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EASA-FAA bilateral pilot licensing treaty (BASA)

Peter wrote:

Peter01-Dec-20 19:2967
We have a definite SRG2140/2142 concession until June 2021

I notice that IAOPA in its Newsletter today still states: “Spring 2022”

Rochester, UK, United Kingdom

AIUI the Spring 2022 is just EASA’s deadline after which no EU member country is allowed to do any more derogations.

That date won’t be binding on the UK.

This came just now from IAOPA and there is a commentary (a few weeks out of date now, since the TIP-L came out – here):
IAOPA_Europe_Enews_December_2020_pdf

Administrator
Shoreham EGKA, United Kingdom

I’ve read the TIP-L and below a few notes that I found of importance about getting an FAA PPL and/or IR from an EASA licence.
Will do another post regarding FAA to EASA.

The TIP-L will entry into force on May 18th 2021

1.1.1 These procedures are available to the holders of an EU Part-FCL pilot license, including night rating and/or instrument rating, for the single-pilot single-engine
piston (SEP) land airplanes and/or for single-pilot multi-engine piston (MEP) land airplanes, excluding type ratings.
NOTE: The Sport and Recreational Pilot Certificate and Touring Motor Glider (TMG) rating is excluded from Annex 3

1.1.2 Aircraft type ratings cannot currently be converted from one system to the other.
Therefore, if a pilot holds an EU Part-FCL type rating for which an endorsement is required according to 14 CFR part 61, the privileges of the type rating will not
be issued in accordance with this Agreement

1.1.4 A person may credit flight training toward the requirements of an FAA private
pilot certificate or rating, if that person received the training from an EASA PartFCL flight instructor outside the United States under 14 CFR § 61.41(a)(2)

2.1.2 (a) The FAA must ensure the applicant holds a valid EU Part-FCL pilot license and ratings by verifying the Part-FCL pilot license with FAA Form 8060-71, Verification of Foreign License, and Medical Certification, as described in Appendix 1 to Section C of the TIP-L below.
The EU medical certificate needs to be valid and the applicant needs to hold an FAA medical certificate

2.1.3 (a) As per 14 CFR § 61.103(e), the FAA shall require all original applicants to present a valid, unexpired knowledge test report with a minimum passing
grade of 70% at the time of application as indicated in Appendix 1 to Section C of the TIP-L. A knowledge test report is valid for 24 calendar months.
The knowledge test will only be available in the English language.

2.1.3 (c) Questions for the knowledge test will address specific United States requirements relating to:
(i) Rules and regulations relevant to the holder of an FAA pilot certificate
and/or instrument rating;
(ii) Rules of the air/airspace; and,
(iii) Appropriate air traffic services practices, communications, and emergency procedures

2.2.5 (b) Prior to the issuance of an FAA private pilot certificate, an applicant must submit FAA Form 8710-1, Airman Certificate and/or Rating Application Form,
a valid foreign license verification letter, a valid knowledge test report, and satisfactorily complete a flight review in accordance with14 CFR § 61.56.
The flight review must be conducted in accordance with applicable FAA guidance material and the private pilot Airman Certification Standards and administered by an authorized examiner or FAA certificated flight instructor. Upon successful completion of the flight review, a logbook endorsement will be placed in the pilot’s logbook from an FAA-authorized examiner under 14 CFR § 61.13(a).
NOTE: An FAA-authorized examiner, for the purposes of Annex 3, is a designee of the Administrator that is authorized to conduct Private Pilot (PE), Commercial and Instrument Rating (CIRE), and Airline Transport Pilot (ATP) certification events. However, a PE may not conduct an Instrument Proficiency Check (IPC) in accordance with Annex 3

2.2.5 (d) An applicant that is converting a Part-FCL instrument rating simultaneously with a Part-FCL pilot license will need to complete the knowledge test
requirements for the FAA private pilot conversion and FAA instrument rating conversion as well as the Instrument Proficiency Check (IPC) with an FAA Authorized Examiner, Aviation Safety Inspector (ASI), Aviation Safety Technician (AST), or FAA certificated flight instructor prior to FAA certificate issuance. The requirements of the flight review may be accomplished in combination with the requirements of the IPC and other applicable recent experience requirements at the discretion of the FAA
examiner

