Nepal Airlines
Corporation (NAC) has decided to train its own instructor pilot to bring
its newly gifted Y12e aircraft from China as the manufacturer has said
it will not be able to provide an English-speaking trainer pilot.
The state-owned carrier
said that a senior captain would be sent to the US to receive training
next week. The delay will push back the delivery of the plane by a
month. It was originally scheduled to arrive in Nepal on July 25.
“As the aircraft supplier
AVIC International Holding Corporation has formally informed us that it
would not be able to provide an instructor pilot with Level 4 English
proficiency, we have decided to train our own pilots to be instructors,”
said NAC’s Managing Director Madan Kharel.
According to him, the NAC
pilot will receive a week’s training in the US before going to the
aircraft factory at Harbin for another session of seven to eight days.
“After completing the training, the NAC pilot will fly the aircraft to
Nepal and will teach other pilots.” The flight instructors will give
hands-on training to Nepali pilots who have already received full flight
simulator training in China.
AVIC had told NAC that it
was searching for English speaking pilots in other countries where the
Y12 was in service but said later that no one could be found.
As per the International
Civil Aviation Organization (Icao), all pilots flying international
routes must have a minimum level of English to communicate with air
traffic controllers regularly. This level of English proficiency is
known as ICAO Operational Level 4. The English language proficiency
scale ranges from Levels 1 to 6.
NAC took delivery of the
plane, part of a six-aircraft deal between Nepal and China, from AVIC in
Harbin, China on July 8. The 17-seater twin-engine turboprop utility
plane is a gift from China to Nepal.
NAC has six Chinese
aircraft on order-two MA60 manufactured by Xi’an Aircraft Industrial
Corporation and four Y12e manufactured by Harbin Aircraft. Of these six
aircraft, an MA60 and an Y12e are gifts. The first of the MA60 has been
delivered and is operating on various routes.
At that time too,
language problems had delayed the aircraft from going into service. The
trainer pilots sent by the plane manufacturer could not speak English,
and another team had to be sent. The Y-12e is powered by PT6A-135A
engines. It received Type Certification from the Civil Aviation
Administration of China in 2002.
The aircraft made its
first flight in August 2001. This version was certified by the US
Federal Aviation Administration on Aug 2, 2006. Experts said that the
Y12e would be a fitting alternative to the Twin Otter, a Canadian-built
aircraft which has been the mainstay on domestic routes for the past
four decades.
- Source: http://www.ktm2day.com
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