Originally Posted by
Non-PC Plod
You would be surprised. If a developing country thinks it should have a helicopter service, it rounds up a bunch of police/army/air force recruits, sends them to Florida to learn English/ get a CPL(H). Next stop - type rating course for the big shiny new machines at the factory.
It can be a bit stressful for the TRI who has got to get them to an acceptable level of competence in the hours allocated. (There may not always be a skill test as an independent check, because we are not talking about FAA or EASA here)
Sometimes I forget that not everyone has regulations to deal with. Still, I'm sure this NYC pilot had some other models in between his initial training and that 109.
Sad thing is, we'll probably never know what really happened.