2.2.6 (a) The FAA shall issue a private pilot certificate with the limitation ‘Night flying prohibited’ unless the applicant holds an EU Part-FCL night rating or
meets the FAA night experience requirement per 14 CFR § 61.10

2.3.5 (a) Acclimatization flying. The purpose of this flight training is to have the applicants become accustomed to the specifics of United States airspace.
(i) An applicant applying for an instrument rating shall have completed acclimatization flying in the United States, including its territories, with an FAA certified flight instructor before the instrument proficiency check with an examiner is administered under 14 CFR §61.65(c).
(ii) The applicant for an instrument rating for single-pilot single-engine or single-pilot MEP land airplanes does not need to complete acclimatization flying, if he/she has:
(1) Prior experience of at least 50 hours of flight time under IFR as PIC on airplanes gained after initial issue of the IR; or
(2) Prior experience of at least 10 hours of flight time under IFR as PIC on airplanes in the United States gained after initial issue of the IR.
NOTE: An EU Part-FCL licensed pilot is required to log flight time in accordance with FCL.050 to Part-FCL. The regulation allows pilots to log any flight time as PIC on airplanes operating on an IFR flight plan as IFR regardless of the meteorological conditions.

An FAA pilot certificate is issued without an expiration date; however, the privileges of an FAA
pilot certificate are dependent upon the currency requirements within the FAA’s aviation system.
All pilots must adhere to the currency requirements prescribed in 14 CFR part 61

Details of the procedure to apply are contained into the TIP-L appendix

Switzerland

Some notes about FAA to EASA conversion

1.1.1 These procedures apply to the holders of an FAA pilot certificate and/or instrument rating, excluding type ratings. Instrument ratings acquired through
__Instrument Rating Foreign Pilot (IFP) test are not subject to this agreement__
NOTE: The Sport and Recreational Pilot Certificate and Touring Motor Glider (TMG) rating is excluded from Annex 3

1.1.4 The FAA airman needs to be current in accordance with applicable FAA regulations when the conversion process is initiated.
NOTE: Pilots flying under the FAA’s BasicMed authorization are not eligible for conversion under Annex 3. BasicMed pilots will be required to get an FAA
medical if they wish to take advantage of the Annex

2.1.1 The conversion process will require compliance with a variety of general and specific requirements. The general requirements are:
(a) In order to have a Part-FCL private pilot license PPL(A), associated class and night ratings, and/or a Part-FCL instrument rating issued on the basis of
an FAA pilot certificate and/or instrument rating, the applicant must apply to an AA responsible for pilot licensing of any EU Member State. For contact information see Appendix 1 to Section A of the TIP-L.
(b) The application for a license or rating will be submitted in a form and manner established by the AA using the form provided in Appendix 1 to
Section B of the TIP-L.
(c) If the applicant already holds a Part-FCL license, he/she must submit the application to the AA, which initially issued the pilot license, except when
the pilot has requested a change of competent authority and a transfer of his/her licensing and medical records to that authority

2.1.3 (b) The pilots holding an FAA certificate that are already residing in an EU Member State before the applicability of Annex 3, shall prove their currency
by self-declaration that is contained in the application form. The proof of residence before the applicability is determined on the basis of the applicable national regulations, as appropriate

2.1.3 (f) The applicant’s FAA medical certificate must be current (according to 1.1.4 above), and a valid EU medical certificate is required.

