c. Scheduling Web Site versus Information Web Site. The FAASTeam FIRC scheduling Web site should not be confused with the FAA’s FIRC general information Web site located at http://www.faa.gov/pilots/training/firc.
13. CHANGE OF CHIEF INSTRUCTOR OR ASSISTANT CHIEF INSTRUCTOR. The approved sponsor or organization must notify AFS-800 when making a change in the sponsor’s chief instructor (or assistant chief instructor where designated). This notification should be made at least 45 days before the change, but in no case later than 10 days after the change. Notification should be in electronic form (i.e., Microsoft Word document or PDF).
14. CHANGE OF SPONSOR. Should a change in sponsor occur due to sale or other reason and no change in personnel or course content occurs, the sponsors (both old and new) must notify AFS-800 at least 15 days before the presentation of any FIRC programs conducted under the new sponsorship. Should a change in sponsor occur due to sale or other reason and no change in personnel or course content occurs, the sponsors (both old and new) must notify AFS-800 at least 15 days before the presentation of any FIRC programs conducted under the new sponsorship. If it is an Internet-based program, the sponsor must notify the FAA within 48 hours of transfer of the private rights to the program to the new owner by email sent to the FAA FIRC e-mail at 9-AWA-AVS-AFS-FIRC@faa.gov. If the change in sponsor involves any change in personnel of the approved FIRC TCO, authorization to conduct any further FIRCs is canceled until the new sponsor has obtained FAA approval.
15. FAILURE TO COMPLY WITH AN APPROVED TCO. The failure of an organization or its representatives to comply with an approved course of training, or to effect any required corrective action on a timely basis as deemed appropriate, is basis for denial or withdrawal of the FAA’s approval and associated delegation of authority. When the FAA determines that a revision to a previously approved TCO or related corrective action is necessary, the sponsor will be given no more than 60 days to make the necessary revision or corrective action, as appropriate. Should the sponsor not make the necessary revision or corrective action within 60 days, FAA approval and authorization to conduct FIRC programs will be withdrawn automatically.
16. FIRC APPROVAL PROCESS.
a. TCO Document Submission. TCOs should be submitted for consideration by AFS-800, as described in paragraph 17. The FAA will conduct a thorough review of the TCO. If the sponsor meets all the guidelines of this AC the FAA will issue an approval. The FAA will not issue final approval without satisfactory evaluation of the FIRC.
b. FAA LOA. When the FAA finds that a FIRC TCO is in compliance with this AC, a signed letter indicating approval of the submitted TCO will be forwarded to the sponsor electronically. AFS-800 will retain the original signed letter at its offices in Washington, DC.
The approval letter constitutes authority to conduct FIRCs at locations either within or outside the United States. The FAA may withdraw approval at any time for sufficient cause, but, in any case, will become invalid on the last day of the 24th month after original approval, unless the FAA grants a renewal or other form of continuation approval. FAA personnel will monitor one Par 12 Page 25
Page 26 Par 16 of the first FIRCs presented by a new sponsor. The approval of an Internet FIRC will be on a case by case basis and the FAA will provide approval by the same method as for any other FIRC.
c. Field Inspections. FSDOs having geographic jurisdiction over the locations where FIRCs are presented are expected to monitor these programs to the extent possible. FIRC presentations may be monitored at any time on a random basis by the local FSDO having jurisdiction over the locations.
17. FIRC RENEWAL, WITHDRAWAL, OR CANCELLATION.
a. Renewal Requests. FIRC sponsors holding approval who desire to renew their authorization to conduct FIRC programs beyond the date of original expiration must state their request to AFS-800 at least 90 days before the expiration date of the current approval. The preferred method is via electronic mail in the form of a Microsoft Word document or PDF attachment; however, conventional mail is acceptable. See paragraph 6 for methods of contacting and transferring documents to AFS-800. It is the sponsor’s responsibility to ensure that its FIRC approval has not expired. Should the FAA’s approval of a FIRC expire, a graduation certificate issued by the sponsor is invalid. The FAA may not honor a certificate issued by a sponsor that held an expired approval. Additionally, an ACR designation, if held, is no longer valid and may not be used.
