Fri, May 11, 2007
Warns Of Potential Downsides
This week, International Council of Aircraft Owner and Pilot
Associations (IAOPA) Secretary General John Sheehan cited a number
of potential negative effects on the worldwide general aviation
community, stemming from the forthcoming international language
proficiency requirements. Speaking at the Language Proficiency
Symposium in Montreal, Sheehan suggested alternative courses of
action in the implementation of the new requirements.
"Inadequate preparation to test pilots and air traffic
controllers within many States will thwart the intent of the ICAO
standard designed to bring safe, intelligible communications to
international civil aviation," said Sheehan. "Our sampling of
States' testing preparedness indicates few are fully ready to
accommodate the hundreds of thousands of aviation personnel that
will require certification."
An ICAO standard requiring demonstrated language proficiency for
air traffic controllers and pilots operating internationally is set
to take effect on March 5, 2008. At that time aviation personnel
must be highly proficient in either the language of the State of
operation, or English.
"Few or remote testing facilities, excessive testing fees, and
lack of adequately qualified testing personnel are all matters for
concern," said Sheehan. "The time and expense required for the more
than one million general aviation pilots to be trained and tested
to the high levels specified will have a significant impact on our
community. This could lead to a substantial reduction of the number
of pilots in areas of the world where sovereign boundaries are
frequently crossed, such as Europe."
Sheehan went on to ask ICAO and States to: delay implementation
until testing protocols and facilities were universally available;
prioritize implementation of the requirements, testing airline
pilots and air traffic controllers first; or provide grandfather
rights for private pilots operating under visual flight rules (VFR)
for a three year period. IAOPA has previously petitioned ICAO to
eliminate or reduce the high level of English proficiency for VFR
operations.
IAOPA represents the interests of general aviation (GA) through
AOPA affiliates in 66 countries of the world, comprising more than
470,000 GA and aerial work pilots and aircraft operators. The
Council was formed in 1962 to provide a voice for GA in world
aviation forums. GA encompasses four-fifths of all civil aircraft
and two-thirds of all pilots worldwide.
More News
Airbus Racer Demonstrator Makes Inaugural Flight Airbus Helicopters' ambitious Racer demonstrator has achieved its inaugural flight as part of the Clean Sky 2 initiative, a corners>[...]
A little Bit Quieter, Said Testers, But in the End it's Still a DA40 Diamond Aircraft recently completed a little pilot project with Lufthansa Aviation Training, putting a pair of >[...]
Line Up And Wait (LUAW) Used by ATC to inform a pilot to taxi onto the departure runway to line up and wait. It is not authorization for takeoff. It is used when takeoff clearance >[...]
Contributing To The Accident Was The Pilot’s Use Of Methamphetamine... Analysis: The pilot departed on a local flight to perform low-altitude maneuvers in a nearby desert val>[...]
From 2015 (YouTube Version): Overcoming Obstacles To Achieve Their Dreams… At EAA AirVenture 2015, FedEx arrived with one of their Airbus freight-hauling aircraft and placed>[...]
Airbus Racer Helicopter Demonstrator First Flight Part of Clean Sky 2 Initiative
See All