Pilots with foreign radio licences risk being grounded

New Delhi: Pilots with Indian airline companies, who possess foreign licences for using wireless communication sets in cockpits, are in for a hard time.
On February 7, the ministry of communication issued an order according to which some existing and new pilots would have to appear for an operating radio telephone (wireless used for communication from cockpits to ATCs and enroute ground stations) test.
Since no pilot can fly without a valid radio telephony licence, clearing the test and getting a licence could force active pilots, who already have foreign RTRs converted to Indian ones, to remain grounded for a while.
Before the new order was issued, those who had a commercial pilot licence to fly to any place in the world would get their radio telephony restricted licence from Commonwealth nations such as th UK or Canada.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) issued a flight radio telephone operators’ licence (FRTOL) and the ministry of communication’s Wireless Planning and Coordination (WPC) wing converted the Canadian or British RTR to an Indian one for extendable periods of three years at a time.
The WPC issued the new memo on February 7, which laid down two conditions. Now, only pilots who have attended flying schools in the Commonwealth nations of Canada or the UK, and have both their CPL and RTR issued from the same country, can get their RTR converted to Indian ones.
But others, like some who got the CPL in the US and RTR from Canada, will have to appear for a test in India for a new licence. This will be applicable for both new CPL holders as also existing pilots whose Indian validation of foreign RTR has expired.
29/02/08 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India