As part of the FAA's "Call to
Action" to enhance airline safety following last year's Colgan Air
accident in Buffalo, NY, the FAA Thursday asked for recommendations
to improve pilot qualification and training requirements.
"Our nation's airlines should have the best-trained and
best-prepared pilots in the cockpit," said U.S. Transportation
Secretary Ray LaHood. "We must build on the current pilot
certification system and make it even stronger."
"Experience is not measured by flight time alone," said FAA
Administrator Randy Babbitt. "Pilots need to have quality training
and experience appropriate to the mission to be ready to handle any
situation they encounter."
The public will have 60 days to comment on basic pilot
certification in four key areas:
Should all pilots who transport passengers be required to hold
an Air Transport Pilot (ATP) certificate with the appropriate
aircraft category, class and type ratings, which would raise the
required flight hours for these pilots to 1,500 hours?
Should the FAA permit academic credit in lieu of required
flight hours or experience?
Should the FAA establish a new commercial pilot certificate
endorsement that would address concerns about the operational
experience of newly hired commercial pilots, require additional
flight hours and possibly credit academic training?
Would an air carrier-specific authorization on an existing
pilot certificate improve safety?
The FAA's Call to Action aims to strengthen pilot hiring,
training and performance, as well as combat fatigue and improve
professional standards and discipline at all airlines. The FAA is
pursuing both rule changes and voluntary safety enhancements. One
proposed rule, which will enhance airline pilot training programs,
recently received more than 3,000 pages of public comments. The FAA
is now developing a supplemental proposal that will be issued this
spring. FAA will also propose new rules this spring to address
pilot fatigue.
The Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) will be published
next week in the Federal Register and will have a 60-day comment
period.
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