ATW Daily News

FAA seeks comment on new pilot certification proposals

Tuesday February 9, 2010

FAA yesterday published an advance notice of proposed rulemaking seeking public comment on proposals to adjust certification regulations for FAR Part 61 and 121 pilots and "to gather information on whether current eligibility, training, and qualification requirements for commercial pilot certification are adequate."

It said that in particular, last year's Colgan Air Q400 crash "focused attention on whether a commercially rated copilot in Part 121 operations receives adequate training," including sufficient training in difficult weather conditions. The copilot on Flight 3407 was 24 years old and was cited by the National Transportation Safety Board for several errors (ATWOnline, Feb. 4). Among questions raised in the ANPRM are whether all Part 121 pilots should be required to hold an Airline Transport Pilot certificate with the appropriate aircraft category, class and type rating, requiring at least 1,500 flight hr. First officers currently must have only an instrument rating and commercial pilot certificate.

Under the Airline Safety and Pilot Training and Improvement Act of 2009 passed last fall by the US House of Representatives and under review by the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, all Part 121 pilots would be required to possess an ATP certificate and would be allowed to receive flight hr. credit for "specific academic training courses" approved by FAA (ATWOnline, Oct. 16).

Another proposal for which the agency is seeking comment is creation of a required "endorsement" on a commercial pilot certificate attesting successful completion of additional training on operational conditions such as icing and high-altitude flying that are common to Part 121 operations. FAA said it "believes that an endorsement approach would target specific skill sets. . .and establish the associated standards for content and quality of training" and would "eliminate the time-based requirements that aviation universities argue is not a reasonable requirement for graduates."

FAA also is seeking comments for an operator-specific authorization on a commercial pilot certificate that would "ensure that each air carrier has provided its pilot employees with the training and qualifications specific to its operating environment." The ANPRM may be viewed here.

by Brian Straus

Other headlines: