ICAO dened levels of English prociency

acceptable for ight crew licences

w y m i s c t x v

6 5 4 3 2 1

Expert no further testing required Extended testing every six years Operational testing every three years
q

unacceptable for ight crew licences

LEVEL LEVEL LEVEL

Pre-operational Elementary Pre -elementary

d v w e e u m n h km j o r w z yg x yg c p ah j e a b s q f i t d l r a km p u i c l o w o e a x b gv u s gw b n j m a t ft a s n a e

u p r s q n w m y l t jx i h o k r s a v u dp y e f jg w by t q x w x n l z o v u m c rr k h pq s v u t q a n bp ld je i f h m w g o k x lk y z o c j vi r n a b h d e eq f m g t u d w f g xp y zl k r v o c b un t a q j e s i h k m o pg d l f j n i hc b e d a f g c b a

e d p k m n h m j o o u r w z y y x e ldr r j a c s p d j k i h o e cm l b z yqn f h ik m p u x oc t wvx u t y k w r x w a b l q s b gg tn f t s g h j e a b s q f i p l v v i c d un g a f v

If you would like further information on the CASA English language prociency standards, visit our website:

www.casa.gov.au/fcl/english.htm

If you have any questions not answered by the website please feel free to contact us via email:

english.prociency@casa.gov.au
or phone CASA on (02) 6217 1282

Obtaining a new ight crew licence after 5 March 2008

You will need at least a level four English prociency to be issued a licence. This can be assessed when applying for your PPL licence or CPL by the ATO testing you. Level six English language prociency assessors are limited to rating at level six only as the subtleties of the lower levels are difcult to dene without intensive training. An approved language centre will be able to assess you at all levels.

language prociency standards

LEVEL LEVEL LEVEL

New language prociency standards

Australia is moving to adopt the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) language standards for pilots and air trafc controllers to ensure all communication in the air is clear and accurate. The Civil Aviation Safety Authority is proposing changes to existing language prociency rules through the Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM) process. These new rules will have little impact on the majority of ight crew, but it is important to understand what these changes are and how they may affect you.

When the new changes are to be implemented

The new standards will come into effect from 5 March 2008. This means that a ight crew ying on international operations must have at least a level four prociency printed on their licence. All ight crew obtaining a licence on or after 5 March 2008 will be assessed under these new standards for English prociency.

How the new standards affect ight crew

Flight crew with an Australian licence issued before 5 March, 2008. If you hold an Australian private pilots licence or above and only y domestically you will not need to take any action as you were assessed under CAR (1998) 5.09(1) as English procient. You will be deemed as operationally procient in English which allows you to y domestically without any further action.

The proposed changes

ICAO has directed its member states, including Australia, to assess and certify that all ight crew and air trafc controllers are competent in radiotelephony communications. English will be Australias language to assess for prociency. ICAO has dened six levels of language prociency as part of these new standards. The top three levels (levels four, ve and six) are acceptable for operational ight crew and air trafc controllers.

Why CASA is implementing these new standards

Effective communication is important for the safe operation in the aviation environment. Verbal communication is the main channel for information exchange between the ight crew and air trafc control. Australia already has an excellent standard for English prociency in place. For this reason the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) has carefully examined the new ICAO standards to determine their likely benets and how they would best be applied. CASA sees that adoption of these new standards will boost existing English prociency levels in Australia, provide a better system of review and as a result, enhance overall safety.

Flight crew who y internationally

If you do intend to conduct international operations on or after 5 March, 2008 you will require at least level four English prociency rating which will need to be displayed on your licence. To acquire this prociency you can be assessed to level six by an Approved Testing Ofcer, your international CAR 217 Check and Training Captain or your International CAR 217 Chief Pilot. Level six English language prociency assessors are limited to rating at level six only, as the subtleties of the lower levels are difcult to dene without intensive training. However, a CASA approved language centre will be able to assess you at all levels.