True about the level 5 and 6
Keep in mind that this is the "professional pilot rumour network."
This is the rumour that I heard: The limitation applies only when flying into the USA. Due to a problem on which a flight crew failed to properly communicate with US controllers the FAA mandated that any panamanian flights going into the USA must be piloted by crew with no less than english proficiency level 6.
The internal COPA rumour has it that the crew failed to comply with ATC instructions and destroyed a tight sequence of aircraft. Airplanes had to be diverted to avoid an accident when the COPA pilots all of a sudden started maneuvering contrary to ATC.
All pilots that have level 4 or 5 are still able to fly for the airline but are not assigned flights into the USA. Some exceptions do apply within the airline.
Once again, this is a rumour... this is not confirmed. The sources are people that under certain circumstances are sometimes considered reliable. I cannot confirm this intel.
Last edited by factor-x; 1st Jun 2013 at 00:38.