ICAO Doc 9868
ICAO Doc 9868 is Procedures for Air Navigation Services: Training (PANS-TRG). The edition captured here is the Third Edition, 2020 (Amendments 1–7). It is the ICAO procedures document for competency-based training and assessment (CBTA) across aviation personnel categories, and it is the procedural home of EBT for recurrent aeroplane pilot programmes. Where Annex Standards state that training and licensing requirements exist, PANS-TRG specifies how States and training organisations may implement CBTA programmes in enough detail for worldwide use, without the full status of Standards and Recommended Practices (SARPs).
Status and role
PANS are approved by the ICAO Council and recommended to States; they are not Annex Standards and do not trigger Article 38 difference filing in the same way. States enforce them as they choose; significant differences should appear in AIPs per Annex 15 practice. PANS-TRG is complementary to the Annexes: more detailed procedures for approved training organisations (ATOs), operators, and authorities building competency-based programmes.
EBT entered PANS-TRG in Amendment 2 (2013) via the IATA Training and Qualifications Initiative. Amendment 5 reworked competency definitions and the generic CBTA design method. The third edition consolidates frameworks for pilots (including multi-crew pilot licence), remote pilots, instructors/examiners, maintenance, cabin crew, flight operations officers, and air traffic management personnel.
Structure (3rd Ed 2020)
| Part | Content |
|---|---|
| Part I | General CBTA procedures: definitions; principles; adapted competency models; programme components; instructor/course developer qualifications; ISD/ADDIE design guidance |
| Part II | Aircraft operational personnel: flight crew (competency framework, multi-crew pilot licence (MPL), EBT, UPRT, type rating, instructors/examiners), cabin crew, flight operations officers/dispatchers |
| Part III | Aircraft maintenance personnel CBTA |
| Part IV | ATM personnel (ATCOs, OJTIs, ATSEP) |
For recurrent aeroplane-pilot EBT work, the load-bearing material is Part I Chapter 2 (general CBTA) and Part II Section 1 (aeroplane pilot framework; Chapter 3 EBT). EBT in Doc 9868 is optional: an alternative means of assessing and training key areas of flight crew performance in a recurrent system under Annex 6 Part I 9.3 and 9.4.4. When a State adopts EBT, operators and training organisations shall apply the principles of Doc 9995 when developing programmes. EBT rests on an approved adapted competency model derived from the ICAO aeroplane-pilot framework using Part I Chapter 2 methodology.
Pilot competency framework (high level)
Part II Section 1 Appendix 1 lists the ICAO aeroplane-pilot competencies with observable behaviours (OBs), including application of procedures and regulations, communication, flight path management (automation and manual), leadership and teamwork, problem-solving and decision-making, situational awareness and management of information, and workload management. Operators adapt this framework (and may add competencies such as knowledge) for their approved model. Tasks by phase of flight appear as curriculum inventory; the training objective remains competency to proficiency, not task enumeration for its own sake.
Using Doc 9868 in instructor work
Doc 9868 is procedural authority for building and governing competency-based training and assessment (CBTA) programmes, not the day-by-day EBT module recipe. Reach for it when the question is whether a programme element is structurally sound (competency model, assessment design, instructor qualification), not when you need scenario frequency or debrief phrasing.
| If you need to… | Cite first | Because |
|---|---|---|
| Defend the adapted competency model or observable behaviour set | Doc 9868 (Part I Ch 2; Part II §1) | Defines CBTA design method and the ICAO aeroplane-pilot framework operators adapt |
| Show EBT is an approved alternative means under Annex 6 | Doc 9868 (Part II §1 Ch 3) | Procedural home of the EBT option; links to State and operator approval |
| Argue instructor or examiner qualification, or programme quality expectations | Doc 9868 (Part I; Part II instructor/examiner material) | PANS expectations for CBTA programme components and personnel |
| Design or explain EVAL / MT / SBT purpose, generation matrices, or module outline | Doc 9995 | Expands the EBT procedures Doc 9868 points to |
| Run briefing, conduct, grading, or facilitation debrief on the FSTD floor | Doc 9995 (Part I Ch 7), then instructor craft material (e.g. Train-the-Trainer) | Conduct methodology; craft material operationalises technique |
| Fill fleet-specific Word pictures, grade forms, Operations Manual Part D (OM-D) duties, or local briefing scripts | Approved local programme (OM-D, lesson plans) | Binding layer on the shop floor for a given operator |
| Answer "show me the requirement" in a line check or audit | Operator approval and OM-D → Doc 9868 (framework) → Doc 9995 (methodology) | Authority runs upward from approved operator programme to ICAO interpretation |
- Map grade language to the approved adapted model that descends from Part II §1; do not invent competencies or observable behaviours outside the approved CBTA design process.
- When a pilot asks where a competency comes from, trace upward: local word picture → ICAO framework (9868) → adaptation record.
- Instructor and examiner development (qualification, standardisation, programme quality) starts in Doc 9868; recurrent EBT conduct detail starts in Doc 9995.
Connections
- Competency-based training. General methodology Part I codifies.
- Evidence-based training. Recurrent specialisation (Part II Section 1 Chapter 3) supported by Doc 9995.
- ICAO Doc 9995. Manual that expands EBT design and conduct; second edition aligned to this PANS-TRG edition.
- Core competencies. Adapted ICAO pilot framework (including KNO).
- Behavioural indicators. OBs from the framework and adapted model.
- Word pictures. Grade anchors filled locally; Doc 9995 carries the international scales.
- Instructor competencies. Instructor/examiner competency expectations in the flight-crew section.
- How Train-the-Trainer maps to ICAO evidence-based training. Craft layer over both ICAO documents.
Sources
- Doc 9868, ICAO Doc 9868 (3rd Ed 2020). Foreword history, PANS status, amendment table, bibliographic identity.
- Doc 9868, Part I Ch 2. CBTA principles, frameworks, adapted models, programme components, KSA, design workflows.
- Doc 9868, Part II §1. Pilot competency framework; EBT chapter procedures; related flight-crew CBTA.
- Doc 9995, Part I Ch 2 (Applicability, aims and benefits). States that Part II Section 1 Chapter 3 of Doc 9868 holds EBT procedures Doc 9995 expands.
- A4.1.4 Operators EBT Programs. Pairing of Doc 9995 (methodology) with Doc 9868 (PANS procedures).