Sec. 61.153 Eligibility requirements: General. To be eligible for an airline transport pilot certificate, a person must: (a) Be at least 23 years of age; (b) Be able to read, speak, write, and understand the English language. If the applicant is unable to meet one of these requirements due to medical reasons, then the Administrator may place such operating limitations on that applicant's pilot certificate as are necessary for the safe operation of the aircraft; (c) Be of good moral character; (d) Meet at least one of the following requirements: (1) Hold at least a commercial pilot certificate and an instrument rating; (2) Meet the military experience requirements under Sec. 61.73 of this part to qualify for a commercial pilot certificate, and an instrument rating if the person is a rated military pilot or former rated military pilot of an Armed Force of the United States; or (3) Hold either a foreign airline transport pilot or foreign commercial pilot license and an instrument rating, without limitations issued by a contracting State to the Convention on International Civil Aviation. (e) Meet the aeronautical experience requirements of this subpart that apply to the aircraft category and class rating sought before applying for the practical test; (f) Pass a knowledge test on the aeronautical knowledge areas of Sec. 61.155(c) of this part that apply to the aircraft category and class rating sought; (g) Pass the practical test on the areas of operation listed in Sec. 61.157(e) of this part that apply to the aircraft category and class rating sought; and (h) Comply with the sections of this part that apply to the aircraft category and class rating sought. [Amdt. 61-102, 62 FR 16298, Apr. 4, 1997; Amdt. 61-103, 62 FR 40905, July 30, 1997] Sec. 61.155 Aeronautical knowledge. (a) General. The knowledge test for an airline transport pilot certificate is based on the aeronautical knowledge areas listed in paragraph (c) of this section that are appropriate to the aircraft category and class rating sought. (b) Aircraft type rating. A person who is applying for an additional aircraft type rating to be added to an airline transport pilot certificate is not required to pass a knowledge test if that person's airline transport pilot certificate lists the aircraft category and class rating that is appropriate to the type rating sought. (c) Aeronautical knowledge areas. (1) Applicable Federal Aviation Regulations of this chapter that relate to airline transport pilot privileges, limitations, and flight operations; (2) Meteorology, including knowledge of and effects of fronts, frontal characteristics, cloud formations, icing, and upper-air data; (3) General system of weather and NOTAM collection, dissemination, interpretation, and use; (4) Interpretation and use of weather charts, maps, forecasts, sequence reports, abbreviations, and symbols; (5) National Weather Service functions as they pertain to operations in the National Airspace System; (6) Windshear and microburst awareness, identification, and avoidance; (7) Principles of air navigation under instrument meteorological conditions in the National Airspace System; (8) Air traffic control procedures and pilot responsibilities as they relate to en route operations, terminal area and radar operations, and instrument departure and approach procedures; (9) Aircraft loading, weight and balance, use of charts, graphs, tables, formulas, and computations, and their effect on aircraft performance; (10) Aerodynamics relating to an aircraft's flight characteristics and performance in normal and abnormal flight regimes; (11) Human factors; (12) Aeronautical decision making and judgment; and (13) Crew resource management to include crew communication andcoordination. Sec. 61.157 Flight proficiency. (a) General. (1) The practical test for an airline transport pilot certificate is given for-- (i) An airplane category and single-engine class rating; (ii) An airplane category and multiengine class rating; (iii) A rotorcraft category and helicopter class rating; (iv) A powered-lift category rating; and (v) An aircraft type rating for the category and class ratings listed in paragraphs (a)(1)(i) through (a)(1)(iv) of this section. (2) A person who is applying for an airline transport pilot practical test must meet-- (i) The eligibility requirements of Sec. 61.153 of this part; and (ii) The aeronautical knowledge and aeronautical experience requirements of this subpart that apply to the aircraft category and class rating sought. (b) Aircraft type rating. Except as provided in paragraph (c) of this section, a person who is applying for an aircraft type rating to be added to an airline transport pilot certificate: (1) Must receive and log ground and flight training from an authorized instructor on the areas of operation in this section that apply to the aircraft type rating sought; (2) Must receive a logbook endorsement from an authorized instructor certifying that the applicant completed the training on the areas of operation listed in paragraph (e) of this section that apply to the aircraft type rating sought; and (3) Must perform the practical test in actual or simulated instrument conditions, unless the aircraft's type certificate makes the aircraft incapable of operating under instrument flight rules. If the practical test cannot be accomplished for this reason, the person may obtain a type rating limited to "VFR only." The "VFR only" limitation may be removed for that aircraft type when the person passes the practical test in actual or simulated instrument conditions. (c) Exceptions. A person who is applying for an aircraft type rating to be added to an airline transport pilot certificate or an aircraft type rating concurrently with an airline transport pilot certificate, and who is an employee of a certificate holder operating under part 121 or part 135 of this chapter, need not comply with the requirements of paragraph (b) of this section if the applicant presents a training record that shows satisfactory completion of that certificate holder's approved pilot-in-command