Matt Thurber, editor-in-chief at AIN Media Group, has been flying since 1975 and writing about aviation since 1978 and now has the best job in the world, running editorial operations for Aviation International News, Business Jet Traveler, and FutureFlight.aero. In addition to working as an A&amp;P mechanic on everything from Piper Cubs to turboprops, Matt taught flying at his father’s flight school in Plymouth, Mass., in the early 1980s, flew for an aircraft owner/pilot, and for two summer seasons hunted swordfish near the George’s Banks off the East Coast from a Piper Super Cub. An ATP certificated fixed-wing pilot and CFII and commercial helicopter pilot, Matt is type-rated in the Citation 500 and Gulfstream V/550. Based in the Pacific Northwest, Matt and his team cover the entire aviation scene including business aircraft, helicopters, avionics, safety, manufacturing, charter, fractionals, technology, air transport, advanced air mobility, defense, and other subjects of interest to AIN, BJT, and FutureFlight readers.

Editor-in-Chief

Matt Thurber

The FAA has issued a <a href="http://www.faa.gov/regulations_policies/rulemaking/recently_published/media/2120-AJ67.pdf">final rule</a> that raises to 1,500 the minimum flight hours required by first officers for U.S. air carriers flying under Part 121 regulations, up from the current 250 hours. The new rules stem from a Congressional mandate following the 2009 crash of Colgan Air 3407, a Bombardier Q400, in Buffalo, NY. The rule also requires that first officers hold an ATP certificate and a type rating in the aircraft being flown. To earn the ATP, pilots will need to log a minimum 50 hours of multi-engine flight time and complete a new FAA-approved training program. Before upgrading to captain, pilots will need to have logged at least 1,000 hours as copilots.


The new rule carves out circumstances where new airline pilots won’t have to meet the 1,500-hour minimum. A pilot who is not yet 23 years old or who does not have 1,500 hours will be able to obtain a restricted-privileges ATP, which will allow that pilot to fly as copilot until achieving the minimum 1,500 hours. Restricted-privileges pilots can include military pilots with 750 hours total time; graduates with a bachelor’s degree in aviation with 1,000 hours or associate’s degree with 1,250 hours; or pilots who are 21 and have 1,500 hours.


Quality of Time Logged


The new regulations, however, do not address the quality of the logged time. Both pilots in the Colgan crash had logged more time than the new minimum; the captain had flown 3,379 hours and the first officer 2,244 hours at the time of the accident. Cargo operator Ameriflight has petitioned the FAA to allow pilots to log more time when flying as second-in-command (SIC) in Part 135 cargo operations where just one pilot is required, as one way of helping new commercial pilots gain valuable flying experience.


The petition was filed in February but just recently went live for <a href="http://www.regulations.gov/#!documentDetail;D=FAA-2007-0383-0016">public comment</a>. (See Regulations.gov Docket No. FAA-2007-0383-0016.) Under certain circumstances, SIC pilots can log a small amount of time when flying on single-pilot cargo flights, but Ameriflight believes that aviation would benefit from the exemption, which, if approved, would allow other operators to file similar exemption petitions. “SICs…would gain real-world flying experience under the supervision of a qualified captain,” Ameriflight noted. And future airline pilots would gain experience far more beneficial than logging time teaching, flying traffic watch, banner towing and so on to bridge the gap between freshly licensed sub-300-hour commercial pilots and the new 1,500-hour minimum, the company said.


It should be noted that there are no regulations that prohibit an operator from charging SICs for flight time that they are logging when flying for Part 135 or 121 air carriers. A commenter to an earlier AINalerts article (see July 16 issue) expressed concern that exemptions like the one Ameriflight seeks could lead to more Part 135 operators requiring that SICs pay to log flight time. According to the NTSB, the captain in the <a href="http://www.ntsb.gov/doclib/reports/2010/aar1001.pdf">Colgan accident</a> was a student at the Gulfstream Training Academy, where he logged 250 hours flying as an SIC for Gulfstream International Airlines (GIA). In that program, the student pays for those 250 hours of SIC time. He was not offered a job following the 250-hour period.


