Contributor - Accidents and Regulations

Gordon Gilbert

An FAA<a href="https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2018-12-20/pdf/2018-27402.pdf"> notice of proposed rulemaking</a> would remove what is considered an unnecessary and unrealistic training requirement in FAR Part 61 for pilots seeking to obtain an initial airline transport pilot (ATP) certificate concurrently with a single-engine airplane type rating. Current regulations require a pilot seeking an ATP certificate concurrently with an airplane type rating to complete training in a simulator that represents a multiengine airplane. However, because of the way the regulations are written, the requirement for training in a multiengine airplane has the unintended effect of applying to a pilot seeking a type rating for a single-engine airplane concurrently with an ATP certificate.

 


When this training requirement became effective in 2014, there were no single-engine airplanes that required the pilot to obtain a type rating. However, with the certification of the Cirrus SF50 Vision Jet in 2016, there is now is a single-engine airplane that requires the pilot to obtain a type rating. Under the current regulations, if a pilot seeks to obtain the type rating in the Cirrus Vision Jet concurrently with the initial issuance of the ATP certificate that pilot would be required to complete the multiengine training to be eligible for the practical test.

 


To avoid the multiengine training requirement, a pilot could use a single-engine airplane that does not require a type rating to obtain the initial ATP certificate and then complete a second practical test in the SF50 to add the type rating to the ATP certificate. Or&nbsp;a pilot could add the type rating to his or her commercial pilot certificate first and then complete an ATP practical test in a different single-engine airplane, and the SF50 type rating would be carried forward to the ATP certificate.

 


In either case, the pilot would be taking an additional and unnecessary practical test to avoid completing the multiengine training.

 


The NPRM would change the regulations to reflect that the multiengine ground and simulator-training requirements apply to pilots seeking an ATP certificate with a multiengine airplane rating or an ATP certificate obtained concurrently with a multiengine airplane type rating.

 


The FAA maintains this will not compromise safety because a pilot would still be required to obtain specific training and testing that is appropriate to the single-engine airplane type rating.

 


Comments on the NPRM are due Feb. 19, 2019.

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