Hs anyone actually seen one of these CIME cards? I still don’t have mine, nor any sign of it, 10 months after I applied. It seems to be held up at the Prefecture, who have the responsibility for checking that I’m a “good person”.
So how do non French based people ever get this card? It’s like doing an FBI background check on somebody in (or who has just come from) Mongolia.
Another example of flights between the UK and France becoming more and more complicated.
I reckon most Brits don’t bother with France nowadays, except the (few) easier places. 20 years ago they could and did fly anywhere there – even the small places because C+I was not enforced. I doubt anybody in France cares but they might if the (say) 30% loss of revenue leads to the closure of the place. What even fewer will realise is the loss to the local economy as recently posted by @Peter_G because nobody is going to be measuring this.
So how do non French based people ever get this card?
It is impossible.
It is impossible.
For French (well, French resident) people also, so it seems.
I have not seen one but I know several pilots who say they have one. What seems strange to me as this didn’t originate as a French thing. This whole CIME card thing started out when EASA claimed that French airports were not doing enough for security at airports. I think most French pilots just threw their hands up in resignation about another new rule. But we were promised that the CIME card could be used in place of handling throughout Europe and that other EASA countries would have their own cards which could be used in France at the airfields which required them.
IMHO it’s a total nonsense I don’t see the problem with a pilot’s licence and perhaps photo ID. Once upon a time pilot’s licences here had your photo on them.
gallois wrote:
IMHO it’s a total nonsense I don’t see the problem with a pilot’s licence and perhaps photo ID
I completely agree and the DGAC should have replied exactly that when whatever inspection from EASA complained…
gallois wrote:
EASA countries would have their own cards which could be used in France at the airfields which required them.
Indeed, the CrewID card (in French CIME) is an EU thing, and before being an EU thing, is an ICAO thing.
To get to the point of having our own cards, I am desperately looking for a contact at EASA to tell our national CAA that IT IS NOT FORBIDDEN to make CrewID cards for GA pilots (pilots not employed by an AOC holder), which they have auto-convinced themselves it is, based on a flawed reading of the regulation :-/
lionel wrote:
to tell our national CAA that IT IS NOT FORBIDDEN to make CrewID cards for GA pilots
How did they come on that slippery ice? How could they even do that?
Just take a printer and do a plastic card with some information cannot be illegal, or?
I make my own crew cards since ages and nobody ever questioned them.
I am afraid crew cards and CIME are not the same thing.
We were told EASA were threatening to sanction France because we were not applying strong enough security protocols with regard to GA aircraft mixing on airfields with a significant(?) volume of CAT traffic. In other words we did not have enough/proper separation between ga aircraft and the embarkment and disembarkment of their passengers and their movements on the airfield. I don’t think this is true but I can see why some health and safety bod thought that in that our clubs share many airfields which also have CAT. However, it has never really been a problem and airports like La Rochelle have a marked pathway for ga pilots and passengers and a gate to pass through. The clubs tend to have their own access and exit through the club itself.
But this wasn’t good enough for EASA who have had difficulties getting French ga pilots to wear Yellow vests to gain access to their aircraft from the club house, in the case of LFBH about 10 metres. Yes, I would agree that it is taking time for French pilots to fully comply with Yellow vest wearing but this CIME step is IMO just plain CYA when it isn’t even threatened.
Anyway in order to comply AIUI the DGAC asked for clarification about what was happening across all members of EASA.
To keep a long story short the DSACs were told that all countries were to train pilots in how to walk a delineated route or look left and right before crossing the apron and how to hold your passengers hand and brief them on apron security etc. To train pilots meant having a half day (?) course with some sort of security adviser after which the pilot would be issued with a special crew card valid for 3years (?). At a cost to the pilot.
To persuade French pilots to go for it without too much protest we were told that this card (the CIME card) would be valid for all EASA airfields which needed them (ie a significant (?) amount of CAT traffic, for the period of validity. The advantage of this card was that we would not need to wait in our aircraft or outside the gate of the airfield for someone eg a handler or airport security personnel to take us and our passengers along the pre defined routes or around cones to get to and from our aircraft. Obviously GA pilots are quite capable of flying a plane but cannot negotiate a footpath without training.
As mentioned EASA told the DGAC that we were lagging behind all the other members, however it seems from this thread that they were conned. Instead of lagging behind we would appear to be one of the only ones to have done it. So if we turn up at largish airport in Spain or Luxembourg or Switzerland the airport management haven’t a clue what it is and we still have to pay for handling and a van to take us 20 metres to the terminal building.
YMMV so.end of rant.
Reminds me of landing at Basel (LFSB) last year and going through the French side, dropping off my passenger. The security staff refused to let me return to my aircraft without a CIME. I told them I wasn’t french hence I couldn’t get one. Their solution was to tell me that I needed to enrol with a flying school and they could contact that flight training organisation to collect me – the fact that I had my own aircraft at the airport was a complete mystery to them. Worse, I had submitted a flight plan which then had to be rescheduled because it took the best part of ¾ of an hour to convince the security that yes, I was a pilot and yes, my aircraft was parked on the ramp, no, I wasn’t a student; even begging them, PLEASE let me return to my plane, showing them my AOPA crew card (with picture), FAA / EASA Licences and ID weren’t sufficient. What was to be a 15 minute stop took an hour….
Weirder still was that the navette driver was considered to be “not cleared by security” hence he and I were escorted to his bus by a member of security, then he was allowed to drive me to my plane… ridiculous situation….
