vision.”

A spokeswoman for the Council of the Isles of Scilly said the wording was included on all job adverts “to ensure that potential job applicants know that they can access information in a format to suit them.”

And it was a move applauded by Bill Alker, from the Royal National Institute for the Blind.

He said two out of three blind and partially sighted people are currently jobless, with one of the biggest hurdles simply being able to read the application form.

“We welcome the Isles of Scilly's Council for their good practice and would hope more employers do the same.”

But Keri Jones, the controller of Radio Scilly, said the seemingly pointless caveat had just been ridiculed.

“We have had loads of calls about it and people generally find it quite funny.

“The islands are always at the cutting edge of innovation, so it would certainly be something for Scilly to have the world's first blind air traffic controller.”