Chopper pilot training under review
Police Commissioner Derek Byrne has initiated a review of the training received by the Caymanian pilot sent to Trinidad for certification to fly the RCIPS helicopter earlier this year.
This review comes after the aspiring chopper pilot commenced ongoing training on a different model of helicopter rather than the one currently in use by the RCIPS Air Operations Unit.
Currently the RCIPS uses the Airbus H145 helicopter. Government has purchased a second similar model which is expected to arrive next week. The new helicopter was bought after the original EC135 aircraft was damaged earlier this year during lift-off.
Byrne revealed, in Finance Committee Monday evening, that the auxiliary police officer sent to train with National Helicopters Ltd. in Trinidad back in April, for a three-year period, has been receiving certification for a different helicopter.
Under questioning from North Side MLA Ezzard Miller, Byrne said he is now looking at training options for the pilot in question.
The police commissioner explained the issue was the pilot has not been training on the H145 “for the last year, because of some contractual difficulties [faced by] National Helicopters, who are the service providers to us in Trinidad”.
The difficulties Byrne referred to relate to challenges between National Helicopters and Airbus. The pilot, Byrne said, has only clocked 40.5 hours of flight time outside of training hours on the helicopter.
Miller pressed the issue, asking about the qualifications needed for the pilot to be certified to fly the helicopter.
Byre said the requirement for a captain, a fully qualified pilot, is 3,000 hours to satisfy conditions for insurance and an RCIPS air operation certificate granted by the Civil Aviation Authority.
In the case of the pilot in training, Byrne said the aim was to get him trained as a first pilot and then to come back to quality as a captain, which would require satisfying the 3,000-hour threshold.
He said one could fly a twin helicopter as a first pilot rather than a captain with less than 3,000 hours.
However, Byrne said he is looking at whether the pilot who was sent to Trinidad can do H145 qualification courses in the US and return to Cayman and fly under the direct leadership of three RCIPS tactical flight officers.
The cost of the pilot’s training is yet to be released.
Currently the RCIPS uses the Airbus H145 helicopter. Government has purchased a second similar model which is expected to arrive next week. The new helicopter was bought after the original EC135 aircraft was damaged earlier this year during lift-off.
Byrne revealed, in Finance Committee Monday evening, that the auxiliary police officer sent to train with National Helicopters Ltd. in Trinidad back in April, for a three-year period, has been receiving certification for a different helicopter.
Under questioning from North Side MLA Ezzard Miller, Byrne said he is now looking at training options for the pilot in question.
The police commissioner explained the issue was the pilot has not been training on the H145 “for the last year, because of some contractual difficulties [faced by] National Helicopters, who are the service providers to us in Trinidad”.
The difficulties Byrne referred to relate to challenges between National Helicopters and Airbus. The pilot, Byrne said, has only clocked 40.5 hours of flight time outside of training hours on the helicopter.
Miller pressed the issue, asking about the qualifications needed for the pilot to be certified to fly the helicopter.
Byre said the requirement for a captain, a fully qualified pilot, is 3,000 hours to satisfy conditions for insurance and an RCIPS air operation certificate granted by the Civil Aviation Authority.
In the case of the pilot in training, Byrne said the aim was to get him trained as a first pilot and then to come back to quality as a captain, which would require satisfying the 3,000-hour threshold.
He said one could fly a twin helicopter as a first pilot rather than a captain with less than 3,000 hours.
However, Byrne said he is looking at whether the pilot who was sent to Trinidad can do H145 qualification courses in the US and return to Cayman and fly under the direct leadership of three RCIPS tactical flight officers.
The cost of the pilot’s training is yet to be released.
