Any European NCC operator out there? Fuel question
Hello,
how do you calculate the Final Reserve fuel for your NCC operation? The EASA 965/2012 clearly states how to calculate the FRF for AOC operation, but leaves some grey area for the NCC.
For the NCC the 965/2012 say the following:
NCC.OP.130 Fuel and oil supply – aeroplanes
The pilot-in-command shall only commence a flight if the aeroplane carries sufficient fuel and oil for the following:
for IFR flights:
(i) when no destination alternate is required, to fly to the aerodrome of intended landing, and thereafter to fly for at least 45 minutes at normal cruising altitude; or
(ii) when a destination alternate is required, to fly to the aerodrome of intended landing, to an alternate aerodrome and thereafter to fly for at least 45 minutes at normal cruising altitude.
The question is what is “normal cruising altitude”. We use PPS for flight planning and if we flight plan at FL260 for example, the FRF is about 1500 lbs, if at FL450 the FRF is about 850 lbs. (850 lbs is also about 30 minutes at holding speed at 1 500 ft above aerodrome elevation). Most likely this is the correct way to calculate the FRF, but would still like to verify this with another NCC operator.
Thanks
Cheers
OM inbound