The Colgan Air crash near Buffalo in 2009 continues to cast a shadow over the FAA’s rulemaking, with several legislative measures affecting the industry, according to Leslie Smith, division manager for the agency’s air transportation division, speaking at the National Air Transportation Association’s annual Air Charter Summit in Washington, D.C.
With regard to the recent Congressional mandate that all Part 121 pilots must hold a multi-engine airplane ATP certificate (Advisory Circular 61-138), one Part 135 Citation operator complained during the session that the new rules impose a burden because they present what first-officer applicants hoping to upgrade to captain see as a costly obstacle. The rule calls for pilots to train for several hours in a simulator that represents an aircraft of 40,000 pounds or more to earn an ATP. He wondered why his future captains need to go through the expense of training on an aircraft much larger than any they would operate in his company’s fleet. “Thank Congress,” deadpanned Smith, adding that pilots who did not take the ATP written exam before August 1 will have to meet the more stringent ATP program requirements. John McGraw, NATA’s director of regulatory affairs and a former deputy director of the FAA’s flight standards service, requested that any operators that experience difficulties with implementation of the new rule contact the association so that it can consolidate them and present an argument to the FAA.
More In Regulations and Government
