Hot off the press:



H.R. 3371, THE “AIRLINE SAFETY AND PILOT TRAINING IMPROVEMENT ACT OF 2009”

Pilot Training, Qualifications, Screening and Professional Development

Air Carrier Safety and Pilot Training Task Force

Establishes a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Task Force that will identify aviation industry best
practices regarding: pilot training, pilot professional standards, and inter-carrier information sharing,
mentoring and other safety-related practices.
The Task Force shall report to Congress every 180 days on air carrier progress implementing best practices,
and make recommendations for legislative and regulatory action.

Implementation of National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) Recommendations

Requires FAA to ensure that pilots are trained on stall recovery, upset recovery, and that airlines provide
remedial training.
Mandates the FAA to convene a multidisciplinary panel on pilot training for stick pusher operations, and
then take action to implement the recommendations of the panel.
Requires the Secretary of Transportation to provide an annual report to Congress on what the
agency is doing to address each open NTSB recommendation pertaining to part 121 air carriers.

Pilot Qualifications, Screening, Mentoring & Professional Development:

Requires airline pilots to hold an FAA Airline Transport Pilot license (1,500 minimum flight hours
required).
Establishes comprehensive pre-employment screening of prospective pilots including an assessment of a
pilot’s skills, aptitudes, airmanship and suitability for functioning in the airline’s operational environment.
Requires airlines to: establish pilot mentoring programs whereby highly experienced pilots will mentor
junior pilots; create Pilot Professional Development Committees; modify training programs to
accommodate new-hire pilots with different levels and types of flight experience; and provide leadership and
command training to pilots in command (including complying with the “sterile cockpit rule”).

Airline Training Hour Requirements

Studies the best methods and optimal time needed in airline training programs for pilots to master necessary
aircraft systems, maneuvers, and procedures; the length of time between training events including recurrent
training; and the best methods to reliably evaluate mastery of systems, maneuvers and procedures.

Pilot Records Database

Creates a Pilot Records Database, within 90 days, to provide airlines with fast, electronic access to a pilot’s
comprehensive record.
Information included in the database will include pilot’s licenses, aircraft ratings, check rides, Notices of
Disapproval and other flight proficiency tests.
FAA will maintain the database and airlines will be able to access the database for hiring purposes only.

Fatigue

Flight and Duty Time Rule: Directs the FAA to update and implement new pilot flight and duty time
rules and fatigue risk management plans within one year to more adequately track scientific research in the
field of fatigue.
Fatigue Risk Management Systems: Requires air carriers, within 90 days, to create fatigue risk
management systems approved by FAA to proactively mitigate pilot fatigue.
Commuting Study: Studies the impact of pilot commuting on fatigue and provides preliminary results
after four months to the FAA to be considered as part of the flight and duty time rulemaking.

Voluntary Safety Programs

ASAP and FOQA: Directs the FAA to develop and implement a plan to facilitate the establishment of an
Aviation Safety Action Program (ASAP) and a Flight Operational Quality Assurance (FOQA) program by
all commercial airlines and their unions.
Report: Requires FAA to report on ASAP, FOQA, Line Operations Safety Audit (LOSA), and Advanced
Qualification Program (AQP), which will include: an analysis of which airlines are using the programs or if
they are using something comparable that achieves similar safety goals; how FAA will expand the use of the
programs; and how FAA is using data from the programs as safety analysis and oversight tools for aviation
safety inspectors.

Flight Schools, Flight Education and Pilot Academic Training Study

Directs the Government Accountability Office to conduct a study of: current pilot academic training
requirements compared to flight education provided by accredited two- and four-year universities and
foreign academic requirements; FAA’s oversight of flight schools, and student loan options available to
student pilots.

Other

FAA Safety Oversight by Inspectors: Requires the Department of Transportation Inspector General to
study and report to Congress on if the number and experience level of safety inspectors assigned to regional
airlines is commensurate with that of mainline airlines; and whether the various data sources that inspectors
need to access to perform oversight of airlines can be streamlined into one data source.
Truth in Advertising: Mandates that at the first page of an Internet website that sells airline tickets to
disclose to the purchaser of each ticket the air carrier that operates each segment of the flight.
Weather Event Training Panel: Requires the FAA to convene a multidisciplinary panel on pilot training
for weather events including microburst, windshear and icing conditions.



This won't get voted on until after Labor Day. Stay tuned.