It should not be forgotten that it was widely reported by a few that:
the IMC rating was dead,
there would be no grace years,
it could have no place in EASA FCL
a national exception could not be filed
their would be no wider adoption of the rating
the lack of support from the rest of Europe would be insurmountable
None of these reports have yet proven correct.
That suggests to me that the campaign at
www.ukimc.org has been useful together with the work done by those representative bodies in favour of retaining the IMC rating.
The support for the campaign has been over whelming.
I am in no doubt from the testimonies and comments we have received the vast majority of us are convinced of the importance of retaining the rating.
Over the coming weeks there will be more evidence to support the retention of the IMC rating. I believe that the evidence will be persuasive that there is a case for its wider adoption throughout Europe.
It is clear that the CAA support the rating.
It is clear that the statistical evidence presented at the press briefing would leave very few to doubt the proven safety record of the rating.
It is understandable that because many in Europe have no experience of the rating, they must rely on us demonstrate the ratings proven record in the UK
It is now for all the representative bodies, and for all of us, to rise to the challenge of ensuring the case is stated because I am in no doubt the evidence will ultimately prevail.
Please support the campaign, register your support at
www.ukimc.org, and let us know if you are willing to lend your expertise to the campaign.
I believe it should be restated how this issue has progressed lest we fail to appreciate what has laready been achieved.
That said we believe we have a very good case for its retention in the UK.
I believe in what EASA are seeking to achieve. I am not going to be so disingenuous as to suggest that whats good enough for us is not good enough for the rest of Europe. We totally believe in the case we have, it is up to us to sell it to Europe.
I find it interesting that when I talk to pilots from Europe and to their organisations their intial reaction is exactly as would be expected. However, take time to explain how the IMC rating works, how pilots in the UK use the rating and set out the safety evidence that has already been well recited and they want what we have!
It is up to us to take the message to the rest of Europe - I think we will be pleasantly surprised by their reaction if we make a good job of it rather than bickering between ourselves.