2.1.5 Demonstration of the Theoretical Knowledge to an Examiner
(a) In the case when the applicant is demonstrating to the examiner before the skill test that he/she has acquired an adequate level of required theoretical
knowledge, the examiner should follow the guidance provided in Appendix 2 to Section B of the TIP-L and verify the logbook of the candidate.
(b) The demonstration should be completed before the flight and should cover all the subjects and learning objectives of the theoretical knowledge as
detailed in the Appendix 2 to Section B of the TIP-L.
(c) After a successfully completed demonstration, the examiner will provide a written confirmation that the applicant has demonstrated an adequate level
of required knowledge. This confirmation will be marked in the skill test form and logbook as established by the AA

2.2.3 The applicant must demonstrate to the examiner before the skill test that he/she has acquired an adequate level of theoretical knowledge of ‘Air law’ and
‘Communication’ at the private pilot level according to paragraph 2.1.5 and Appendix 2 to Section B of the TIP-L

2.2.5 Skill test
(a) The applicant must pass the skill test in accordance with the requirements of Regulation EU No 1178/2011 as written in FCL.235, and FCL.725 and the
relevant Appendix, with a Part-FCL flight examiner FE (A), who has privileges to conduct skill tests for the issue of the PPL(A) or single-pilot MEP land class rating, as applicable

2.3.1 Night Rating
(b) The absence of a night flying limitation on an FAA pilot certificate means that the FAA has found the person qualified to operate an aircraft during the
time between the end of evening civil twilight and the beginning of morning civil twilight, as published in the Air Almanac, converted to local time
(reference night definition in 14 CFR part 1, § 1.1).
(c) The Part-FCL night rating may be issued at the same time with the Part-FCL pilot license in accordance with the license conversion process described in
this Section, or the rating may be added to an existing Part-FCL license, provided that the applicable requirements are fulfilled

2.4 Instrument Rating
(a) A pilot who holds a valid FAA instrument rating for airplanes and who wishes to apply for the Part-FCL instrument rating for airplanes must meet
the relevant requirements stated in Annex 3 and in this Section.
(b) The Part-FCL instrument rating may be issued at the same time with the Part-FCL pilot license in accordance with the license conversion process
described in this Section, or the rating may be added to an existing Part-FCL license, provided that the applicable requirements are fulfilled

2.4.4 Theoretical Knowledge
(a) The applicant must demonstrate theoretical knowledge of ‘Air law’ and ‘Flight planning and monitoring’ and ‘Communication’ at the instrument rating level.
(b) If the applicant has a minimum experience of at least 50 hours of flight time under Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) as PIC on airplanes, he/she will demonstrate to the examiner before the assessment of instrument flying skills that he/she has acquired an adequate level of the required theoretical knowledge. The demonstration will be completed according to paragraph 2.1.5 and Appendix 2 to Section B of the TIP-L.
(c) In all other cases, the demonstration of the level of theoretical knowledge will be completed by written examination under the responsibility of an AA.
(d) The written examination referred to in paragraph 2.4.4(c) above will be completed as follows:
(i) The examination will comprise of multiple-choice questions selected from the European Central Question Bank (ECQB) according to the theoretical knowledge procedures stated in the Part-ARA (number of questions per subject and examination time) and corresponding AMC/GM material for modular IR, completed according to FCL.625 and Annex 6 Section A to Part-FCL.
(ii) A pass in an examination will be awarded to the applicant achieving at least 75% of the marks. There is no penalty marking.

2.4.6 Skill Test
(a) The applicant must pass the skill test with a qualified Part-FCL IRE (A) according to Appendix 7 and, if necessary Appendix 9 to Commission Regulation (EU) No 1178/2011

2.4.8 Acclimatization Flying
(a) The applicant for an instrument rating for single-pilot single-engine or single-pilot multi-engine land airplanes does not need to complete acclimatization flying, if he/she has:
(i) Prior experience of at least 50 hours of flight time under IFR as PIC on airplanes gained after initial issue of the IR; or
(ii) Prior experience of at least 10 hours of flight time under IFR as PIC on airplanes in any of the EU Member States or any European State that
participates in EASA (in accordance with art. 129 of Regulation (EU) No 2018/1139), gained after initial issue of the IR.
(iii) The instrument flight time on airplanes, during which a pilot has been piloting an aircraft solely by reference to instruments and without external reference points, gained after initial issue of the IR, will be credited towards the flight time under IFR requirements in points 2.4.8(a)(i) and (ii) by having the pilot log the time spent under an IFR clearance in his/her logbook and certifying this with their signature

