FAA throws a spanner in the works

[Jonzarno]

For what it is worth, here is my experience of this issue.

I have a JAR PPL. Based on that I went to the United States in July 2007, complied with the TSA and FAA requirements, was issued an FAA PPL and then trained for and passed my American instrument rating. This resulted in the issue of an FAA licence including the endorsement "instrument airplane" but did not include the endorsement of English proficiency nor a statement to the effect that I had passed my USA test. (I do not believe that this last point makes any difference but it was mentioned on two separate occasions by the people in America to whom I spoke about this that this endorsement was also worth having).

When I became aware of the requirement for the English proficiency endorsement, I contacted by telephone and e-mail:
. AOPA UK. Result: they e-mailed AOPA USA who seemed not to know the answer
. AOPA USA directly by telephone who suggested I contact the FAA direct
. The FSDO in New York and the FAA in Oklahoma City
. UK and German FAA international field offices

All to try to find a way to avoid having to make a special journey to the United States to obtain the English proficiency endorsement. I made all the obvious suggestions such as visiting an international field office or the United States Embassy in London.

My contact at the New York FSDO, who was very sympathetic to the absurdity of having to make the special journey, also spoke at length himself with the FAA in Oklahoma City. The contact at the FAA was also sympathetic and spent a considerable amount of time researching the issue.

The conclusion of all of this, which took about three weeks, is that I was advised by all of these contacts either that, at least at the time when I spoke to them, they did not know the answer (AOPA) or, if they professed to do so (FAA & FSDO), that there was no alternative to visiting an FSDO in person.

Part of the reason for this is that the international field offices both in the UK and other European countries deal exclusively with technical issues and do not handle licensing questions. As indicated above, I have telephoned the UK and German offices and got the same answer from both.

As a result of this, I ended up flying to Las Vegas in March to have the endorsement put on my licence (I chose Las Vegas because the flight training organisation where I did my instrument rating has a full motion simulator there and I thought I might as well do some emergencies training and thus get some sort of value out of the trip).

The inspector at the FSDO in Vegas could not have been more friendly and helpful and was genuinely sorry that the system had conspired to force me to make a special journey explaining that the reason was not down to the FAA but the Transportation Security Agency (TSA). He also offered, unprompted, to add the endorsement that I had passed my US test. We even shared a good laugh about an Englishman proving to an American that he speaks English when he, the inspector, contrived to write "English Profficiency" [sic] on the top of my form!

At the end of the day, I now have a temporary certificate showing the English-speaking and US test passed endorsements and am awaiting the return of my plastic licence. The need to do this in this way was, to say the least, a monumental pain and very expensive in terms of time, money and jetlag but at least I got to spend a day in the simulator which was extremely useful and taught me a great deal.

I would be very interested to hear if anyone has actually been able successfully to follow the route of obtaining the endorsement from one of the two UK inspectors mentioned in earlier posts. Certainly, the information I was given was that you could not do this but, at the time I saw the posts, I did not want to contradict what seemed like authoritative advice given that I had already made my arrangements to travel.


I hope this is useful.

[Beerdrinker]

My Plastic 61.75 Certificate has just arrived in the post here in Cyprus from Oklahoma. I met up with Adam House (one of the two UK based DPE's) when I was in the UK in February. He inspected all the paperwork and issued me with the temporary certificate with English Proficiency on it.

So the lesson is that the two UK based DPE's are indeed authorised and can process your 61.75 application for a Plastic Certicate (required by next year) with English Proficiency on it (required from March this year). So there is no need for a special trip to the States.

[Jonzarno]

My Plastic 61.75 Certificate has just arrived in the post here in Cyprus from Oklahoma. I met up with Adam House (one of the two UK based DPE's) when I was in the UK in February. He inspected all the paperwork and issued me with the temporary certificate with English Proficiency on it.

So the lesson is that the two UK based DPE's are indeed authorised and can process your 61.75 application for a Plastic Certicate (required by next year) with English Proficiency on it (required from March this year). So there is no need for a special trip to the States.