The NTSB report on the Colgan accident included this information about the captain’s flying abilities, specifically related to airspeed control: “The captain completed initial training and, in December 2004, began flying the BE-1900 for GIA as a fully qualified first officer. GIA maintained comprehensive training records for the captain. His training records showed that, even though he completed all entry, training, and operating phases without a failure, the captain had experienced continuing difficulties with aircraft control. For example, during simulator periods three and four, the captain was graded unsatisfactory in ‘approach to stall–landing configuration,’ although he received a satisfactory grade in later sessions. During simulator period seven, the captain’s altitude and airspeed control was unacceptable, and comments included, ‘airspeed more than 10 knots below Vref + 10. Fly correct airspeed!’ ‘airspeed 10 knots below Vref crossing threshold,’ ‘gear remains up during entire approach’ and ‘repeated deviation from altitude 200 to 300 feet.’”


More pilot training rules are likely coming. On July 10, the architects of the 1,500-hour Congressional mandate, senator Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and congressman Brian Higgins (D-N.Y.), wrote a letter to the FAA asking that a new mandate for additional stall and stall recovery training be implemented immediately and applied to non-U.S. pilots through bilateral agreements. Referring to the Asiana 214 crash on July 6, Schumer and Higgins wrote: “While the investigation is still ongoing, one thing is clear: this crash and the other recent crashes like Flight 3407 demonstrate a troubling pattern in which pilots are mishandling airspeed, which can lead to fatal stalls.”

News about simulators and training procedures, as well as workforce.

1,500-hour Pilot Rule Presents Challenges And Opportunities

2024 Corporate Aviation Leadership Summit

Charles Alcock

News and issues regarding all manner of civil and military rotorcraft and their powerplants, including helicopters, tilt rotors and unmanned air vehicles.

News and information on safety procedures and concerns.

News and issues relating to business, corporate and private aviation, primarily regarding turbine-engine-powered airplanes and helicopters. Subjects include aircraft, engines, maintenance, operations, personnel, acquisitions, accidents, safety, security, and training.

Austrian manufacturer has yet to say which rotorcraft types it will support 

Axis Announces Plans for Helicopter Training Systems

AIN Staff

In a Corporate Aviation Leadership Summit (CALS) roundtable on retention, an aviation staffing expert and flight department leaders traded hard-won lessons on money, culture, and knowing who you’re really competing with.

The Retention Stool Has Four Legs: What Flight Departments Get Wrong about Keeping Talent

Across three separate CALS sessions, flight department leaders worked through the same hard questions about earning trust, leading individuals, and holding the line.

Leadership from the Cockpit to the Department: What Three Days of Roundtables Revealed

News and developments about airplanes, helicopters and unmanned air vehicles used in all varieties of operations, including airlines, military, business, commercial, general aviation and private.

News and issues relating to the aerospace industry that are related to the science, engineering and business of flight in space involving civil, industrial and military applications, and similar topics related to flight in the atmosphere of the Earth that are not covered more directly by other AINonline subject channels. In other words, both astronautical and aeronautical subjects, except for those aeronautical topics that are specifically covered elsewhere on this website.

The lack of 3D data is holding back some aspects of manufacturing 

Tapping Data to Safely Drive Up Aerospace Productivity

Draper to stay until the end of the year to smooth the transition

Rohloff New Textron Aviation CEO as Ron Draper Retires

News and issues concerning the aviation charter and fractional-ownership industries and markets, including company announcements, regulations, new developments and labor issues.

More In Training and Workforce

Axis Announces Plans for Helicopter Training Systems

Austrian manufacturer has yet to say which rotorcraft types it will support

The Retention Stool Has Four Legs: What Flight Departments Get Wrong about Keeping Talent

In a Corporate Aviation Leadership Summit (CALS) roundtable on retention, an aviation staffing expert and flight department leaders traded hard-won lessons on money, culture, and knowing who you’re really competing with.

Leadership from the Cockpit to the Department: What Three Days of Roundtables Revealed

Across three separate CALS sessions, flight department leaders worked through the same hard questions about earning trust, leading individuals, and holding the line.

Tapping Data to Safely Drive Up Aerospace Productivity

The lack of 3D data is holding back some aspects of manufacturing

Rohloff New Textron Aviation CEO as Ron Draper Retires

Draper to stay until the end of the year to smooth the transition

Air Charter Association Expands NextGen Group

Saxon Air executive Rachel Harvey chairs the group for young charter professionals

AINsight: Your Team Is Always Recruiting

Building recruiting reputations for your company long before a job is posted

Kawasaki To Deploy 1st Asia-Pac Loft H145 VR Simulator

Virtual-reality device allows pilots and crew to practice realistic emergency scenarios

AIN Products

SUBSCRIPTIONS

RESOURCES

ABOUT AIN