International Pilot Services

(Update: 25 Oct 2008) Crew members visiting French Caribbean "departements" (territories) may find that they require a crew visa similar to *BUT NOT* the same as the Schengen visa for Europe. Contact your passport / visa agent for greater detail and assistance with the "Visa Autre Mer". These "actions" likely accrue to the US now requiring visas of French crewmembers.
Last Updated ( Saturday, 25 October 2008 )
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Malaysian Navaids

Due to political disagreement within the Malaysian government, funding for navigation aids is not available. With immediate effect, navigation aids will be removed from service as they come due for maintenance. This may occur with little or no notice.

Please check NOTAMS or refer to your service provider for the latest update.

Last Updated ( Saturday, 25 October 2008 )

N reg SMS required for Intl Ops

ICAO requires SMS (Safety Management System) implementation for ALL international airspace not later than 1 November 2009.

This can be exceeded with IS-BAO certification, of which SMS is a significant part; although, full IS-BAO is not required by the FAA.

Please feel free to contact IPS for recommendations and suggestions on acceptable means of compliance.

Last Updated ( Saturday, 25 October 2008 )

Bermuda IS-BAO Required

Bermuda operator'ss SMS requirements can be met by being certified IAW the IS-BAO not later than 31 October 2009.

Other standards may be accepted but will be audited acceptability at the applicant operator's expense.

Last Updated ( Saturday, 25 October 2008 )

Chinese RVSM

(Update: 25 Oct 08) China implemented its permanent transition to a metric equivalent of RVSM, effective 21 Nov 2007. Please check NOTAMS and charts if planning ops in theatre during this period. Contact IPS if you wish to purchase our table that includes both Chinese and Russian cruising altitudes.
Last Updated ( Saturday, 25 October 2008 )

F/O Type Ratings (Update 18Feb07)

Effective 6 June 2006; non-type rated First Officers whom are planning to operate outside of US Airspace, will be required to obtain a "co-pilot's type rating" from your FSDO. Guidance is available from the FAA website, in FAA Notice 8000.351

http://www.faa.gov/library/manuals/examiners_inspectors/8000/media/N8000_351.pdf

Alternately, they may be trained to type rating PTS by Flight Safety, CAE or a designated PPE. This is crucial to port state conformity checks (ala SAFA et al).

Last Updated ( Saturday, 25 October 2008 )

Offset Recommendation

IPS recommends offsets in any airspace where ATC might be compromised, whether in Class I or Class II airspace. Somewhat like SLOP, we have extended our decade old policy for Africa to any region where GPS and RVSM accuracy have the potential of delivering aircraft radome to radome with any gaps in traffic management. Offsets are always within the containment value of the airspace (.1 to .7 nm right of course) and intended to miss other traffic.

See the editorial in ProPilot's December 2006, issue ( Outer Marker Inbound ).

Last Updated ( Saturday, 25 October 2008 )

ICAO age 60 & other Annex 1 Changes

Age limit for flight crew and other Annex 1 changes to SARPs Amendment 167 to Annex 1 The ICAO Council adopted on 10 March 2006 an amendment to Annex 1 - Personnel Licensing that increases by five years the upper age limit for commercial pilots operating two-pilot aircraft. Althought this applies to ICAO airspace, contracting states have to either adopt the change or publish an exception to the ICAO change. The US will likely publish an exception since the FAA still holds as current the "Age 60 Rule". (By the way, the US holds more exceptions to the Convention than any other single country.) The new provisions become applicable on 23 November 2006, will affect rights of contracting and adopting states to implement. IPS has made all 65 pages of the ICAO CWP available online (at the end of next page), which covers other significant changes to Annex 1.
Last Updated ( Saturday, 25 October 2008 )
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Operations Over Africa

How do you tell when you are flying over Africa?

Seriously, traffic tripled in the 1990's and continues to grow.

Despite recent inprovements, traffic management in Africa remains deficient--critically so in some areas. Some controllers do not communicate effectively with aircraft under their "control". Some centers do not communicate with one another-at times due to equipment, sometimes due to politics.

Last Updated ( Tuesday, 10 April 2007 )