training program for the aircraft type rating sought. (d) Upgrading type ratings. Any type rating(s) on the pilot certificate of an applicant who successfully completes an airline transport pilot practical test shall be included on the airline transport pilot certificate with the privileges and limitations of the airline transport pilot certificate, provided the applicant passes the practical test in the same category and class of aircraft for which the applicant holds the type rating(s). However, if a type rating for that category and class of aircraft on the superseded pilot certificate is limited to VFR, that limitation shall be carried forward to the person's airline transport pilot certificate level. (e) Areas of operation. (1) For an airplane category--single-engine class rating: (i) Preflight preparation; (ii) Preflight procedures; (iii) Takeoff and departure phase; (iv) In-flight maneuvers; (v) Instrument procedures; (vi) Landings and approaches to landings; (vii) Normal and abnormal procedures; (viii) Emergency procedures; and (ix) Postflight procedures. (2) For an airplane category--multiengine class rating: (i) Preflight preparation; (ii) Preflight procedures; (iii) Takeoff and departure phase; (iv) In-flight maneuvers; (v) Instrument procedures; (vi) Landings and approaches to landings; (vii) Normal and abnormal procedures; (viii) Emergency procedures; and (ix) Postflight procedures. Sec. 61.159 Aeronautical experience: Airplane category rating. (a) Except as provided in paragraphs (b), (c), and (d) of this section, a person who is applying for an airline transport pilot certificate with an airplane category and class rating must have at least 1,500 hours of total time as a pilot that includes at least: (1) 500 hours of cross-country flight time. (2) 100 hours of night flight time. (3) 75 hours of instrument flight time, in actual or simulated instrument conditions, subject to the following: (i) Except as provided in paragraph (a)(3)(ii) of this section, an applicant may not receive credit for more than a total of 25 hours of simulated instrument time in a flight simulator or flight training device. (ii) A maximum of 50 hours of training in a flight simulator or flight training device may be credited toward the instrument flight time requirements of paragraph (a)(3) of this section if the training was accomplished in a course conducted by a training center certificated under part 142 of this chapter. (iii) Training in a flight simulator or flight training device must be accomplished in a flight simulator or flight training device, representing an airplane. (4) 250 hours of flight time in an airplane as a pilot in command, or as second in command performing the duties of pilot in command while under the supervision of a pilot in command, or any combination thereof, which includes at least-- (i) 100 hours of cross-country flight time; and (ii) 25 hours of night flight time. (5) Not more than 100 hours of the total aeronautical experience requirements of paragraph (a) of this section may be obtained in a flight simulator or flight training device that represents an airplane, provided the aeronautical experience was obtained in an approved course conducted by a training center certificated under part 142 of this chapter. (b) A person who has performed at least 20 night takeoffs and landings to a full stop may substitute each additional night takeoff and landing to a full stop for 1 hour of night flight time to satisfy the requirements of paragraph (a)(2) of this section; however, not more than 25 hours of night flight time may be credited in this manner. (c) A commercial pilot may credit the following second-in-command flight time or flight-engineer flight time toward the 1,500 hours of total time as a pilot required by paragraph (a) of this section: (1) Second-in-command time, provided the time is acquired in an airplane-- (i) Required to have more than one pilot fligh crewmember by the airplane's flight manual, type certificate, or the regulations under which the flight is being conducted; (ii) Engaged in operations under part 121 or part 135 of this chapter for which a second in command is required; or (iii) That is required by the operating rules of this chapter to have more than one pilot flight crewmember. (2) Flight-engineer time, provided the time-- (i) Is acquired in an airplane required to have a flight engineer by the airplane's flight manual or type certificate; (ii) Is acquired while engaged in operations under part 121 of this chapter for which a flight engineer is required; (iii) Is acquired while the person is participating in a pilot training program approved under part 121 of this chapter; and (iv) Does not exceed more than 1 hour for each 3 hours of flight engineer flight time for a total credited time of no more than 500 hours. (d) An applicant may be issued an airline transport pilot certificate with the endorsement, "Holder does not meet the pilot in command aeronautical experience requirements of ICAO," as prescribed by Article 39 of the Convention on International Civil Aviation, if the applicant: (1) Credits second-in-command or flight-engineer time under paragraph (c) of this section toward the 1,500 hours total flight time requirement of paragraph (a) of this section; (2) Does not have at least 1,200 hours of flight time as a pilot, including no more than 50 percent of his or her second-in-command time and none of his or her flight-engineer time; and (3) Otherwise meets the requirements of paragraph (a) of this section. (e) When the applicant specified in paragraph (d) of this section presents satisfactory evidence of the accumulation of 1,200 hours of flight time as a pilot including no more than 50 percent of his or her second-in-command flight time and none of his or her flight-engineer time, the applicant is entitled to an airline transport pilot certificate without the endorsement prescribed in that paragraph. [Amdt. 61-102, 62 FR 16298, Apr. 4, 1997; Amdt. 61-103, 62 FR 40906, July 30, 1997, as amended by Amdt. 61-104, 63 FR 20288, Apr. 23, 1998]