ICAO Doc 9995
ICAO Doc 9995 is the Manual of Evidence-based Training. Volume I (Aeroplane Pilots), Second Edition 2026, is the primary ICAO methodology reference for aeroplane-pilot EBT: how to design, implement, conduct, and oversee competency-based recurrent assessment and training for commercial aeroplane pilots in flight simulation training devices (FSTDs). It expands procedures that Procedures for Air Navigation Services: Training (Procedures for Air Navigation Services: Training (PANS-TRG), Doc 9868) sets out for EBT, and it is written for civil aviation authorities, operators, and training organisations.
What the document is
| Attribute | Value |
|---|---|
| Full title | Manual of Evidence-based Training, Volume I (Aeroplane Pilots) |
| Edition | Second Edition, 2026 |
| Order / ISBN | 9995-1; 978-92-9275-972-8 |
| Status | Guidance manual (not SARPs); used with Doc 9868 procedures and national approval |
| Scope of Vol I | Recurrent FSTD assessment and training for defined jet and turboprop classes under Annex 6 Part I (and guidance for large/turbojet GA under Part II Section 3) |
| Vol II | In development (helicopters) |
First edition grew from the IATA Training and Qualification Initiative after 2007 stakeholder demand for a strategic review of airline pilot training. Second edition aligns the manual with third-edition PANS-TRG competency-based training and assessment (CBTA) procedures and incorporates worldwide implementation experience, including training-system feedback inside an operator safety management system (SMS).
Structure (Vol I)
Part I develops the concept and programme outline:
- Background and the data case for reform
- Applicability, aims, benefits
- Principles: aeroplane generations, adapted competency model, training criticality survey, data collection and analysis, module outline (EVAL / MT / SBT), malfunction and approach equivalency
- Baseline and enhanced implementation
- Pilots and EBT instructors
- Conduct: briefing, phases, competency assessment and grading, debriefing (facilitation), outcome management
Part II is programme construction and approval:
- Process to build a recurrent programme from the assessment and training matrices (Appendices 1–3), including the notional 48-hour / three-year FSTD cycle
- Regulatory approval guidance
- Appendices: design principles; recurrent assessment and training matrices; module design examples; word pictures for competency assessment
Companion industry material (IATA/IFALPA Evidence-based Training Implementation Guide) supports implementation detail outside the ICAO manual itself.
What it does not cover
Doc 9995 Vol I is not a ground-school syllabus, not a complete licence course design manual, and not the place where the generic competency framework is defined (that is Doc 9868). It assumes FSTD delivery for the EBT module and expects an operator to adapt generation matrices to type and operation under authority oversight.
Using Doc 9995 in instructor work
Doc 9995 is not one shelf location. Different parts answer different questions on the shop floor. Reach for the right layer before you brief, grade, or defend a practice.
| Question or task | Doc 9995 layer | What it gives you | Do not use it for |
|---|---|---|---|
| How do I run this session: phases, intervention, debrief? | Part I Ch 7 (conduct) | EVAL observe-then-train discipline; MT active training; SBT real-time LOFT; briefing objectives; grading dimensions; facilitation debrief; outcome management | Building or amending the recurrent programme; inventing topic frequencies |
| Why must this topic appear this often, in this module, for this generation? | Part II (design) | Matrix-driven programme build; EVAL / MT / SBT module outline; generation tables; malfunction and approach equivalency; notional 48-hour / three-year FSTD cycle | Session facilitation technique; local operations-manual wording |
| Do we mean the same grade across instructors? | Word pictures (Appendix 4) | Anchored competency performance levels tied to observable behaviours (OBs); stabilises inter-rater reliability across the roster | Replacing the approved programme's word pictures where they differ |
| What do I brief, facilitate, and write on the grade form today? | Local programme + instructor craft (Operations Manual Part D (OM-D), Train-the-Trainer, lesson plans) | Fleet-specific competency names; approved scenarios and malfunctions; briefing models; examiner report format; quality processes | Overriding matrix frequencies, EVAL non-intervention, or equivalency without formal programme change |
Read downward when designing or approving a programme (Part II → lesson plans). Read upward when a shop-floor practice needs a standards defence (approved local programme → Doc 9995 → Doc 9868). When local wording and Doc 9995 diverge, resolve through the approved adapted competency model and operations manuals; Doc 9995 is the international methodology parent, not the daily phrasebook.
Connections
- Evidence-based training. Methodology Doc 9995 defines.
- ICAO Doc 9868. PANS-TRG parent procedures and pilot competency framework; EBT chapter points here for implementation detail.
- Six generations of aircraft. Table I-3-1 and generation-specific matrices.
- Competency-based training. Parent paradigm Doc 9995 specialises for recurrent pilot training.
- How Train-the-Trainer maps to ICAO evidence-based training. Mapping to the Train-the-Trainer manual.
- What counts as evidence in evidence-based training. Data architecture Chapters 3–4 describe.
- Core competencies. Adapted from the Doc 9868 framework Doc 9995 assumes.
- Word pictures. Appendix 4 and Part I Chapter 7 assessment anchors for competency grades.
- VENN grading. Method related to Doc 9995 assessment dimensions and word pictures.
Sources
- Doc 9995, ICAO Doc 9995 Vol I (2nd Ed 2026). Bibliographic identity, foreword history, edition purpose.
- Doc 9995, Part I Ch 1 (Background). Origin and data motivation.
- Doc 9995, Part I Ch 2 (Applicability, aims and benefits). Scope and aims; relationship to Doc 9868.
- Doc 9995, Part I Ch 3 (Principles and programme philosophy). Core methodology content.
- Doc 9995, Part I Ch 7 (Conduct of evidence-based training). Session conduct and assessment.
- Doc 9995, Part II Ch 1. Programme build process and matrices use.
- A4.1.4 Operators EBT Programs. Doc 9995 as regulatory/method anchor with Doc 9868.