article_snippet.sent: Once accepted into the flight program, a rigorous training period began.
article_snippet.sent: The training is geared toward a multi-crew pilot license, or MPL, recognized by the International Civil Aviation Organization.
article_snippet.sent: The purpose of an MPL is to funnel airline pilot candidates having little or no flight time into the right seat as first officers.
article_snippet.sent: Countries that don't have the luxury of selecting from a large pool of experienced pilots use this license.
article_snippet.sent: Airline pilots in the United States are not licensed in this manner, requiring as much as 1,500 hours to qualify as a co-pilot.
article_snippet.sent: This is a fairly recent change in the International Civil Aviation Organization regulations, initiated as a result of the 2009 Colgan Airlines crash in Buffalo, New York.
article_snippet.sent: As a 21-year-old flight instructor, I had that much flight time; it hardly qualified as a lot of experience.
article_snippet.sent: As with all of the MPL programs, the training involves an intense period of airline-specific instruction.
article_snippet.sent: Using both actual flight experience in a single-engine airplane and simulator time, the student receives about 250 hours of training.