b. Required Renewal Documents. Approved sponsors who wish to renew an already existing FIRC TCO will submit a complete, new digital TCO with a new submission date and an updated revision page. The sponsor must clearly identify any changes from the previously approved TCO. If there are no changes to the body of the TCO, then the cover letter will state that there have been no changes. In any event, each sponsor must update the tests or test question pool each renewal period as discussed in subparagraph 8m of this document. If the sponsor has only changed the test(s) in the resubmitted documentation, the revision page will show a revision date with the notation “Updated test(s) only.”
c. Reissuance of LOAs. Upon a finding by AFS-800 that the submitted TCO is in compliance with current AC requirements and is otherwise acceptable, AFS-800 will issue a new letter of approval establishing a new expiration date. Failure to comply with the FAA-approved TCO or this AC, or the failure to incorporate necessary changes to the existing TCO when so directed by AFS-800 in writing, may be sufficient cause for withdrawal of the approval.
d. Retention of Expired Document by the FAA. If AFS-800 has not received a letter from the FIRC sponsor requesting renewal as described above, or if the sponsor requests to surrender its authorization, the FAA will return all materials originally presented by the applicant if specifically requested; otherwise, the FAA will destroy those materials. The sponsor may not present any courses from that point on. To reestablish approval, the applicant must then comply with the original application procedures as outlined in this AC.
NOTE: The FAA will not notify FIRC sponsors of an approaching expiration date. Monitoring a sponsor’s approval period is the responsibility of the sponsor.
18. APPLICATION AND APPROVAL OF AN ACR EMPLOYED SOLELY BY AN FIRC SPONSOR.
a. Reissuance. An ACR affords the FIRC sponsor the ability to process flight instructor certificate applications and forward them directly to Airmen Certification Branch (AFS-760) for flight instructor certificate reissuance without directly involving the FSDO.
b. Requirements for Employing an ACR. FAA-approved FIRC sponsors who have held their approval for a period of at least 1 year and presented at least one full FIRC program within that year may qualify to employ a designated ACR.
c. ACR Appointment. Appointment of an ACR is the responsibility of the local FSDO.
Qualified sponsors should contact their local FSDO directly to make application to employ an ACR for their program.
d. Application Approval or Denial. Approval or denial of a sponsor’s application for an ACR is at the discretion of the FSDO.
e. ACR Designation. Procedures and requirements for the designation of an ACR are outlined in Order 8900.1, Volume 13, Chapter 6, Section 2, Appoint/Renew/Terminate an Airman Certification Representative for a Flight Instructor Refresher Clinic.
ORIGINAL Signed by Raymond Towles for
John M. Allen Director, Flight Standards Service Par 17 Page 27 (and 28)
Appendix 1 APPENDIX 1. REQUIRED INSTRUCTIONAL CORE TOPICS FOR
FAA-APPROVED TCO CURRICULA
1. The FAA may periodically revise subject matter listed herein to reflect the changing emphasis determined by the FAA for the renewal of flight instructor certificates under 14 CFR part 61, § 61.197(a)(2)(iii). FIRC sponsors must check the FIRC informational Web site at least once every 90 days for any updates or changes in FIRC policy, guidelines, or resources. The Web site is located at http://www.faa.gov/pilots/training/firc.
2. The subject areas described below are those that approved FIRC sponsors are required to present during any FAA-approved FIRC program presentation. The sponsor may teach these subject areas individually or in combination when the subjects are such that teaching them together is appropriate. However, the sponsor should teach these subjects in logical succession and in cohesive units consistent with the instructor attendees’ need to know, their ability to understand the subjects, and their application to the instructional process. Further discussion of these topics is located at the FAA’s FIRC Web site identified above.
3. The instruction presented should be clearly identifiable as relating to the required subjects listed here. No fewer than 16 hours of instruction may be given in each FIRC program. The sponsor must incorporate all of the core topics listed below within those 16 hours. There are no minimum time requirements for individual core topics. However, it is not likely that the presenter could cover any individual topics comprehensively in less than 30 minutes, although this is not a required time minimum. Some might be accomplished with less. The sponsor should identify, in the training course outline (TCO), the expected time that a presenter will spend on a given topic. The sponsor should also identify each topic’s expected start and stop times. The sponsor, at their discretion, may present additional subject matters germane to flight instruction as elective topics in meeting the total 16 hour requirement. AFS-800 will review and approve these subjects on a case by case basis. Once the FAA grants initial TCO approval, the sponsor can submit additional subject matter topics via email through the FAA’s FIRC email address at 9-AWA-AVS-AFS-FIRC@faa.gov. Approval will typically take place within a few days via return email.
