Commission Decision of 6 February 2014 authorising Sweden and the United Kingdom to derogate from certain common aviation safety rules pursuant to Article 14(6) of Regulation (EC) No 216/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council (notified under document C(2014) 559) (Text with EEA relevance) (2014/69/EU)

ANNEX V Derogation by the United Kingdom from Regulation (EU) No 1178/2011 with respect to revalidation and renewal of an Instrument Rating (IR)

1. DESCRIPTION OF THE REQUEST

Provision FCL.625(c) and (d) of Annex I (Part-FCL) to Regulation (EU) No 1178/2011 reads:

‘(c) Renewal. If an IR has expired, in order to renew their privileges applicants shall:

(1)

go through refresher training at an ATO to reach the level of proficiency needed to pass the instrument element of the skill test in accordance with Appendix 9 to this Part; and

(2)

complete a proficiency check in accordance with Appendix 9 to this Part, in the relevant aircraft category.

(d) If the IR has not been revalidated or renewed within the preceding 7 years, the holder will be required to pass again the IR theoretical knowledge examination and skill test.’

By letter of 18 March 2013, the Government of the United Kingdom (UK) notified the Commission and EASA of their intention to derogate from this provision of Regulation (EU) No 1178/2011 on the basis of Article 14(6) of Regulation (EC) No 216/2008.

2. ASSESSMENT OF THE REQUEST

2.1. Need

It is necessary to allow the holders of licences issued in accordance with Part-FCL with the ICAO compliant IR held on a 3rd country licence to maintain their privileges without the need of re-taking the theoretical knowledge examinations. The Aircrew Regulation does not address this situation, which creates an unnecessary burden on licence holders.

2.2. Equivalency of the level of protection

The UK believes that the requirements of FCL.625(d) were created for the case where a licence holder ceases to fly under Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) for 7 years. The rule does not take into account the possibility that the licence holder may have been flying under IFR using an IR held on a 3rd country licence during the 7 year period which has been renewed during that period and which is therefore valid.

The Agency, having reviewed the derogation request, agreed with the UK that it is disproportionate to require a pilot who has a current, or recently lapsed, ICAO Annex 1 compliant IR issued by a third country, to re-take the theoretical knowledge examinations needed to renew a European IR that has lapsed by more than 7 years; i.e. it is not appropriate to apply the same requirements to a pilot with recent IFR experience as it would be applied to a pilot who has not flown under IFR for more than 7 years.

The Agency agrees with the reasoning provided by the UK. The rule does not take into account the possibility that the licence holder may have been flying under IFR using an IR held on a 3rd country licence during the 7-year period which has been renewed during that period and which is therefore valid. The intended derogation would concern holders of licences in accordance with Part-FCL that include the ICAO compliant IR. If such pilots after a certain time stop to fly on that licence but continue to fly on an ICAO based third country licence that includes an IR and would request then to renew their IR on the European licence they would only have to fulfil the revalidation criteria contained in FCL.625(b) based on the current and valid third country IR. This means that the rating holder must pass the proficiency check, but will not be required to undergo training or to re-take the theoretical knowledge examinations. In the case of a pilot who held a third country IR that is not any longer valid but has been revalidated or renewed within the preceding 7 years the rating holder shall comply with the renewal requirements in FCL.625(c), but will also not be required to re-take the theoretical knowledge examinations. The Agency considers that this provides a level of safety equivalent to that provided by Part-FCL.

3. DESCRIPTION OF THE DEROGATION

The United Kingdom may, by derogation from Provision FCL.625(c) and (d) of Annex I (Part-FCL) to Regulation (EU) No 1178/2011 allow the holders of licences issued in accordance with Part-FCL to maintain their privileges in relation to an IR held on 3rd country licence without the need of re-taking the theoretical knowledge examinations.

4. CONDITIONS ATTACHED TO THE APPLICATION OF THE DEROGATION

This derogation applies to holders of licences issued in accordance with Part-FCL provided that an IR held on 3rd country licence is ICAO compliant.

5. GENERAL APPLICABILITY OF THE DEROGATION

All Member States may apply this derogation provided that the conditions described in point 4 are met.