Sir - I was pleased that Jim McKenna, UK Civil Aviation Authority head of engineer licensing, responded to my letter on European Joint Aviation Requirement (JAR)-66 aircraft maintenance basic licences (AMBL) (Flight International, 11-17 June, P144)) -although the point of my letter was missed.
I was not highlighting the holding of a single CAA aircraft-maintenance engineer's licence (AMEL) as a means of satisfying the issue of a JAR-66 AMBL.
I was suggesting that a person who has been trained as an aircraft-maintenance engineer during a recognised apprenticeship, who holds recognised technical qualifications covering the disciplines required by JAR-66, has gained experience and already holds a CAA AMEL, should be granted a JAR-66 AMBL without further examination.
No one who has served a long and demanding apprenticeship would see using it as a basis for the issue of an AMBL as a "give-away". The present system, however, where often a person is trained to pass the licence examination, passes, and is then issued a license by the CAA could be called "giving it away", as this is little more than a paperwork exercise.
If apprenticeship is not to be recognised in the JAR-66, or even the present system, it could be seen by many as a waste of four to five years of their life.
Mark Crane
Castletown, Isle of Man
Source: Flight International