REQUIRED CORE TOPICS
1. Navigating in the 21st Century: Pilotage to GPS.
Global Positioning System (GPS) is quickly becoming the principal means of navigation for many pilots. While this represents a significant improvement in navigation, over dependency on automated systems also introduces a number of new potential hazards. Instructors should be aware of what the systems can and cannot do, and be well versed in the potential hazards that may be encountered such as excessive heads down time, automation fixation, database currency and limits, etc. Instructors must be able to quickly recognize systems automation based risky behavior in their students and how to correct it. Instructors must also ensure that their students do not become over dependant on these systems to the exclusion of the more traditional methods of navigation such as pilotage, dead reckoning, and Very High Frequency Omnidirectional Range (VOR).
Appendix 1
2. Security Related Special Use Airspace: What’s Going on Where, and How to Stay Clear.
Several significant airspace changes have resulted from the events of 9/11. Pilots in training depend on their instructors to guide them through the intricacies of the new and changing airspace regulations, and to make them aware of the consequences of violating those airspaces.
“Floating” temporary flight restrictions (TFR), particularly common during election years, are a significant challenge for pilots. Regulations regarding powerplants and stadiums are now in place. Instructors must have thorough knowledge about concepts entirely new to many General Aviation (GA) pilots, such as the Washington, DC, Flight Restricted Zone (FRZ) and Special Flight Rules Area (SFRA), formally the air defense identification zone (ADIZ). In addition, all pilots must be made fully aware of intercept procedures. The consequences of violating airspaces have become much more severe and often allow little flexibility with respect to enforcement.
3. Transportation Security Administration (TSA): What Flight Instructors Have to Know to Stay Out of Trouble.
The TSA now has a role in flight training. Consequently, flight instructors should know which airman certificates the TSA is interested in. Instructors must also be aware of the requirements for citizenship documentation, recordkeeping, foreign student processing, flight instructor and flight school security awareness training, and more. Not following the TSA guidelines properly can have serious consequences both for the student and for the flight instructor.
4. How to Teach Effectively and Build a Culture of Safety in Your Students and Your Workplace.
Flight instructors are highly trained individuals. They hold vast amounts of knowledge gleaned during their own training and through their own experiences. Having a well founded basis of knowledge is critical to being an effective instructor. However, if that highly trained and knowledgeable instructor is unable to convey their knowledge to a student, then he or she is ineffective as a flight instructor, regardless of knowledge and expertise. Teaching is an art. It requires not just an understanding of the topic, but an understanding of how people think and learn. It requires a certain amount of psychological understanding. Virtually all instructors took coursework in the fundamentals of instruction, which offers a basic theoretical framework for the teaching and learning processes. As presented in the FIRC setting, this topic is expected to build upon and extend farther those skills necessary to effectively transfer knowledge to pilots.
Incumbent upon this is the building the instructor’s ability to instill a culture of safety in the minds of their students, and to spread and support the safety mindset throughout their aviation workplace on an everyday and ongoing basis.
5. Safety Trends in GA: How CFIs Can Directly Contribute to Aviation Safety.
Over the last 20 years, GA accident rates have been continuing on a very slight downward trend, but there is still room for improvement. Even one fatality is too much. What are some of the causes of accidents? What types of accidents have declined? What kinds have increased, and why? What are the things that flight instructors in particular can do to influence those trends?
Seven of the 10 top causal factors in GA accidents involve low altitude maneuvering and loss of Page 2
Appendix 1 control of the aircraft. These include takeoffs and landings, stall/spin accidents, initial climb, and low altitude maneuvering, among others. Instructors must be aware of the causal factors behind these accidents, such as excessive angle of attack, aircraft weight and balance (W&B), bank induced G loading, and many others, and how to avoid them. Risk management and risk intervention strategies are decisionmaking processes designed to systematically identify hazards, assess the degree of risk, and determine the best course of action. These processes begin with the identification of hazards, followed by assessments of the risks, analysis of the controls, making control decisions, using the controls, and monitoring the results. It is the responsibility of the flight instructor to inculcate these skills in their students and other pilots with whom they fly. Yet to do so effectively they must have the ability clarify and present this knowledge in such a way that their students absorb the knowledge at a fundamental level so that when faced with a risk management or risk intervention opportunity they can respond quickly and accurately to mitigate or eliminate the risk. At the same time, instructors must also be skilled in instilling those risk management mechanisms in such a way as to make them integral parts of their students’ safety mindsets, yet not instill unreasonable fear in those students who may still be developing their skill sets. While sponsors must present the safety trends as a core topic, they should also weave the theme of the flight instructor’s role in enhancing safety throughout the entire FIRC program.
