NCC Liability for lead pilots
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NCC Liability for lead pilots
At my favorite bar on Saturday an old friend operating private on VP was pleased to say that they were ready to send their letter of declaration to the beehive as soon as they are ready in April. As lead captain he will be the designated third party for the owner that will he be the operator on the declaration.... 
I told him to go and see a lawyer as the impact on him might be huge if he does this. In the current set up the owner is operator and hence the owner is liable. In the new situation he is!
So if the owner of your aircraft wants you to be the NCC operator make sure:
I told him to go and see a lawyer as the impact on him might be huge if he does this. In the current set up the owner is operator and hence the owner is liable. In the new situation he is!
So if the owner of your aircraft wants you to be the NCC operator make sure: - you get a pay rise
- you see a lawyer
- you get proper personal liability insurance
Join Date: Feb 2004
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NCC Liability for lead pilots
You are right, but in fairness, it shouldn't take a lawyer to point the key responsibilities of an Accountable Manager under NCC.
ORO.GEN.210: The accountable manager must have the authority for ensuring that all activities can be financed and carried out in accordance with the applicable requirements. The accountable manager shall be responsible for establishing and maintaining an effective
management system.
AMC1 ORO.GEN.200(a)(2): The accountable manager endorses the Safety Policy.
AMC1 ORO.GEN.200(a)(5): The management system documentation should at least include a statement signed by the accountable manager to confirm that the operator will continuously work in accordance with the applicable requirements and the operator’s documentation, as required by this Annex;
The NCC Declaration, which the AM must sign states …”All flights will be carried out in accordance with the procedures and instructions specified in the operations manual. … All flight crew members and cabin crew members, as applicable, are trained in accordance with the applicable requirements.”
As a Captain, by signing as the AM, you are effectively stating you not just responsible for your own flying actions, but in the line of fire for the actions of others too, in the event of any issue! And the potential legal recourse against a false declaration is severe (I believe it is a Level 1 finding: up to 2 years/unlimited fines!) Food for thought for some maybe.
So, if you are considering signing the NCC Declaration, then firstly be sure you have the sufficient authority/autonomy to make the right calls. It might be the case that some private operators would actually be better suited to having the owner sign the declaration, IF they have sufficient knowledge etc, but in many cases they are not themselves ideally qualified to do so. NCC isn’t going to be a straight forward fit for all private operators, but if you need any help with this please PM me, I have some NCC tools available!
ORO.GEN.210: The accountable manager must have the authority for ensuring that all activities can be financed and carried out in accordance with the applicable requirements. The accountable manager shall be responsible for establishing and maintaining an effective
management system.
AMC1 ORO.GEN.200(a)(2): The accountable manager endorses the Safety Policy.
AMC1 ORO.GEN.200(a)(5): The management system documentation should at least include a statement signed by the accountable manager to confirm that the operator will continuously work in accordance with the applicable requirements and the operator’s documentation, as required by this Annex;
The NCC Declaration, which the AM must sign states …”All flights will be carried out in accordance with the procedures and instructions specified in the operations manual. … All flight crew members and cabin crew members, as applicable, are trained in accordance with the applicable requirements.”
As a Captain, by signing as the AM, you are effectively stating you not just responsible for your own flying actions, but in the line of fire for the actions of others too, in the event of any issue! And the potential legal recourse against a false declaration is severe (I believe it is a Level 1 finding: up to 2 years/unlimited fines!) Food for thought for some maybe.
So, if you are considering signing the NCC Declaration, then firstly be sure you have the sufficient authority/autonomy to make the right calls. It might be the case that some private operators would actually be better suited to having the owner sign the declaration, IF they have sufficient knowledge etc, but in many cases they are not themselves ideally qualified to do so. NCC isn’t going to be a straight forward fit for all private operators, but if you need any help with this please PM me, I have some NCC tools available!
