Board Also Recommends FAA Limits On Flight Check Failures
The National
Transportation Safety Board has issued two recommendations related
to the record-keeping and review of pilot flight check records, and
access to these records by airlines and charter operators for the
purpose of hiring decision-making.
The Board cited a case in which an Air Sunshine pilot who
ditched his aircraft in the Atlantic Ocean in 2003 after the right
engine failed. The statement of probable cause put the blame on the
failure of the engine due to inadequate maintenance and the pilot's
inability to keep the aircraft under control after the engine
failed. The pilot also failed to provide passengers with an
emergency briefing after the engine failed, and the result was two
people dead -- one adult and one child.
A review of the pilot's
records revealed that he had failed nine separate flight checks
during the period from 1983 to 1988 -- two for his private pilot
certificate, one for his instrument rating, one for his ATP
certificate, two for his CFI certificate and three for his CFI
instrument rating.
In 1994, the Board issued Safety Recommendations A-95-116
through -119, in which it asked the FAA to:
- Require all airlines operating under 14 CFR Parts 121 and 135
and independent facilities that train pilots for the airlines to
maintain pertinent standardized information on the quality of pilot
performance in activities that assess skills, abilities, knowledge,
and judgment during training, check flights, initial operating
experience, and line checks and to use this information in quality
assurance of individual performance and of the training
programs.
- Require all airlines operating under 14 CFR Parts 121 and 135
and independent facilities that train pilots for the airlines to
provide such information to the FAA for incorporation into a
storage and retrieval system.
- Maintain a storage and retrieval system that contained
pertinent standardized information on the quality of 14 CFR Part
121 and 135 airline pilot performance during training.
- Require all airlines operating under 14 CFR Parts 121 and 135
to obtain information from the FAA’s storage and retrieval
system that contains pertinent standardized pilot training and
performance information for the purpose of evaluating applicants
for pilot positions during the pilot selection and hiring
process.
The Board recommended that any system implemented to meet these
recommendations should have appropriate privacy protections and
provide for a way for the pilot to have access so as to ensure
accuracy of the records. The recommendations resulted in the
passing by Congress of the Pilot Records Improvement Act (PRIA) of
1996, which required that any company hiring a pilot for air
transportation request and receive records from any aviation
carrier, company, organization, or person that had employed a pilot
applicant during the previous 5 years.
Unfortunately, while the
PRIA provided what the NTSB described as an acceptable alternate
means of compliance with the recommendations, the law does not
state that air carriers are also required to request from the
FAA documentation on failed flight checks for certificates and
ratings.
The Board recognizes that one failed flight check in an
otherwise successful pilot career is not a reason to deny someone a
job, but it also thinks that a history of multiple flight check
failures should be an issue that the carrier should consider prior
to making that hiring decision.
Based on these facts and arguments, the NTSB has issued two
recommendations to the FAA.
- Require all Part 121 and 135 air carriers to obtain any notices
of disapproval for flight checks for certificates and ratings for
all pilot applicants and evaluate this information before making a
hiring decision. (A-05-01)
- Conduct a study to determine whether the number of flight
checks a pilot can fail should be limited and whether the existing
system of providing additional training after a notice of
disapproval is adequate for pilots who have failed multiple flight
checks. On the basis of the findings of the study, establish a
flight check failure limit and modify the recheck training
requirements, if necessary. (A-05-02)
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