March 2005

IAOPA's European Region Proposes Private Pilot License IFR Rating

IAOPA's European Region has submitted a proposal to the European Joint Aviation Authority (JAA) to provide an instrument-rating training course more suitable for a private pilot, leading to a rating that would be more attainable in terms of both cost and time spent during the training. Following consultation with the general aviation (GA) industry in Europe, it was agreed that an important aspect of this new rating is that it should also take into account the considerable number of private pilots who use an aeroplane for their own private air transportation. Accident statistics prove that a large majority of GA accidents in Europe are weather related, and therefore, it follows that a private pilot holding an instrument rating will always be a safer pilot.

The new rating will focus on ICAO Annex 1 instrument rating standards and recommended practices and will reduce a number of the more esoteric knowledge requirements now required for a Joint Aviation Regulations Flight Crew Licensing instrument rating. The new rating will be applicable to both single- and multiengine aircraft and will not significantly curtail the privileges accorded to the existing rating holder.

Pamela Campbell, principal drafter of the proposal and IAOPA's European Region representative to the JAA Licensing Sectorial Team, noted, "The intent of the proposal is to provide a more accessible instrument rating to Europe's private pilots, an initiative that should enhance the safety of the general aviation community."

AOPA-Russia Facilitates Entry to Country

In an effort to help IAOPA affiliates, AOPA-Russia has offered to assist in providing letters of invitation required for Russian entry visas for IAOPA pilots, either one-year or short-term. These letters are required by the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs. AOPA-Russia is accredited with the Ministry and their experience in this sphere has prolonged for some years.

For more information, contact AOPA-Russia Secretary Tatiana Dolguikh.

Correction: In the February 2005 eNews it was incorrectly stated that Leonid Koshelev was the outgoing president of the association; Valery Shelkovnikov was actually the outgoing president. Koshelev retains his position of Chairman of the Board, one that he has held for some time.

Airport Charges Should Not Be Excessive

Several recent inquiries from affiliates regarding excessive airport landing and parking fees prompted the IAOPA Secretariat to revisit the subject. Excessive airport fees have always been a concern for worldwide general aviation, a subject that should be revisited frequently. The following guidance may prove helpful.

Airport related charges levied on general aviation, landing and parking fees, permit operating authorities to provide safe and practical services to users. However, these fees may at times seem to be excessive, or used to exclude or discriminate rather than reimburse the airport for services rendered.

The important point to make to operating authorities is that the fees should be set to cover anticipated expenses for the services provided in conjunction with the act of either parking or landing; these fees should not act as concealed access or peak hour funding. Importantly, a light aircraft imposes little maintenance burden on an airport from the standpoint of wear and tear on the runways and ramps. Further, the facilities and services required by light aircraft are slight when compared to those for airline aircraft.

Each State that has signed the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Convention (currently 189 States) pledges to abide by the standards and recommended practices published by that organization, to the maximum extent practicable. One of those publications, ICAO'S Policies on Charges for Airports and Air Navigation Services, Doc 9082/7, 2004, contains recommendations and conclusions of the ICAO Council resulting from the organization's Conference on the Economics of Airports and Air Navigation and ongoing deliberations on the subject.

While each State is not required to abide by these recommendations they represent the collected practices of a majority of the States and are used as authoritative guidance by airport operators worldwide. Selected quotations from this document follow and may prove useful in dealing with airport authorities (italics applied for emphasis).

A key provision of the document for general aviation interests that IAOPA has strived to retain in its several revisions is:

Airport charges levied on international general aviation should be assessed in a reasonable manner, having regard to the cost of the facilities needed and used and the goal of promoting the sound development of international civil aviation as a whole.

[A more complete treatment of this subject was recently prepared and may be found on the IAOPA Web site.]

Environmental Protection for Airports

Recent discussions within the ICAO Air Navigation Commission highlighted the bird strike hazard associated with locating uncovered public waste sites near airports. While most international airports providing scheduled commercial air transportation work with surrounding communities and national authorities to avoid placing waste sites away from arrival and departure paths, few such initiatives are in place for general aviation airports. Frank Hofmann, IAOPA Representative to ICAO, emphasized the importance of protecting all airports from bird strike hazards by preventing or relocating waste sites away from flight paths. He pointed out that ordinances designed to accomplish this goal must be applicable to all airports, not just commercial service facilities. Ordinances prohibiting the placement of obstacles near airports that may constitute hazards to flight must apply to general aviation airports as well.

