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The CAA (UK Civil Aviation Authority) application for a medical certificate asks for hair colour. Why? Are there any diseases / conditions more prevalent to particular colours? Most of the questions are seem to be rooted in common sense, but is hair colour really relevant?

Update in response to comments. Height, weight, sex, eye colour and race ALL have a relevance to medical conditions. Height and weight can indicate BMI and possible eating disorders, many conditions are gender specific, and some medical conditions are more common in different races (Cystic fibrosis is more common amongst northern Europeans, Sickle-cell anaemia is mostly a problem for those with African ancestors). Even eye-colour can (according to google) indicate a increased likeliness of a particular condition.

If hair colour really is there just for general identification purposes, then it's the only question on the form (other than name and CAA reference number) that has no medical purpose.

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    $\begingroup$ This is almost certainly for identification rather than medical reasons. Do you have any reason to think this is medical rather than for ID? $\endgroup$ – Bryan Krause Oct 21 '20 at 18:14
  • $\begingroup$ Definitely not medical reasons so I'm migrating this to Aviation.SE. $\endgroup$ – Carey Gregory Oct 21 '20 at 19:45
  • $\begingroup$ FAA medical certificate as well as South African ones also show hair color. $\endgroup$ – Raffles Oct 23 '20 at 15:38
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    $\begingroup$ "Why does the UK CAA medical questionnaire need to know hair colour?"-- because they are British. In America, they need to know hair color. $\endgroup$ – quiet flyer Oct 23 '20 at 22:55
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The same reason they take down your eye color, height, weight, sex, race, etc. They’re just general stats for identification.

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    $\begingroup$ I agree fully with this answer - this has got to be the reason. However, since hair color is as easy to change as hair style, it seems rather pointless as an identifying factor (in any environment) that one could rely on for more than 24 hours... $\endgroup$ – FreeMan Oct 22 '20 at 10:57
  • $\begingroup$ @FreeMan Except for the bald head. $\endgroup$ – PerlDuck Oct 22 '20 at 11:58

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