The revalidation and renewal of the ratings and the language proficiency endorsements associated
with the Part-FCL license issued according to Annex 3 must be conducted according to relevant
Part-FCL rules

Switzerland

I’m curious about the following provisions in section 2.1.3 of the “Section B” provisions for converting from FAA to EASA:

“(b) The pilots holding an FAA certificate that are already residing in an EU
Member State before the applicability of Annex 3, shall prove their currency
by self-declaration that is contained in the application form. The proof of
residence before the applicability is determined on the basis of the
applicable national regulations, as appropriate.
(c) All other pilots holding an FAA certificate with PPL(A)/IR whose
ratings where issued after the applicability of Annex 3 must prove their
currency through means of the self-declaration and through the FAA issued
verification letter. The AA shall deem the ratings current only in the
following cases:
- for the instrument and multi-engine ratings: if the initial FAA rating has
been issued within the last 12 months.
- for the single-engine rating: if the initial FAA rating has been issued
within the last 24 months.
In this case, the FAA verification letter will include the initial rating issue
dates for licenses and ratings issued after the applicability of Annex 3.
(d) Airmen who do not satisfy the conditions defined in (b) or (c) above do not
qualify for conversion under the terms of Annex 3

Does (d) mean that if you aren’t “already residing in an EU Member State before the applicability of Annex 3” and your FAA certificate was issued before May 18, 2021, you can’t use the BASA procedure to convert to an EASA license? Or does it simply mean that you use some other, unspecified method to prove currency? It’s really not clear to me.

If it’s the former, then the agreement really only “helps” EU residents currently flying N-reg IFR and EU residents who want to get their PPL in the U.S. in the future and convert to save a few bucks/euros (or for whatever reason). I mean the N-reg issue is most of what is driving this agreement, but the FAA doesn’t seem to have gotten much for US residents in this deal (again, assuming the restrictive reading of subsection (d)).

Last Edited by Neil_Rubin at 18 Dec 19:43
United States

I may be reading this too narrowly but does it mean that the FAA 6/6 rolling currency for the IR is disregarded?

Administrator
Shoreham EGKA, United Kingdom

Peter wrote:

I may be reading this too narrowly but does it mean that the FAA 6/6 rolling currency for the IR is disregarded?

If the question is whether you need to show FAA 6/6 rolling currency when you apply for the EASA IR based on the FAA rating, I read section 2.4.5 of Section B of the TIP-L (and other provisions) as requiring that the applicant demonstrate “currency” including the 6/6 rolling currency (or alternatively a current instrument proficiency check) by logbook entries, along with a self certification. After the EASA rating is issued, then you have to follow the currency / recency requirements of whichever license you are exercising the privileges of.

Last Edited by Neil_Rubin at 19 Dec 00:37
United States

OK; thanks. That makes sense. There was a time when the UK was issuing an IMC Rating to FAA IR holders but the 6/6 rolling currency option was disregarded (you had to get an IPC).

Administrator
Shoreham EGKA, United Kingdom

Neil_Rubin wrote:

After the EASA rating is issued, then you have to follow the currency / recency requirements of whichever license you are exercising the privileges of.

Yes but if, for example, one resides and is flying an N-reg in EASA-land then my understanding is that the currency / recency requirements need to be met for both the FAA certificate (since one is exercising the privileges of that certificate) AND the EASA licence (e.g. yearly IR revalidation).

LSZK, Switzerland

chflyer wrote:

Yes but if, for example, one resides and is flying an N-reg in EASA-land then my understanding is that the currency / recency requirements need to be met for both the FAA certificate (since one is exercising the privileges of that certificate) AND the EASA licence (e.g. yearly IR revalidation).

Yes: That is how I read the new regulations too.

Rochester, UK, United Kingdom
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