I must say that I am glad that there does seem to be a sensible way of getting around this problem even if it is too late for me to benefit from it.

I find it quite unbelievable that so many officials in the USA could give such contradictory and misleading advice. I wonder how many other people have ended up doing what I did.

In any case, once more my thanks for clearing this up.

[Jonzarno]

Following on from my earlier posts and Beerdrinker's experience described above , I has now received the following e-mail from the FAA in New York:

From: James.Emma@faa.gov [mailto:James.Emma@faa.gov]
: 05 May 2009 14:33
To: John Zarno
Subject: RE: English Proficiency endorsement




Dear Mr. Zarno,

I can now offer you definitive guidance as to how you may obtain the English Proficiency endorcement to your FAA Private Pilot License. Despite contrary guidance which had been published in INFO 08012, there is indeed an alternative to appearing in person at a FSDO or IFO in the United States.

If you request that your Letter of Verification be FPEs (Foreign Pilot Examiners) they are authorized to add the English Proficient endorsement. In fact, because this is an administrative action, both can reissue licenses to either fixed wing or rotorcraft pilots and you can chose to employ the services of either gentleman. As you are no doubt aware, the DPEs charge fees for their services which they set on their own. Contact information for Mssrs. Hughston and House can be obtained via http://www.faa.gov.

In your particular case, you will need to contact the Certification Branch in Oklahoma City directly to have your Letter of Verification transferred from our office (New York FSDO-15) to the New York IFO. I recomment you contact a DPE first to make sure that you wish to utilize his services. Of course you also have the option of traveling here and having this office issue your certificate. We have our copy of your Verification Letter and will be glad to set up an appointment for you if you wish.

I hope that this clarifies the situation for you. I can assure you that this information is valid and can be relied upon. This guidance has been clarified and signed off on by the highest authorities available in the FAA at both our Certification Branch and our Headquarters in Washington, D.C. I personally thank you for your patience and for allowing me to clarify the inconsistent information that has been making the rounds throughout the U.S. and Europe. You have helped provide a service for your fellow airmen.

Sincerely yours,

James J. Emma

Federal Aviation Administration
Flight Standards District Office
NY-FSDO-15
990 Stewart Ave, Suite 630
Garden City, NY 11530-4858
Phone: 516-228-8029 ext 270

[Father Peter Geldard]

The above post is, I hope, categorical proof - for those who still need it - of the reality of the true situation for those who wish to get/amend a FAA 61.75 Certificate (a 'piggy-back').
When I first started this post - following the article in AOPA General Aviation FAA throws a spanner in the works - I gently requested that knowing that the printed information was contrary to the facts that it needed to be corrected. (One had only to go to Le Touquet and see through the window of the office where they were being processed to know that one did not have to go to the States, and only to the States - as the original article stated.)
The result was, both publically and privately, an extraordinary number of convoluted postings to me in which people tried to defend and justify the orginal article to such an extent that some pilots who had FAA 61.75 certificates actually made the journey to the US only to find when they got there that they had done so unnecessarily.
Because so few pilots actually read certain forums - not least this AOPA one - I hope that as soon as possible the definitive situation will be given as much publicity as the original article - not least in General Aviation which has more readers than all the forums put together.

[Beerdrinker]

For your information Tom Hughston is temporarily not doing 61.75 English Proficiency ( or for that matter anything to do with the FAA) as he is doing his JAR qualifications as I believe he has been told he cannot do FAA Instruction/examining in Europe without a JAR Licence.

[Steve Copeland]

For your information Tom Hughston is temporarily not doing 61.75 English Proficiency ( or for that matter anything to do with the FAA) as he is doing his JAR qualifications as I believe he has been told he cannot do FAA Instruction/examining in Europe without a JAR Licence.

Actually he was told that he could not do anything in European reg aircraft as that would constitute aerial work and would require a European commercial ticket. I believe that was part of the reason he left the UK on order to operate under the French but I believe that loophole has closed as well so he now has to do the same as the rest of us and get dual qualified.

Hopefully he will get through it quickly as we would expect from a man of his experience and be back on line.