Can Get a Pilot License in India After Just 35 Minutes ...

[timel]

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/ ... tes-in-air

[Beefitarian]

Sign me up! I could go for some local food too.

[Brantford Beech Boy]

Hobbs meter......HAHAHAHHAHAHAAHAHHA

BBB

[garfield]

yeah, 35 minutes in india to be an FO on a widebody and 4000 in Canada... But you know, they're the best pilots in the world!

[slipkeys]

LOL, this is hilarious

[Shiny Side Up]

Old news and not really surprising anymore. I think there was a study a while back where more money was spent on bribes in India than the rest of the world combined. That said, the entirity of Asia is grossly corrupt when it comes to flight training. Given the perception of pilot being a high end career, there's no end of people who are easily lured with the promise of employment and escaping poverty. Plus you wear a cool uniform, which is great come selfie time. The participants are often fairly willing.

[abajan]

"Over logging has been common practice in India since the 1960s ..." Good grief!

@Shiny Side Up "... Plus you wear a cool uniform, which is great come selfie time." Good one.

[ReserveTank]

Anyone that's taught Indians or have had close dealings with their flight training know this already.
I've witnessed more cash offers for pencil whipping logbooks than I care to recount. It's just factored into the training budget

[Andy Furlong]

While it may be true that 35 minutes can get you a Pilot Licence in India, it doesn't do much to ensure the safety of pilots or passengers. There's no substitute for experience, and 35 minutes is a pretty brief experience.

[Gilles Hudicourt]

When a Canadian Aviation Regulation is created or modified, the new Regulation must be published in the Canada Gazette. On the day of publication, a Regulatory Impact Analysis Statement (RIAS) must also be published along with the new regulation. The RIAS provides a cogent, non-technical synthesis of information that allows the various audiences to understand the issue that is being regulated, the reason the issue is being regulated, the government's objectives, and the costs and benefits of the regulation and who will be affected, who was consulted in developing the regulation, and how the government will evaluate and measure the performance of the regulation against its stated aim.

The CAR that covers the issue of Foreign Licence Validation Certificates is 401.07. The details are in the Standard, CASS 421.07. The last time CAR 401.07 was modified from its original version, a RIAS had to be published in the Canada Gazette II.

Here is that RIAS:

401.07 Foreign Licence Validation certificate
While the issuance of the foreign licence validation certificate accepts the standards of training and operations within the original licensing country, these restrictions upon the duration and purposes of such a certificate minimize the potential exposure of Canadian operators and the Canadian licensing system to possibly less stringent standards. This prohibition supports the limited duration and use to which such a certificate can be put. This measure ensures the protection of the Canadian aviation system from the effect of possibly less rigorous standards applied in pilot licensing elsewhere, which would dilute the worth of a Canadian document if foreign licenses were validated in Canada without limit or restriction.

It is precisely to protect the Canadian flying public against less rigorous licensing standard sometimes found in other countries that CAR 401.07 and its Standard, CASS 421.07 limit the time and purposes for which FLVCs can be issued to Foreign Licensed pilots. Yet, for many years, Transport Canada has issued every year several hundred FLVCs to Foreign Licenced pilots for commercial flying in Canada, the bulk of which are issued after application by Sunwing Airlines. They are issued according to CASS 421.07(2)(j).
CASS 421.07(2) a) to i) provide a list of very restrictive purposes for which FLVCs can be issued, and 421.07(2)(j) provides one more reason, labelled "Other". These past years, the majority of FLVCs issued by TC were issued according to 421.07(2)(j).

Transport Canada publishes Staff Instructions for its employees, in order to help them interpret Regulations. There is one covering FLVCs. It is Staff Instruction 400.005. Until 2011 this staff instruction contained the following statement:

1.Licensing staff should not accept applications to validate a foreign licence for commercial purposes directly from the licence holder. Licensing staff should accept such requests only from a Canadian or foreign air operator on behalf of pilots the operator proposes to employ.
2.When an air operator requests a validation on behalf of a pilot, licensing staff must ensure that the documentation from the air operator includes a written statement confirming that the air operator has verified that the pilot is properly qualified and holds a licence and medical certificate that are valid in accordance with the law of the state that issued the licence.
3.It is not in the public interest to issue a FLVC to holders of foreign licenses when they also hold an equivalent level of Canadian licence, whether or not that licence is kept current or valid.
4.Documentation provided by the air operator must clearly identify the nature of the operation to be undertaken by the foreign pilot, where the operation will be conducted, and the length of time for which the foreign licence must be validated.
5. The submission from the air operator must clearly establish why a foreign pilot is required and why holders of Canadian licences cannot be used.

It seems that paragraph 5 of the Staff Instructions were clearly ignored. In 2011, Transport Canada realized that this was the case, so instead of asking Staff to apply the Instructions, they did the opposite, they decided to liberalize the Staff Instructions with this more accommodating version:

(2) In addition to the above, the air operator must include a written statement containing the following information:
(a) A declaration that the pilot for which the application is being made holds a valid licence and medical certificate that are appropriate for the privileges required for the operation and are valid in accordance with the law of the State that issued the licence;
(b) A detailed description of the operation to be undertaken by the applicant;
(c) The geographical location where the operation will take place;
(d) The required duration to complete the specific operation; and
(e) A brief explanation why the holder of a Canadian flight crew licence cannot be used.
Note:
(i) When an applicant submits original documents, licensing staff must photocopy each document and certify the copy as a true copy of the original document and then return the originals to the applicant; and
(ii) Licensing staff are not required to request licence verification unless there are concerns over the authenticity or validity of the documents presented. It is the responsibility of the air operator to verify that each licence holder is properly qualified and holds an appropriate and valid licence and medical certificate.

