Safety advocates’ push for a standardized approach to training pilots for Part 135 operations has gone from being a pipedream to near-reality. Robert W. Moorman explores this development.

The industry-wide proposed “standardized curriculum” (SC) concept for pilots training to fly Part 135 aircraft is gaining steam and could become the norm. Announced through an FAA Advisory Circular (AC 142-1) in May 2020, the SC, if adopted, will address administrative inefficiencies that exist between Part 135 operations and Part 142 training centers and enhance safety.

Safety is a key driver of the SC, which supports The National Transportation Safety Board’s (NTSB) Most Wanted List initiative to increase safety in Part 135 operations. The SC concept is designed to increase safety by improving the consistency of training, testing, and checking delivered to Part 135 operators. Various segments of the aviation community are supporting the idea of the SC and its common-sense based approach to training.

What makes the proposed initiative unusual is that it is voluntary. In addition, the SC would not alter or modify existing regulations regarding Part 135 pilot training or operations. AC 142-1 describes the SC concept as an “acceptable means, but not the only means” for Part 142 training centers to obtain authorization to offer training for Part 135 operators, according to the FAA.

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MS&T Europe Editor Dim Jones reports on Project Gladiator, the UK’s networked air collective training, capability development, and mission preparation initiative.

The mix between live and synthetic flying training has been a hot topic within the military aviation fraternity for some while now. The arguments for synthetic training (ST) have been well rehearsed: the reduced cost per training hour of a simulator as compared with live flying; the environmental benefits, in terms of both fuel and noise; and the improved longevity of an aircraft fleet resulting from reduced flying hours, fatigue consumption and attrition. To these, more recently, have been added some operational considerations.

Learn more about the finalists for the award which recognizes exemplary small businesses in the military S&T domain. 

With the global economic downturn, criminal activity is on the rise. Airlines train their employees to spot potential sex trafficking victims, and to take action — safely. Rona Gindin reports.

At check-in, the ticket counter agent notices a young teenage girl with a man about 40. The man does all the talking, answers all questions, handles the passports. The girl keeps her eyes down. She’s just a grumpy adolescent with her dad, the airline employee assumes … yet something just does not feel right.

That duo could indeed be standard travelers. They could also be a victim and perpetrator of sex trafficking. Air travel is involved in 38% of human trafficking incidents, says Polaris, a Washington, DC-based organization that fights human trafficking.

That means it’s worth training aviation employees to spot potential human trafficking incidents, and to teach them which authorities to contact when a situation looks iffy.

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This award recognizes innovative products that provide enhanced value to the military client’s education, training or human performance domains.

A key part of the FAA’s aircraft re-certification is a simulator training evaluation by a Joint Operational Evaluation Board (JOEB) in which pilots from around the world will be asked to validate training requirements. The JOEB is said to be primarily looking at the order and priority of checklists and memory items.

Travel restrictions related to the pandemic add uncertainty to how JOEB sessions can be conducted. The select group may perform its work remotely in flight simulators around the world, rather than transiting to Boeing’s main training center in Miami, Florida, where COVID-19 is raging anew.

Following the sim sessions, the FAA's Flight Standardization Board will propose minimum training requirements, then a public comment period, before final approval of training.

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