FAA’s New Rules to Call for Stiffer Standards for Pilots

The Federal Aviation Administration is instituting tougher training and experience requirements for airline pilots.

The rules, which take effect in four months, will require that at least one pilot of an airplane have 75 hours of hands-on experience flying that type of aircraft, the FAA said in announcing the rules Tuesday.

Pilots must obtain at least 100 hours of experience within four months after qualifying on a new type of craft.

The rule is “another stone in the wall of improving safety,” Anthony Broderick, the FAA’s associate administrator for regulation and certification, said Tuesday.

Pilot experience has been cited as a factor in several accidents, including a 1987 Continental crash in Denver that killed 28 people and a 1989 USAir accident at New York’s La Guardia Airport that killed two.

After those accidents the National Transportation Safety Board called for rules that would prevent less experienced pilots from flying together.

While most major carriers now meet the new standard voluntarily, the rule will standardize industry practice and expand the regulation to any that do not, Broderick said.

Also, he noted that rules for major airlines are being extended to cover commuter flights with as few as 10 seats.

The FAA estimated that the increased training requirements will cost industry $31 million over 10 years and could prevent as many as 26 fatalities. The new requirements are in addition to the training and experience needed to obtain a commercial pilot’s license.

Generally, the industry supports the new rule, said Chris Chiames, a spokesman for the Air Transport Assn., which represents the airlines. He noted that the guidelines were developed in cooperation with industry.

The National Transportation Safety Board and Air Line Pilots Assn. had urged a 100-hour minimum instead of 75.

The new standards say that if a co-pilot has fewer than 100 hours in a specific aircraft, the pilot-in-command must conduct takeoffs and landings during bad weather.

In the event that neither has 100 hours experience, the pilot-in-command would be required to fly the plane, Broderick said.