Transport Canada staff are also specifically asked NOT to verify the validity of the Foreign applicants Licences and Medicals. They are just required to accept the credentials submitted to them at face value. The responsibility to verify the credentials falls under the Operator, ie Sunwing Airlines.

[rxl]

While it may be true that 35 minutes can get you a Pilot Licence in India, it doesn't do much to ensure the safety of pilots or passengers. There's no substitute for experience, and 35 minutes is a pretty brief experience.

This has to be the understatement of the century.

35 minutes doesn't qualify you to even start a 152 let alone fly it.
I wonder how many innocent people have died as a result of this practice?

[Andy Furlong]

While it may be true that 35 minutes can get you a Pilot Licence in India, it doesn't do much to ensure the safety of pilots or passengers. There's no substitute for experience, and 35 minutes is a pretty brief experience.

This has to be the understatement of the century.

35 minutes doesn't qualify you to even start a 152 let alone fly it.
I wonder how many innocent people have died as a result of this practice?

I imagine there are sims people out there who could fly better than a 35 minute pilot.

[timel]

Transport Canada staff are also specifically asked NOT to verify the validity of the Foreign applicants Licences and Medicals. They are just required to accept the credentials submitted at them at face value. The responsibility to verify the credentials falls under the Operator, ie Sunwing Airlines.

This is insane.

Who is going to change that?

[Big Pistons Forever]

Sadly the stereotype of Indian students being cheaters is not just a racist rant. After seeing far too many Indian guys come to Canada with the attitude of " I am buying my CPL, you give me the license after I have spent XX dollars " , I find the news report pretty beleivable.

The best story. An indian PPL time building goes for a local flight. The Hobbs meter malfunctions and instead of recording 1.2 hours, it shows 100.2 hours. His reaction, "Awesome I don't have to do any more build up time for my CPL ! "

[photofly]

Transport Canada staff are also specifically asked NOT to verify the validity of the Foreign applicants Licences and Medicals. They are just required to accept the credentials submitted at them at face value. The responsibility to verify the credentials falls under the Operator, ie Sunwing Airlines.

This is insane.

Who is going to change that?

I can understand why. There's no way that TC licensing staff have the time or expertise properly to investigate every foreign document to verify it. If they do a half-assed job and say the documents are ok, they're on the hook to the airline if a pilot with forged documents screws up and kills people. it's one of those situations where if you can't do the job properly, you shouldn't try, and there's no way that TC can do that job properly. The best way is for TC enforcement to check randomly and in great depth a limited number of cases after the fact, and come down like a tonne of bricks on the executives of any airline any of whose pilots' documents don't check out. They should tuer some amirals, so to speak, pour encourager the others.

[Beefitarian]

Transport Canada staff are also specifically asked NOT to verify the validity of the Foreign applicants Licences and Medicals. They are just required to accept the credentials submitted at them at face value. The responsibility to verify the credentials falls under the Operator, ie Sunwing Airlines.

This is insane.

Who is going to change that?

A really good wreck. All the deceased will have save big bucks on their airfare though so there's that.

[timel]

I can understand why. There's no way that TC licensing staff have the time or expertise properly to investigate every foreign document to verify it. If they do a half-assed job and say the documents are ok, they're on the hook to the airline if a pilot with forged documents screws up and kills people. it's one of those situations where if you can't do the job properly, you shouldn't try, and there's no way that TC can do that job properly. The best way is for TC enforcement to check randomly and in great depth a limited number of cases after the fact, and come down like a tonne of bricks on the executives of any airline any of whose pilots' documents don't check out. They should tuer some amirals, so to speak, pour encourager the others.

Yes, I agree they can't check it all, but they are not even allowed to make random sample checks, how do you know if the airline has verified correctly all of the hours? With all the p2f in Asia/East Europe and places like India, it is easy to bribe someone and log an extra hundred of hours that were never flown. Not sure it is people we want in a Canadian cockpit.

[photofly]

We don't want it in a Canadian cockpit at all. But faked documents should be an enforcement matter not a licensing matter. You don't know if an airline has verified the hours, but then how do you know that TC has correctly verified all the hours? If the airline wants to save money by employing cheap pilots from dubious jurisdictions then the airline should pay the not insubstantial cost (rather than me via my taxes) of verification. But give the airline the proper incentive to spend what it takes by putting some airline executives in jail when enforcement discovers some fraud.

[Legacy]

First of all, if any airline gets caught simply cut them off from Canadian airspace. That is in our full right to do that. Might give incentive for airlines to verify their applicants qualifications.

[Old Dog Flying]

4500 Indian0 pilots flight time being investigated by the Indian government, flight schools being investigated, CDN and Aussy FTUs being investigated..all in the press about two years ago then nothing. Makes for good headlines but then nothing else is ever reported.

I doubt that the BIC flight time will ever be sorted out but the bribery still goes on. English proficiency tests are passed with $100.00 bills under the table so that the Chinese students can get flight tested but fortunately there are still some examiners out there at the FTUs who have some responsibility and turn down the candidate.

Fly around the Fraser Valley for an hour on a sunny day and listen to the gibberish being spoken in the practice areas. I have and it ain't Engrish!

Barney