New Delhi: Soon, almost anyone who has cleared Class XII could be eligible to become a pilot irrespective of which stream the person chose after Class X — arts, commerce or science.
Existing rules stipulate that a student should have completed Class XII with physics and maths as compulsory subjects for becoming a flier.
Now, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation has recommended that anyone who has passed Class X with physics and maths — which almost all do — and then completed Class XII from any stream be considered eligible for becoming a pilot.
The only condition the new DGCA recommendation lays down is that students must have compulsorily studied physics as part of science in Class X — and not home science in place of physics, as is the option in some boards.
DGCA has sent this recommendation to the aviation ministry for clearance by minister Praful Patel.
The DGCA has recommended that anyone who has passed Class X with physics and maths and then completed Class XII from any stream can be considered for becoming a pilot.
In fact, the Federal Aviation Authority (FAA), US’s regulatory and licensing agency, does not stipulate any minimum educational qualification for becoming a pilot.
It has only three conditions for a student pilot licence (SPL). These are: The person should be 16 years
or older, should be able to "read, speak and understand English" and be medically fit.
But clearing the tough FAA exams mean that the candidate should have knowledge of science and maths.
In India, too, a person can begin flight training at 16 years as the rules stipulate he or she be a minimum 17 years of age for getting the SPL. Then, after another year of flying, he or she can get a private pilot licence for which the minimum age is 18.
If cleared by the ministry and then notified as an amendment to existing rules by the law ministry, this could fuel the interest of youngsters towards flying.
In the past two years, so many youths have opted for this profession that there’s an excess of co-pilots in the aviation industry.
28/02/08 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India
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