The Flight Safety Foundation (FSF) is calling for a “pragmatic, data-driven approach” to pilot training to continue driving improvements in aviation safety. Specifically, the foundation wants national civil aviation authorities to have the flexibility “to adopt competency- or evidence-based training methods that target real-world risk and ensure a progressive and satisfactory performance standard.”
According to FSF, “It cannot be assumed that critical skills and knowledge will be obtained only through hours in the air. Although…the number of accumulated flight hours has been the baseline for determining experience, what is often overlooked in the pilot experience equation is the quality of flight time.” This includes such things as operational experiences, multi-crew operations, and weather-related flight experience, it said.
Thus, the foundation is recommending an improved pilot screening process; a renewed focus on the competency and quality of pilot training providers; pilot training programs that are competency- or evidence-based and not solely hours-based; pilot training programs that maximize the use of simulation; data-driven training programs that are continually updated, based on pilot task-level performance; development of a worldwide quality/performance criteria that is universally recognized; and pilot proficiency/qualification standards that cannot be compromised. It also called for ab initio programs with operator sponsorship/support; a partnership with the International Civil Aviation Organization and industry to define rules, recommendations, guidelines and the expected quality and performance required of flight academies; and programs that place a high value on the knowledge and experience of flight instructors.
Though 2017 was the safest year in the history of commercial aviation, with no reported fatalities in commercial passenger jet operations worldwide, recent crashes in Russia and Iran has prompted FSF to warn against the dangers of complacency. It stressed the 2017 safety record "is not the result of any one factor, including any particular change in the hours requirement for pilot experience.”
Instead, it attributed the record to "the diligent efforts of thousands of aviation professionals around the world who design increasingly reliable aircraft, engines, and parts; maintain, repair and overhaul aircraft; regulate and enforce performance-based safety rules; investigate accidents and incidents; manage air traffic; develop sophisticated avionics and navigational aids; operate airports; and fly sophisticated aircraft in increasingly complex environments.”