there are no secret handshakes required to do the stuff you are talking about. Yes, some gotchas if you dont pay attention or read the notes on the Jepps. There has long been confusion of procedures in the Nicosia FIR on the CGN - DXB route (not a crossing), and even the "experienced" folks screwed it up, but its only a matter of paying attention and reading the damn charts to get it right.

Oceanic crossings are VERY straight forward NAT, NOPAC (even on G212), WPAC, etc. I have not flown L888 so I cant comment on that, but I'm willing to bet that its straight forward and doesnt require a trio of sky gods to fly it. Once coasted out, crossings have a pretty low workload.

Yes, some of what you mention is more "work" than flying in the US, but not more difficult. Read the damn charts and pay attention, thats all.

Also the requirement IMO is there mostly because they can require it and still get plenty of qualified folks to apply in todays job market.

Until someone screwed it up and now we do plotting again.:confused:


Because the airways don't change daily! ;)

I've heard it doesn't take a sky god to divert and land at one of those chinese diverts along L888 after losing data link!:rolleyes:

Nor does it take one to figure out how to divert from BOM to KHI when the real alternate AMD had been closed for a month.:D

Yikes, hadn't heard that one!:eek:

Makes sure you call Tehran Center and Iran Air Defense when flying over Iran. And keep looking out the window for bottle rockets headed towards your plane.

Now pair that newly upgraded MD11 Captain, that used to be a 727 or DC8 FO that has never flown international, up with a new hire from any US regional.

Hey, doing that in a C-152 at night is no joke! I never knew how long that engine really is.

Didn't you answer that question in a previous post??


Originally Posted by Packer Backer http://www.airlinepilotforums.com/im...s/viewpost.gif
I don't think the requirement is about just the crossing itself. But flying into some countries requires a lot more planning and experience than going from ORD to YYZ. Try flying from US to someplace in Russia. Or flying into Turkey with a Greece overflight. And I haven't even touched the complexities of State Rules and noise abatement procedures.

I think that the real answer here is just that, Receiving the training necessary to safely overfly those countries-NOT slamming the backgrounds of the crews who may be flying those routes.

Tell that to the MEM FOs who don't understand the difference between a compulsory waypoint and non-compulsory waypoint. Talk about sounding like amateurs on the radio.

We're jacks of all trades, masters of none.