A very important issue for a professional pilot who holds a qualification valid throughout Europe is knowledge of the English language.
Pilots once took radiotelephony exams in English to be able to communicate via radio with control bodies and then they could fly anywhere without any problems, learning standard phrases and answers by heart. For some years now, however, every pilot, in addition to this technical exam, must also pass an interview imposed by the ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organization).
The exam
The examThe English exam you have to take is called LPC (Language Proficiency Check) and consists of an interview with a certified examiner who evaluates your “fluency” and “comprehension”. The transcription of this qualification in your license (both private and commercial) is necessary to be able to fly abroad and also to fly in IFR. To fly in instrument flight even within your own national borders, you need to have this “qualification” in your license.
These exams are normally carried out in flight schools and each interview is then sent to a certified center that will confirm the grade proposed by the examiner.
Voting and deadline
The minimum rating is called “ICAO level 4” which must be renewed every 4 years, then there is level 5 which must be renewed every 6 years and finally level 6 which is issued only to native speakers and never expires.
To prepare, some schools organize specific courses with English teachers, or there are online tutorials with examples of interviews and topics on which it is necessary to prepare.
The topic should not be underestimated, especially for airplane pilots who travel the world every day but also for helicopter pilots, who during their career could have interesting job offers abroad.
In any case, English is always useful.
