Article Dealing with Foreign Students in S. FL Airspace

[FiveO]

Here is a link to the full article which includes a video.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/loc...,5577851.story

Foreign students fill South Florida skies, but communication, airspace woes grow

By Ken Kaye | South Florida Sun-Sentinel
March 3, 2008

On any given day, the skies over South Florida are filled with student pilots from India, China and other foreign lands learning the rudiments of flight. Most hope to become professional pilots.

Their growing numbers have been a boon to the local economy as well as to flight schools that specialize in training foreign pilots. One of those, Dean International in Miami, has become so busy that it bought 32 extra training planes and hired 23 additional instructors. "They have a big economic impact on this area," Robert Dean, the school's owner, said of the foreign students. "Every single one of them goes out and buys a laptop. They spend money in restaurants and to occupy housing."

Yet, the students, who now number in the hundreds each year, also have put a strain on South Florida's airspace, which already is bustling with airline and corporate planes, authorities said.

They are a particular headache for air traffic controllers, who must communicate with a large number of inexperienced fliers who don't always understand complex or rapid-fire instructions in American-accented English.

"You have to speak slower. You can't condense transmissions," said Jim Marinitti of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association in Miami. "They frequently ask controllers to repeat instructions."

And, simply by virtue of the fact that they add to the congestion in the sky, other pilots must keep a sharper lookout. In December, a student pilot from India and another plane collided in the air, killing both pilots. The accident is still under investigation.

The students are sure to keep coming, and in ever greater numbers.

Because of furious growth in civil aviation in Asia, notably in India and China, combined with the decline of the U.S. dollar, the number of foreigners learning to fly in South Florida has exploded, with more than 500 arriving in the past year alone.

Many have come on two-year visas, enduring tough background checks implemented since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Specifically, officials from both the U.S. Transportation Security Administration and Immigration and Customs Enforcement examine every foreign national applying to take flight training, TSA spokeswoman Sari Koshetz said.

"These checks ensure that individuals that may pose a threat to aviation do not receive flight training, preventing them from obtaining Federal Aviation Administration certificates," she said.

Florida flight schools, in particular, are careful to review each aspiring pilot, the school owners say, since the state was a training ground for many of the 9-11 hijackers.

"They can't start training until they're approved and all documents are in place," said Terry Fensome, owner of Pelican Airways Flight Training Center at North Perry Airport in Pembroke Pines.

With students' time here limited, they undertake a demanding training regimen, as South Florida's year-round good weather allows them to take accelerated courses. Most will pay more than $30,000 to earn their commercial licenses and obtain the skills to fly in poor visibility conditions and in larger planes.

Then comes the reward. After their training is done, aviation analysts say, the graduates are virtually certain of landing a high-paying job because many Asian airlines and corporations are buying hundreds of new planes and need pilots.

According to aviation authorities in India, that country has fewer than 3,000 pilots now — yet will need more than 15,000 during the next two decades. The current shortage is so severe that Air India last year turned to the Indian Air Force to supply it with experienced pilots. Other airlines were forced to hire foreigners.

Pan Am International Flight Academy at Miami International Airport is currently training about 200 students from India. After arriving with no flying experience, they learn to handle jet simulators within six months.

Judi Blas, an academy spokeswoman, said one reason so many students come to South Florida is India lacks flight schools.

Kemper Aviation flight school, based in Lantana, markets directly in India and has a section on its Web site geared to appeal to Indian students. As a result, it has become one of the most popular flight schools in South Florida for Indian students.

Two of Kemper's Indian students died in recent flight accidents. On Dec. 8, Cleon Alvares, 25, of Mumbai, India, was flying solo in a small Cessna trainer when it collided with a twin-engine Piper flown by Harry Duckworth, 56, of Waverly, Pa. Both men were killed. The accident occurred in a busy flight training area over the Everglades near the Broward-Palm Beach county line.

On Oct. 27, Arjun Chhikara, 18, and his flight instructor from Kemper Aviation, Anders Selberg, 46, were killed when their single-engine Piper Archer had engine problems and crashed on a golf course near Boynton Beach. A third occupant, also a student pilot from India, survived.

The fact that Alvares and Chhikara were foreign students was "only a coincidence and played no factor in the outcome," said Jeff Rozelle, Kemper's owner and chief pilot. According to the National Transportation Safety Board, the investigations into both accidents are still in the preliminary phase.

Before foreigners can enroll in a U.S. flight school, they must obtain a visa, generally allowing them a two- to five-year visit, and they must speak English fluently, Rozelle said."Most of the students speak very good English, although many have accents," he said. "The Indian students speak 'Queen's English,' primarily from their history of India being a British colony."

Marinitti said the problem is many foreign student pilots cannot understand instructions from controllers unless they are provided in slow, easy terms — and that, in turn, can clog the airwaves.

"If you give them two or three things in one transmission, and they don't get it, you find yourself repeating yourself," he said. "It does slow down the process a lot. But it's one of the things you get used to down here."

When the Indian flight students leave South Florida, they generally have amassed 275 hours of flying time, Dean said. That is enough to get them hired to fly jetliners in India, though the airlines then require additional training. In comparison, most U.S. airlines require at least 500 hours for prospective pilots but prefer considerably more.