6. Pilot Deviations: Their Causes and How to Teach Your Students to Plan Ahead to Avoid Them.
A pilot deviation (PD) is defined as an action of a pilot that results in the violation of a Federal aviation regulation. PDs are broadly classified as either airborne deviations or surface deviations.
Within each of these two broad classifications are a number of subclassifications. The principal areas of concern in the airborne classification include altitude deviations, course deviations, and airspace incursions. The principal area of concern within the surface deviation classification involves runway incursions, but surface deviations also include vehicle/pedestrian violations.
While the outcomes of most PDs are benign, any deviation has the potential to be catastrophic.
Because of this potential for catastrophic outcome, PDs are a major concern in both the aviation industry and within the FAA. For several years, PDs have been on the rise. Of particular concern is that a significant majority of all PDs (69 percent) are occurring during GA operations. Since all PDs involve pilots, and virtually all GA pilots receive training from flight instructors at some point, the flight instructor plays a critical role toward reducing the PD incident rate. This necessitates an intimate understanding on the part of the instructors of the causes of these incidents, and the development of tactics to recognize and avoid those situations that may have a potential to result in a PD. The FIRC represents an ideal venue to update the instructor on this issue, and to provide the instructor with the tools he or she needs to better convey to their students those mitigation tactics. While sponsors must present pilot deviations as a core topic, they should also weave the theme of the flight instructor’s role in reducing pilot deviations throughout the entire FIRC program.
7. How to Make the Best Use of the FAASTeam and the WINGS—Pilot Proficiency Program in Your Program of Instruction.
Flight instructors have at their disposal a vast and totally free array of tools to help them better do their jobs both on the ground when conducting ground instruction, as well as in the air during actual flight training. That resource is the FAA Safety Team (FAASTeam). Each of the FAA’s Page 3
Appendix 1 eight regions has a regional FAASTeam office dedicated to furthering GA safety. The FAASTeam has joined forces with individuals and the aviation industry to create a unified effort against accidents and to “tip” the safety culture in the right direction. These include FAASTeam members, those individuals who make a conscious effort to promote aviation safety and become part of the shift in safety culture; FAASTeam representatives, aviation safety volunteers who wish to work closely with FAASTeam Program Managers (FPM) to actively promote safety; and FAASTeam Industry Members (FIM), who include companies or associations of people that have a vested interest in aviation safety. One of the many tools available to the instructor through the FAASTeam is the WINGS—Pilot Proficiency Program (WINGS). The WINGS program has been reengineered into a new model that offers three levels of achievement: Basic, Advanced, and Master. WINGS topics are designed to target specific emphasis areas derived from accident data and are available on the FAASafety.gov Web site, as well as through frequent live seminars given throughout the United States. Pilots attain and maintain WINGS levels on a rolling basis based on very simple and easy to understand requirements. (See http://www.faasafety.gov/WINGS/pub/learn_more.aspx.) Recordkeeping and verification are online; however, WINGS applicants do not have to have Internet access to participate. As has been in the past, achievement of any level of the WINGS program will substitute for a flight review. Flight instructors need to be aware of and conversant in how this program works and how it and the many other resources available to them through the FAASTeam offices can benefit both their clients and themselves.
