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By Teoh Cheang Hoe, CASA project officer for implementation of the ICAO SARP on English language proficiency.
Published in Flight Safety Australia #58 Sep-Oct 07
Reformatted for the web by Mike Smith For progressive reports on the English language project, refer to www.casa.gov.au/fcl/index.htm ICAO Language Proficiency For Pilots Several aviation accidents and incidents have occurred over the years where the root cause has been traced to misunderstanding of the language used by the pilots and/or air traffic controllers involved. Unless all parties are proficient in a common language, vital information can be lost or misinterpreted, leading to hazardous situations or unmitigated disaster. For international aviation operations, English has been accepted as the standard language. The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) has directed contracting states that all aircrew and air traffic controllers be assessed and certified as competent in language communications by 5 March 2008. ICAO has defined six levels of language competency, of which only the top three would be acceptable levels of competency for operational pilots and air traffic controllers. The ICAO language proficiency requirement focuses on oral expression rather than writing ability. CASA aims to comply with the ICAO Standards and Recommended Practices (SARPs) for language proficiency. This means that holders of Australian flight crew licences who conduct international operations on and from 5 march 2008, will be required to carry a certificate of proficiency in the English language, as foreign authorities may require evidence. The proficiency level will be indicated on their licence.
CASA has formed a project team to facilitate Australia’s compliance with the ICAO standards, and an independent English language expert from an Australian university has been engaged to act as consultant. CASA has also set up a working group under the Flight Crew Licensing Subcommittee of the Safety Consultative Committee, which includes representatives of industry organisations. Currently, flight crew holding Australian-issued licences have already been evaluated on English language proficiency by Civil Aviation regulation (1988) 5.09(1) and its legislative predecessors. The regulation specifies that pilots may only be issued a licence if their English language proficiency enables them to safely exercise the authority given by the licence. This level is deemed as equivalent to at least level four of the ICAO language proficiency requirement, so a flight crew at this level may continue operating after 5 March 2008 without the need for re-evaluation. This means there will be no impact for Australian flight crew unless they want to fly overseas. CASA does not require a certificate of English language proficiency, and will not issue any for domestic operations. Nor will CASA issue the certificate to holders of a student pilot licence, special pilot licence or certificate of validation. Before CASA may issue a special pilot licence or a certificate of validation, the applicant will be required to show evidence of at least a level four (Operational) English language proficiency issued by the relevant foreign aviation regulatory authority. A flight crew holding an Australian-issued (aeroplane or helicopter) ATPL, CPL, flight engineer licence or unrestricted PPL, who wants to fly overseas, may apply to CASA for an updated licence carrying a level four English language Certificate of Proficiency. This is subject to the condition that the flight crew members have been resident in Australia for at least the previous two years. If the flight crew has been resident in an English speaking country, e.g. new Zealand or Britain, for the same period of time, he/she should furnish CASA with satisfactory evidence of that fact, which will enable CASA to make an informed assessment on whether the licence may be updated. This avenue for updating licences to carry a certificate of language proficiency expires on 5 March 2010, after which the licence holder shall undergo an approved evaluation process. CASA is approving specialist English language evaluators to conduct assessments of language proficiency, where these are required. The approved evaluators will be drawn from English linguistic departments of universities around Australia. These evaluators may assess flight crew at all six levels of language proficiency. Qualified ‘check and training’ captains in CAR 217 organisations and Approved Testing Officers (ATO) in general aviation will also be approved as (only) ‘level six’ evaluators for their own specific domains of responsibility. ‘Level six evaluators’ may only assess a licensed flight crew to level six proficiency. They may not grade a candidate to lower levels, which will be the responsibility of the university linguistic specialists. CASA is refining the Australian standards for English language as published in the Day VFR Syllabus to be aligned with the ICAO SARPs. On and after 5 March 2008, CASA will only issue flight crew licences to applicants assessed as proficient in English to at least level four of the ICAO scale. CASA will require student pilots to be proficient to the equivalent of level three (pre-operational) of the ICAO language proficiency rating scale prior to solo navigation training. Through this project, CASA will introduce: • a Civil Aviation Order to accommodate the ICAO SARPs for English language proficiency, which is expected to be issued in November 2007 • an assessment protocol to enable airline, charter and corporate pilots on international operations to be certificated by and after 5 March 2008 • an assessment structure for other pilots intending either to conduct international operations or to be qualified for issue of an Australian flight crew licence in accordance with the ICAO language requirements on or after 5 March 2008 • workshops to brief CASA approved testing officers (ATO) as evaluators for (only) level 6 proficiency when testing students, who are native or expert speakers of English language, for the issue of an Australia flight crew licence. • refinement of the English language competency standards in the (draft) Part 61 MOS to be aligned with ICAO SARP. |
