Mon Nov 01, 2010 1:08 pm
#908835
From IAOPA:
'Grandfather rights' changes the regulatory landscape
IAOPA is seeking advice from its Brussels lawyers over an EASA statement to the effect that it has no power to abolish any established national practice – a statement which opens up a whole new vista of regulatory possibility. The statement was made during a meeting to discuss the UK’s IMC rating, which Britain wants to retain but which some other European countries do not want. EASA’s representatives said anyone in Britain who had an IMC rating would be allowed to continue using it for life because EASA did not have the power to take away any privilege already granted by a national authority.
IAOPA’s lawyers have been asked to unearth the precise wording of whatever EU law allows this – it is certainly not aviation law – but it seems to offer a solution to some of the intractable problems associated with harmonising licences. In France it could allow the continuation of the brevet de base, which the rest of Europe does not want. For the UK, as well as the IMC rating it might solve the problem of the Basic Commercial Pilots Licence, a national licence which allows PPL instructors to carry on doing their jobs.
Martin Robinson says: “This is such a seismic shift in EASA’s position that it must be fully clarified in plain language. Often EASA hides behind legal semantics, a dreadful position to be in when you’re making aviation safety rules, and you can read many things into what they say. But this is too important.”
The UK IMC rating is a course of at least 15 hours which pilots are encouraged to complete after their PPL. It teaches them to keep control of an aircraft in IMC, and to return safely to the ground using whatever instrument approach is available. Tens of thousands of British pilots have obtained the rating over the past 40 years, and it is seen as one of the main reasons why the UK’s safety rate is so good, despite its unpredictable maritime climate. EASA’s one-size-fits-all approach means the IMC rating cannot be adopted across Europe because some countries do not allow IMC flight outside controlled airspace. AOPA UK, with the backing of the UK CAA, seeks to preserve the IMC rating for future generations of pilots as well as those with ‘grandfather rights’.
'Grandfather rights' changes the regulatory landscape
IAOPA is seeking advice from its Brussels lawyers over an EASA statement to the effect that it has no power to abolish any established national practice – a statement which opens up a whole new vista of regulatory possibility. The statement was made during a meeting to discuss the UK’s IMC rating, which Britain wants to retain but which some other European countries do not want. EASA’s representatives said anyone in Britain who had an IMC rating would be allowed to continue using it for life because EASA did not have the power to take away any privilege already granted by a national authority.
IAOPA’s lawyers have been asked to unearth the precise wording of whatever EU law allows this – it is certainly not aviation law – but it seems to offer a solution to some of the intractable problems associated with harmonising licences. In France it could allow the continuation of the brevet de base, which the rest of Europe does not want. For the UK, as well as the IMC rating it might solve the problem of the Basic Commercial Pilots Licence, a national licence which allows PPL instructors to carry on doing their jobs.
Martin Robinson says: “This is such a seismic shift in EASA’s position that it must be fully clarified in plain language. Often EASA hides behind legal semantics, a dreadful position to be in when you’re making aviation safety rules, and you can read many things into what they say. But this is too important.”
The UK IMC rating is a course of at least 15 hours which pilots are encouraged to complete after their PPL. It teaches them to keep control of an aircraft in IMC, and to return safely to the ground using whatever instrument approach is available. Tens of thousands of British pilots have obtained the rating over the past 40 years, and it is seen as one of the main reasons why the UK’s safety rate is so good, despite its unpredictable maritime climate. EASA’s one-size-fits-all approach means the IMC rating cannot be adopted across Europe because some countries do not allow IMC flight outside controlled airspace. AOPA UK, with the backing of the UK CAA, seeks to preserve the IMC rating for future generations of pilots as well as those with ‘grandfather rights’.