8. Regulatory, Policy, and Publications Changes and Updates.
Regulations, policies, and aviation safety related publications are continually changing, and part of the job of the flight instructor is to keep him or herself up to date to ensure that what they are teaching their students is current and accurate. This can be difficult for flight instructors, whether they are part time weekend instructors with jobs elsewhere, or very busy full time instructors at flight schools with high activity levels. Nevertheless, this requirement remains critically important in the furtherance of flight safety. The FIRC offers an ideal opportunity for the flight instructor to learn about what has been changing in the regulatory and policy areas that are so important in their conduct of their profession. This, in turn, places an expectation on the FIRC sponsor to diligently research and keep abreast of the pertinent dynamic regulatory and policy environment within which the flight instructor and their students must operate. This, clearly, will necessitate ongoing and often substantial revisions in their course materials. In many cases sponsors will have to revise material “on the fly” as policies and regulations change. The sponsor is expected to immediately update their presentation materials to reflect any changing regulations or policies so as to stay completely up to date at all times. The sponsor may make such changes to this topic content without prior approval at any time provided such changes accurately reflect the current regulatory or policy state.
9. How to Give an Effective and Useful Flight Review.
All active pilots must receive some level of refresher training on a regular basis in order to continue to exercise their pilot privileges. At a minimum, pilots may meet that requirement through a flight review every 2 years as established in 14 CFR part 61, § 61.56. The flight instructor typically conducts flight reviews. Many pilots never encounter a flight instructor except for that every 2 years requirement. Some flight instructors consider the flight review a Page 4
Appendix 1 chore that they would rather not do and are often unclear as to how to properly conduct one when they do. The instructor should understand that the authority to conduct a flight review, and thereby allow a pilot to continue to exercise his or her privileges as pilot, is an awesome responsibility and offers them an opportunity to assess and enhance a pilot’s aviation skills, and thus contribute directly to the safety of GA. The CFI should also understand that the flight review is not to be construed or conducted as a test and that there is no pass or fail and that it is intended to be a learning experience. Flight reviews are not stand alone programs of training that are the same for every pilot. Each flight review is unique to the skills and experience level of the pilot receiving the review. The instructor should be well versed in how to quickly assess a pilot’s skills and experience and to fine tune the review “on the fly” to effectively confer new knowledge or to refine skills already possessed. The CFI typically has only an hour on the ground and an hour in the air to accomplish this in any useful way. A thorough understanding of the process and how to instantly formulate an effective plan of action will make the difference between a pointless 2 hour exercise that only meets the regulatory requirement and a truly effective interaction from which the pilot receiving the review will come away knowing something they did not know before, will possess a degree of skill they did not have before, and will be safer in the cockpit than before.
10. Ethics and Professionalism in the Role of the Flight Instructor.
A professional is a person who receives compensation for some unique knowledge or skill that he or she may possess. Ethics has been defined as what a person does when no one is watching.
The mark of a quality professional is that he or she maintains the highest level of ethics in everything they do, but most particularly in their professional field. This very much applies to the flight instructor who, by virtue of the fact that he or she receives compensation for his or her skill and knowledge, is a professional. Professionals who hold their field of endeavor in high esteem and who take pride in their accomplishments in their chosen fields tend to maintain high ethical standards without even thinking about it. It becomes an inherent quality when one takes pride in their work. Unfortunately, many in the flight instructor community do not easily recognize their own accomplishments and the critical role they play as instructors in the global world of aviation. This can be particularly true of those instructors who see themselves as “only” instructing to build the hours necessary to move on to the air carriers where they plan on flying “real” airplanes. The typically poor wages often found in the field of flight instruction does not help the perception of instructor’s professionalism. While not pervasive throughout the industry, flight instructors and others involved in aviation must guard against this mindset. Flight instructors represent the finest in GA and must be reminded of this and of the responsibility that it entails. They have the duty of fostering and ensuring safety through careful and thoughtful training. Signing a flight review endorsement in a pilot’s logbook, possibly for a friend, for example, when not actually having conducted one, or having conducted only a cursory check is understood by everyone to be unethical. However, the perception of the seriousness of such a poorly conceived activity is largely dependant on those self perceived factors of ethics and professionalism. If the flight instructor has an attitude of “it doesn’t really matter—I’m moving on to the airlines anyhow,” then their perception of the degree of infraction will be very different than that of the flight instructor for whom instructing is an honorable profession, even if temporary, and who takes pride in their ability and authority to conduct that flight review. The instructor must be reminded of his or her responsibility and duty to maintain the highest ethical standards—to always do the “right thing”—and how those high standards directly contribute to Page 5
Appendix 1 safety in GA, regardless of their future personal goals. While sponsors must present ethics and professionalism as a core topic, they should also weave this theme throughout the entire FIRC program.