IATA PROPOSAL ON RECIPROCAL SIMULATOR ACCEPTANCE

DATE: November 5,1997

IATA CALLS FOR RECIPROCAL INTERNATIONAL ACCEPTANCE OF FLIGHT SIMULATOR EVALUATIONS

On the occasion of The Royal Aeronautical Society (RAeS) Flight Simulator Conference in London, England, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) has issued a statement strongly urging governments and Regulatory Authorities internationally to accept reciprocal simulator evaluations. The Association estimates implementation of this recommendation would save its Member airlines up to $10M US per annum.

The IATA statement from IATA Director General, Pierre J. Jeanniot, O.C., was presented today by Capt. Erik Reed Mohn of the SAS Flight Academy, representing IATA and the Flight Simulator Working Group. Major simulator manufacturers work alongside the international scheduled airlines in the IATA Working Group.

The statement, calling for immediate international implementation of reciprocal evaluations, said::

"In today's international training environment, a given simulator may be used by airlines from many different countries. Each airline requires the evaluation of the simulator by its own regulatory authority. These repetitive simulator evaluations cause unnecessary duplication and waste scarce regulatory and training center resources.

IATA on behalf of its Member Airlines, strongly urges that this problem be addressed by the immediate implementation of reciprocal acceptance of flight simulator evaluations on an international basis. The necessary framework has been available since 1993 in the form of the ICAO "Manual of Criteria for the Qualification of Flight Simulators" (ICAO Doc 9625-AN/938).

Furthermore, Bilateral Air Safety Agreements now exist between individual European States and the USA which include, inter alia, provisions for reciprocal acceptance of simulator evaluations.

Notwithstanding the definitive progress noted above, many simulators are still being subjected to annual or semi-annual evaluations by a multiplicity of individual Regulatory Authorities. IATA estimates that its members will save up to $10M US per year when reciprocal acceptance of simulator evaluations is implemented, together with a significant impact on regulatory resources.

We urge governments and regulatory authorities to implement reciprocal acceptance of flight simulator evaluations on an international basis in the course of 1998."

For further information, contact: Capt. Ashok Poduval, IATA Director Flight Operations and Safety Services at:

1 514 844 6311, Ext. 3633