Language Proficiency

[Mr GinoPino]

Hi,
I am not an english citizen but I hold a JAA CPLwith endorsement for a B737-300 series/IR; my licence was ssued (by the UK CAA) 29/10/2007 and I do not have any endorsement in section XIII about Language Proficiency.

I am now willing to start flying in Turkey but the local CAA is asking me for my "Language Proficiency Level 4 certificate" , I hold a radio telephony operator's licence, but for them is not enough.

anyone already had this problem?! if so how did u overcame it?!

many thk

Gino

[hughesyd]

Icao level proficiency runs up to a level six. If you are a native speaker then i think you are automatically awarded a level 4. Usually your verbal skills would be assesed on the renewal of a rating or licence and without a written test if once again you are a native speaker. Its a bit of a grey area in some JAA states as to the methods of testing, some are still trying to work out a method of testing!!, and varies from state to state, it is in fact supposed to be the same across all states but is still very fragmented. I would speak to the licencing dept with the CAA if your licence was issued in the UK but your not a native speaker. Im sure they would point you in the right direction as to where you can be assesed and how.

[INNflight]

Not sure how that works with a CAA license, but when you have a FAA license as a non-native English speaker (like I do) you automatically get the "language proficient" ticked, as you'd not be able to pass the exams without it anyways.

Anybody knows if I get that language proficient statement transferred when I convert to a JAA license or do I have to take the lvl 4 test?

Some people even say it's gonna bee entirely different again when we get EU-OPS to replace JAR.....whatever comes along, I'm sure it's not gonna make more sense ;)

[2close]

GinoPino,

The UK CAA only included the English Language Proficiency on licences from March 2008, as per the ICAO requirements.

From this date, any person having been trained and examined in the UK or at a UK Approved FTO and subsequently issued with a UK issued JAR FCL licence has been assumed to be English Proficient to ICAO Level 4.

I would suggest you ask the UK CAA for an updated licence containing the necessary endorsement in Section XIII.

If this is stil not enough for the Turkish CAA you will need to undergo a Test of English for Aviation. This can be done in most countries and most certainly in Turkey. The most common tests are the Mayflower College Test of English for Aviation and the Melbourne University RMIT English Language Test for Aviation (RELTA) - you would have to ask the Turkish CAA which tests they accept as not all NAAs accept all tests.

You could find out more information here:

ICAO Aviation English courses and testing for pilots and air traffic controllers (http://www.maycoll.co.uk/aviation-english/index.htm)

Home > Aviation English Test > RMIT English Language Test for Aviation (http://www.relta.org)

Hope this helps. ;)

2close