Personnel Licensing - Flight Engineer Licence Requirements and Syllabi (NCAA-AC-PEL 018)
What the exam tests
This domain tests how a flight engineer licence (FEL) is issued, endorsed and kept valid under NCAA-AC-PEL 018 and the personnel licensing provisions of the Nig. CARs, which follow ICAO Annex 1. Expect questions on eligibility, the approved syllabus, knowledge examinations, experience credit, the type-specific skill test and the privileges attached to the licence.
Core rules
- The applicant must meet the minimum age (18), hold the prescribed valid medical certificate and demonstrate the required English language proficiency where applicable.
- Knowledge is examined across airframe and systems, powerplants, aircraft performance and weight and balance, operating procedures, and flight planning.
- Experience must be documented and certified; the advisory circular sets the approved course and supervised experience route.
- The FEL is type-specific. A type endorsement follows approved type training and a skill test; without it the holder cannot act as flight engineer on that type.
- Privileges are exercised only within medical validity, recency and the operator's approved procedures.
Worked example
An applicant presents 18 months of line maintenance on a wide-body type and 40 hours in an approved simulator, but no type endorsement. The maintenance time can support the experience requirement, and the simulator time can support training, but neither replaces the type-specific skill test and endorsement. The licence may be issued, but the applicant cannot fly the type as flight engineer until the endorsement is entered.
Traps that cost marks
Treating logged hours as a substitute for the knowledge examination; confusing validation of a foreign licence with conversion; assuming a medical certificate renews automatically; and overlooking that a type rating is a separate entry, not an automatic consequence of licence issue.
Key points
- Licence issue is a sequence: eligibility, medical, knowledge, experience, skill test.
- Type endorsement is mandatory before acting on type.
- Experience credit must be certified and relevant.
- Foreign licences follow validation or conversion rules, not casual acceptance.
- Privileges end when medical or recency validity lapses.