ICAO FCLTP Meets in Montreal

The Flight Crew Licensing and Training Panel (FCLTP) and its three working groups have met regularly over the past two years. The latest series of meetings were held in early February in Montreal to discuss five agenda items:

• Changes to flight crew licensing affecting Annex 1 and Training Requirements of Annex 6, Part I and III dealing with aircraft category and class ratings.
• Recommend changes to recency of experience and maintenance of competency, crediting of hours toward a higher license.
• Recommendations for a Multi-Crew Pilot License (MPL).
• Age 60 rule modifications.
• Future work for the Panel.

Frank Hofmann, IAOPA's Representative to ICAO, participated in these meetings and reports the following items of interest:

• Threat and Error Management (TEM) will be introduced into all training curricula.
• A new category of aircraft, powered lift, has been added to accommodate the emerging tilt rotor aircraft.
• Pilot in Command (PIC) time for a CPL is reduced from 100 to 70 hours if the training occurs in an approved training organization (ATO).
• The original proposal by IAOPA regarding recency requirements for general aviation aircraft was retained, asking States to carry out a statistical survey on accidents related to recency of experience, to do a risk analysis, and based only on the outcome of that work, proceed to introduce any changes. Guidance material for risk-assessment procedures is to be developed. (Editorial note - This is a significant accomplishment, avoiding unnecessary recency requirements.)
• The new multicrew pilot license is an ab initio license - i.e., a complete program beginning to end. This license will train pilots specifically for airline service.
• Flight crew training programs are to include an assessment of competence - i.e., other than just an examination.
• Flight Simulation Training Devices (FSTD) categorized into four types. Type I E-training types to involve more accessories than normally associated with desktop computers and involve psychomotor activity with appropriate force and timing responses. Additional training will be carried out on FSTDs.
• Many changes were introduced to the language and definitions of various sections of the Annex to make it more consistent and to avoid ambiguities.
• Future work for the panel was defined. This includes the development of additional guidance material for competency based training and inspector competencies. No further panel meetings are foreseen.

Hofmann noted, "The panel wanted to get away from prescriptive regulations, to leave it to State regulators to develop practical methods to achieve aviation safety; the whole mood of the meeting was for evidence-based regulatory change. This was evidenced in the agreement to our request for recency-requirement changes, competency-based training, permitting pilots over age 60 to fly airliners if accompanied by a copilot under 60, and an increased training allowance of flight simulation devices. However, individual AOPAs should exercise vigilance to ensure that this new margin of freedom is not translated by some States into constraints more severe than had been in existence."

The recommendations to the panel will next be presented at the ANC in June, and ultimately forwarded to Council for approval, perhaps by November 2005.

IAOPA's European Region Liaison Officer Appointed

IAOPA's European Region has appointed a new liaison officer to work with the European Commission, Eurocontrol, and the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) in Brussels and Cologne. Harald Kilper has accepted this role as an adjunct to his new position on the staff of AOPA-Germany. Kilper has a master's degree in business administration and an ATPL. He replaces Sylvain DeWeerdt, former liaison officer for the region.

Martin Robinson, Deputy Vice President of IAOPA Europe noted, "There will be considerable benefits in this arrangement, as Michael Erb, Managing Director of AOPA-Germany, has daily contact over the work that is undertaken and will be able to give direction to Harald. He will on average spend two days per week for IAOPA in Cologne (EASA) or Brussels, either at Eurocontrol or The Commission."

IAOPA Web Site Revisions

See IAOPA's Web site for formatting changes and the addition of new documents in the IAOPA Information section.

The International Council of Aircraft Owner and Pilot Associations represents the interests of more than 470,000 pilots and aircraft owners in 60 countries. Formed in 1962, IAOPA is dedicated to promoting the peaceful uses of general aviation and aerial work worldwide.

IAOPA eNews is published monthly by the International Council of Aircraft Owner and Pilot Associations for the use of its affiliate members in representing and advocating general aviation and aerial work interests worldwide.

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