Flight Crew Licensing — Page 83, Lesson 133

Let's pick up with the Airline Transport Pilot Licence — the ATPL(A). This is the top of the pilot licensing pyramid, and the requirements are strict because the holder can act as pilot-in-command of any commercial air transport aeroplane. First, the age requirement. An applicant for an ATPL(A) must be not less than 21 years of age. That's the minimum — you cannot hold this licence before your 21st birthday. Next, theoretical knowledge. The applicant must have knowledge of the same subjects detailed in paragraph 5.55 — those are the CPL(A) subjects — but to a more demanding level, determined by examination. So it's the same subject list, but the depth required is greater, and that depth is verified by exam. Now the experience requirement, and this is substantial. An applicant must complete not less than 1500 hours of flight time, and must demonstrate the ability to pilot multi-crew aeroplanes under IFR — that's Instrument Flight Rules, flying solely by reference to instruments. Where synthetic trainer time is permitted, it's limited to a maximum of 100 hours as part of the required 1500, provided that not more than 25 of those hours have been acquired in a flight procedure trainer or a basic instrument trainer. So the bulk of the simulator time must be in a more capable device. Flight time as pilot in other categories of aircraft may, with authority authorization, be credited toward the total. So if you have time in, say, helicopters, that can count, but only with the authority's approval. Now the breakdown of the required flight time. The applicant must have completed not less than 500 hours as PIC under supervision — that's Pilot-in-Command under supervision. Alternatively, 250 hours, either as PIC, or made up by not less than 70 hours as PIC and the additional flight time as PIC under supervision. So there's a flexible path: either 500 supervised PIC hours, or 250 hours where at least 70 are true PIC and the rest are PIC under supervision. Next, 200 hours of cross-country flight time, with not less than 100 hours as PIC, or as co-pilot acting as PIC under supervision, provided the method is approved by the authority. So the cross-country requirement has its own sub-requirement of 100 hours in a command role. Then 75 hours of instrument time, of which not more than 30 hours may be instrument ground time. Instrument ground time is time in a ground-based trainer, and it's capped at 30 of those 75 hours — so at least 45 hours must be actual airborne instrument time. Then 100 hours of night flight time, as PIC or co-pilot. And finally, JAR-FCL additionally requires 500 hours of multi-pilot operations in transport or commuter category aeroplanes, or equivalent code. So under JAR-FCL — the Joint Aviation Requirements for Flight Crew Licensing — you need half a thousand hours operating in a multi-pilot environment on transport or commuter category aircraft. Medical fitness: an ATPL(A) holder must hold a current class 1 medical assessment. That's the highest class of medical certificate. Privileges: the holder of an ATPL(A) is permitted to exercise all the privileges granted to the holder of a PPL(A) and CPL(A) and of an IR(A) — that's the Instrument Rating — and to act as PIC and co-pilot of any aeroplane engaged in commercial air transport. So the ATPL(A) is the full command licence. Now, the Multi-crew Pilot Licence — the MPL. This is a different concept. ICAO PANS Training — that's the Procedures for Air Navigation Services, Training — defines the MPL as a licence that permits the holder to exercise the privileges of a co-pilot in commercial air transport on multi-crew aeroplanes. Multi-crew aeroplanes are aeroplanes which require a flight crew of at least two pilots. So the MPL is a co-pilot licence, not a command licence. The key concept: it permits pilots to be trained directly as co-pilots, rather than under the CPL or ATPL system, which trains pilots-in-command. So instead of building up to command and then being a co-pilot, you train specifically for the right-hand seat from the start. Limitations: because the licence is designed for co-pilots of multi-crew aeroplanes, the holder of an MPL will not be able to exercise the privilege of the licence on single-pilot operation aeroplanes. So an MPL holder cannot fly an aeroplane that requires only one pilot — the licence is restricted to multi-crew operations. Licence specification: the specification for the MPL broadly follows the example of the JAA 'frozen' ATPL(A). A frozen ATPL is one where the theoretical knowledge has been completed but the experience hasn't — it's 'frozen' until the hours are built up. So the MPL's structure mirrors that pattern. That's the ATPL(A) and the MPL. The ATPL is the full command licence with the 1500-hour experience requirement and the class 1 medical; the MPL is the direct-to-co-pilot licence, restricted to multi-crew operations.