The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has adopted new training requirements for all US airline pilots, which came into effect on 5 November.
The rule issued by the FAA requires pilots to receive more training on preventing and recovering from an aerodynamic stall and also requires airlines to track data on how well pilots perform and orders remedial training and ongoing checking for pilots deficient in flying skills. Other areas addressed by the rule include training on aircraft monitoring by pilots, enhanced runway safety procedures and expanded training for dealing with crosswinds and bounced landings.
The new regulations were proposed following the crash of Colgan Air Flight 3407 in Buffalo, New York in February 2009. Investigation found that a cause of the crash was the pilots’ failure to recognise and properly respond to an imminent stall on approach. The crash caused the deaths of all 49 people on board, along with one person on the ground.
FAA Administrator Michael Huerta said of the new training requirements, “This pivotal rule will give our nation’s pilots the most advanced training available. While the rule marks a major step toward addressing the greatest known risk areas in pilot training, I’m also calling on the commercial aviation industry to continue to move forward with voluntary initiatives to make air carrier training programs as robust as possible.”
Air carriers will have five years to comply with the rule’s new pilot training provisions, which will allow time for the necessary software updates to be made in flight simulation technology. The final rule is available online here.
