deadstick
Pucker Factor: HIGH
- Joined
- Jul 27, 2002
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It's already in the works!
http://www.atwonline.com/channels/safetySecurity/article.html?articleID=1428
Shortcut or Fast Track?
A new ICAO initiative aims at nothing less than a complete overhaul in the way in which commercial air transport pilots are trained and licensed.
By Oliver Sutton
Air Transport World, October 2005, p.51
Last year, ICAO's Air Navigation Commission tasked its Flight Crew Licensing and Training Panel to investigate whether a new pilot's license could respond to airline demands for pilots better prepared to operate modern aircraft and systems at a lower cost.
The new license, referred to as the Multi-Crew Pilot License, also is seen as a basis to introduce competency-based training for other pilot certificates at a later date. The initial push for change came from Germany.
The MPL would see trainees moving into the right seat of high-performance jet transports with just 240 hr. of instruction. Of this, only between 60 and 120 hr. might actually be in the air and the student would have performed just 12 takeoffs and landings in the type he or she is to fly. The MPL is designed to bypass the training for the current commercial pilot certificate with instrument rating and let the trainee head directly for the "frozen" airline transport pilot license.
The proposal, which currently is going through the ICAO approval process, is creating plenty of discussion in the airline pilot community. Words like experience, airmanship, air sense and aircraft handling skills are being invoked.
The Flight Crew Licensing and Training Panel was tasked specifically to review current licensing (ICAO Annex 1) and training (Annex 6) standards "in order to ensure their continued relevance in meeting current needs while preserving and improving upon existing flight safety levels." An earlier inquiry under the ANC's safety oversight program established that very few member states had defined formal criteria for judging performance in pilot licensing exams or for demonstrating maintenance of competency as required under Annex 6 rules.
The panel further was to determine whether competency-based flightcrew standards could complement and/or replace existing standards based on knowledge, skill and experience that have been in use since Annex 1 came into being. It also was to assess the extended use of flight simulators "in acquiring or maintaining the competences required for the various levels of licenses and ratings, taking into account the type of simulator being used, and determine the credit to be given."
Until the 1960s, most commercial pilots came from an armed forces training background that stressed flying skill, knowledge and mental attitudes. Hours in the air were what counted, with hands-on experience the best and only teacher, and airmanship (also called the art of personal survival) only was acquired in the air. Aircraft handling was a key skill. Instructors were schooled in standardizing the learning process so that students had a consistent and professional approach to flying high-performance aircraft. Years went by with little change in this learning process for military pilots, a majority of whom continued their careers in the air transport industry. Pilots without military training could progress toward their civil licenses but were obliged to follow flying club and civil flight school training methods. Not all received the same quality of training, and standardization of instruction was patchy worldwide.
