Flight Crew Licensing and Medical Certification
The licensing framework
Annex 1 sets out personnel licensing. It defines the licence and rating system, the knowledge, experience, and skill requirements, and the privileges and limitations for pilots, flight engineers, air traffic controllers, and maintenance personnel. The State of Licence Issue is responsible for issuing, validating, and renewing licences and for ensuring continued competence. A licence issued by one State may be validated by another, but the receiving State must satisfy itself that the requirements are met.
Medical certification
Annex 1 also contains the medical standards, with three classes: Class 1 for commercial pilots and ATPL holders, Class 2 for private pilots, and Class 3 for air traffic controllers. Medical certificates have defined validity periods that vary with age and class, and the aero-medical examiner and aero-medical centre roles are specified. A medical certificate may be suspended or revoked if the holder's condition changes.
Language proficiency
ICAO language proficiency requirements apply to flight crew and controllers, with an operational level (Level 4) as the minimum, and recurrent testing for those below expert level. This is often tested as an Annex 1 requirement rather than a national one.
Traps
Questions often confuse the State of Licence Issue with the State of Registry or the State of the Operator. Another trap is treating a foreign licence as automatically valid: it is not; it must be validated or converted under the receiving State's rules. Watch for age and validity-period distractors, and for the claim that a Class 2 certificate suffices for commercial operations.
Rule of thumb
Ask who issued the licence and who is exercising the function. If an Article 83 bis agreement exists, the State of the Operator may issue or validate; otherwise the State of Registry's licensing authority governs.