Have you ever wondered if a pilot can control two different types of aircraft? Well, this seems like a possibility only in sci-fi movies and not in real life. Well, to your surprise, this will soon be a reality and Air India is all set to do it. Soon an Air India pilot will be able to fly 2 separate aircraft. The airline has also received approval from the airline regulator body already. Read on to know about this exciting beginning!
DGCA Has Approved This New Initiative Of Air India
The airline has been working on this proposal for quite some time now. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has provided approval for the request for Multi-Seat Flying.
What Is Multi-Seat Flying?
This is a unique facility and process that will let a single pilot fly 2 aircraft. Multi-Seat Flying surely seems to be a fascinating idea but it is very certain that controlling 2 aircraft won’t be a simple task for Air India pilots. According to several reports, the airports will be undergoing rigorous training procedures.
Previously, the training process was a bit different for Air India. The airline trained 8 designated examiners to work on Boeing 777 and 787 aircraft. A senior official of DGCA shared that among the 8 designated examiners, 4 are trained to operate Boeing 777 aircraft and the rest 4 for the Boeing 787 aircraft. The designated examiner is a pilot of that airline who has gained experience over the years and now gets charged to undergo checks according to civil aviation rules. The airline regulator usually approves these examiners.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation has laid out some rules and regulations for Air India to train their designated examiners. These 8 designated examiners will need to undergo a flying training of 150 hours. With this, it is also mandatory to make a minimum of 10 landings each while operating the Boeing 777 and Boeing 787 aircraft.
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Airlines are working on the cross utilisation of pilots in about 16 different countries globally. Air India has so many plans to extend and increase its operations. And this new initiative of a pilot flying 2 aircraft at the same time will help the airline in the long run.
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