NON-REVENUE FLIGHTS – PROCEDURES AND LIMITATIONS

NON-REVENUE FLIGHTS – PROCEDURES AND LIMITATIONS

All non-revenue flights must normally be performed in accordance with the Company regulations for route flights. On some non-revenue flights, it may be possible that passengers are carried. For exceptions, refer to subchapters Demonstration Flights and Delivery Flights of this chapter.

Training Flights

The provisions of this chapter do not apply to the line training under supervision.

Purpose

Training flights are under the jurisdiction of the Training Manager with the purpose of:

• Commander/First Officer qualification/requalification;
• Training the abilities of pilots under normal and abnormal conditions;
• Inflight Proficiency Check.

Responsibility

The Training Manager is responsible for ascertaining strict adherence to possible restrictions issued by The Company or the Authority.

The final decision to carry out the actual training flight and the responsibility for adherence to general and detailed Company instructions remains with the designated Commander.

He shall ensure that:

• No unauthorised persons are on board;
• All persons and items on board are secured;
• All persons on board are briefed about emergency procedures;
• Weight and balance documentation was properly calculated and the ballast (if necessary) was loaded and secured;
• ATC flight plan (if applicable) is filed;
• ATC is informed of the intended flight programme prior to take-off; and
• The general flight programme is adapted to the actual flight conditions, if this becomes necessary.

Flight Crew Qualification

Requirements
The Commander of a training flight must be qualified and licensed as type rating instructor (TRI) on the aeroplane concerned.

The Commander/TRI shall only perform functions (Pilot-in-Command, First Officer) for which he is qualified and licensed on the aircraft type concerned. The Trainee must be released for flight training by the Training Manager.

Weather Minima

The company weather minima (ceiling and visibility) specified for the respective type of aeroplane, approach and aerodrome remain applicable.

If a simulated engine failure is to be performed on take-off, the lowest required ceiling is 300 ft and lowest required visibility (VIS) is 800m.

Test Flights

Purpose

Test flights form part of the maintenance programme to be completed before the aircraft is declared airworthy and released for line service.

According to the Authority approved requirements, test flights are compulsory after change or major repair of essential parts of the following systems:
• Flight control system, unless it can be assumed from factory instructions or Company experience that normal condition is resumed;
• Landing gear retraction system when it cannot be determined on the ground that the gear can be properly retracted and extended.

In the following cases a test flight is optional:
• After extensive repairs, modifications or changes to aircraft parts or systems when, after all, prescribed tests and adjustments on the ground are performed, further testing under flight conditions is desirable;
• To determine the cause of a complaint, or to demonstrate that a complaint is cured.

When at a station abroad doubt exists about the necessity of a test flight, Flight Operation Manager should be contacted, who will consult the Maintenance Manager on course of further action.

Note: No test flight shall be made when it is, through lack of proper equipment, not possible to check on the ground the correct functioning of a system or part thereof that is essential to the safety of execution of the flight.

Responsibility

When flown by The Company crews, test flights are under the authority of Maintenance Manager or his delegate. Test flights shall be performed according to programmes issued by the responsible technical department in agreement with the Flight Operations Manager.

The responsible engineer shall give the flight crew a briefing on:

• The reason for the test flight;
• The test programme;
• How the preceding work may influence the airworthiness of the aeroplane.

The final decision to carry out the actual flight and the responsibility for adherence to general and detailed Company instructions remains with the designated Commander. He shall ensure that:

• No unauthorised persons are on board;
• All persons and items on board are secured;
• All persons on board are briefed about emergency procedures;
• Weight and balance documentation was properly calculated and the ballast (if necessary) was loaded and secured;
• ATC flight plan (if applicable) is filed;
• ATC is informed of the intended flight programme prior to take-off; and
• The general flight programme is adapted to the actual flight conditions, if this becomes necessary.

Flight Crew Qualification

Requirements
Test flights shall be performed by the minimum flight crew according to OM Part B. If it is required by the kind of test flight there might be, in addition to the minimum crew, engineers, mechanics or inspectors on board who were directly involved in the preceding work/inspection of the aeroplane. They must be recorded in the flight log as additional crew members.

Only experienced pilots should be assigned for test flights. As a company policy the following qualification requirements for conducting test flights has been defined for Commander - he shall be a licensed and qualified TRI for the type concerned and released for this type of operation by Flight Operations Manager. First Officer may not be someone with less than 1500 hours of flight experience on respective type.

Weather Minima

Test flights shall be conducted during the daytime.
In-flight testing procedures shall not start before Visual Meteorological Conditions (VMC) can be maintained.

For the first test flight after a major overhaul, the ceiling/visibility at take-off must be at least 500ft/1500m.

Delivery Flights

Delivery flights are flights where - after a purchasing or lease agreement - an aeroplane is flown from the manufacturer’s, seller’s or lessor’s facility to the airline or vice versa.

Provided all normal requirements – such as crew complement, equipment requirements are met, non-revenue passengers may be carried if this is not excluded on the certificate of airworthiness and certificate of registration. Full insurance coverage must be assured.

For some delivery flights, the Authority might only issue a "ferry permit" in lieu of the certificate of airworthiness and the certificate of registration. This ferry permit may exclude the carriage of persons other than flight crew and engineers.

Ferry Flights

Ferry flights are flights to position aircraft for maintenance. They may be conducted with minimum flight crew and reduced airworthiness as permitted by Operations Manual or the Authority.

Demonstration and Sightseeing Flights

A demonstration flight may be for a sales/advertising purpose or to demonstrate flight characteristics to a potential buyer, or flights with journalists and customers to introduce a new type of aeroplane.

In any case, all flights with passengers aboard require full and normal cockpit and cabin crew complement. All flights shall follow the standard procedures described in the Operations Manual.

Positioning Flights

A positioning flight is a flight to position an aeroplane to an aerodrome for commercial operation.

Positioning flights may be performed with the minimum flight crew. In this case, the Commander will nominate one flight crew member to be responsible for cabin safety checks.

Crew members of the Company may be transported on the way to or from flight duty (Deadheading Crews). The Commander may exercise discretion regarding the need for the demonstration of safety belts, oxygen masks, life vests and emergency evacuation procedures, if all personnel on board are familiar with their use.

Positioning flights must follow the standard operating procedures described in the Operations Manual.

Other passengers on positioning flights are subject to Flight Operations Manager approval. In that case, depending on the number of passengers, at least one qualified cabin crew member must be carried on board.