Sharad Mangal, of Delhi, is one of the many Indian students who now fly through South Florida skies, yearning to work for an airline.

"I just want to fly," said Mangal, 21, who is taking lessons in a two-seat, single-engine Cessna 152 at Pelican Airways. "It's beating gravity and going against nature."

Ken Kaye can be reached at kkaye@sun-sentinel.com or 954-385-7911.

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Copyright © 2008, South Florida Sun-Sentinel

[TFaudree_ERAU]

Originally Posted by FiveO

Two of Kemper's Indian students died in recent flight accidents. On Dec. 8, Cleon Alvares, 25, of Mumbai, India, was flying solo in a small Cessna trainer when it collided with a twin-engine Piper flown by Harry Duckworth, 56, of Waverly, Pa. Both men were killed. The accident occurred in a busy flight training area over the Everglades near the Broward-Palm Beach county line.

On Oct. 27, Arjun Chhikara, 18, and his flight instructor from Kemper Aviation, Anders Selberg, 46, were killed when their single-engine Piper Archer had engine problems and crashed on a golf course near Boynton Beach. A third occupant, also a student pilot from India, survived.

And this relates to the topic of the article how?

Originally Posted by FiveO

The fact that Alvares and Chhikara were foreign students was "only a coincidence and played no factor in the outcome," said Jeff Rozelle, Kemper's owner and chief pilot. According to the National Transportation Safety Board, the investigations into both accidents are still in the preliminary phase.

Oh, ok, I get it. Its just the media doing what they do best, sensationalizing.

[FiveO]

I hear ya brother.

[surreal1221]

Yup. I flew with two guys who had actually just LEFT the school referenced in the article shortly after that accident. They both knew the two that died very well. Was tough to hear about the accident from them.

Nevertheless, they both turned out to be pretty good sticks - and they spoke english pretty well.

[gator4798]

Maybe this is the answer to the question I've had for awhile. I train at Reid-Hillview in east San Jose, CA. While their is a large percent of Asian communities in the area the population breakdown at RHV is something like 85% Asian. Maybe they are all looking to head back to Asia with a Commercial Cert to get jobs?

[Murdoughnut]

Any of us who fly in Florida know the difficulty these students pose for ATC, though. There was one night where I was going to request class B service from TPA approach, but decided not to as the controller was spitting out commands right and left to incoming and outbound airliner traffic. Sure enough, some Indian guy comes on the mike and takes about 10 seconds to ID himself. Long story short, his transponder wasn't working, but instead of staying clear the Bravo, he kept querying ATC, taking 5-10 seconds each time. I can definitely see that as a safety issue.

Before I get pummeled, I'm aware that there are Indians/Asians who speak great English - and I'm not questioning their stick skills. I think the article was just commenting that the already crowded Florida skies are getting more crowded due to countries taking advantage of our depressingly weak dollar.

[intern_mike]

Must be able to read, write, and SPEAK the english language? I usually can't understand a word these guys say. Somehow the controller picks it up the second or third time. My instructor and I just hang our heads. I've even heard "remain clear of class bravo, recommend you land immediately!"

[SmitteyB]

It is a SERIOUS issue that needs to be addressed.

[Pépé le Pilot]

Imagine that. You speak say French pretty good. You come here in France to learn how to fly.
Remember those first hours on your own ?
Anyone whose English is not their mothertongue would be in trouble at some point with coms. Add to that noisy aircrafts and sometimes crappy headsets and there you have it.
I am French, grew up in england, I speak French and english natively. I trained in the Bay Area (KSJC) and boy was I sometimes lost with coms.
Imagine my demise when I landed my first job in Daytona Beach at PEA... Overcrowded airspace, ERAU had about 120 planes at the time, and seems like they were all flying at the same time, and coming back into KDAB at the same time...
It can be tough. I once came back from Kabul to Istanbul with Ariana (afghan company). French crew, their english was pathetic, the approach controller had to repeat 2/3 times the app clearance.

[grnclvrs]

Originally Posted by intern_mike

Must be able to read, write, and SPEAK the english language?

Yes, but it doesn't say that you have to speak it good.

[SpiraMirabilis]

Originally Posted by grnclvrs

Yes, but it doesn't say that you have to speak it well.

I'm sorry, I couldn't resist.

[Pilot877]

Originally Posted by TFaudree_ERAU

And this relates to the topic of the article how?



Oh, ok, I get it. Its just the media doing what they do best, sensationalizing.

Right-on. I used to teach at Pelican, the foreign students weren't a problem, overall. Everybody on here was slow on the radio when they first started, no matter where you grew up. By the way, flying from HWO to the practice area is not a strain on the airspace system.

Edit: That Ken Kaye guy is always sensationalizing aviation-related issues. I'm not a fan of his work.

[grnclvrs]

Originally Posted by SpiraMirabilis

I'm sorry, I couldn't resist.

Didn't get why the "good" was italicized, did you?

[Maurus]

When I was at KPMP we had an Indian student call up tower telling tower that he was inbound. The tower responded with the all too familure "State your intentions". Of course the pilot had to say "I want to be a commercial pilot".

I don't think I could work with foreign students unless they actually know what I am saying, and what ATC is saying.