Refuelling with pax on board

[retired guy]

Originally Posted by Skyjob

Taken from "Consoldiated AMC & GM to Annex IV(Part-CAT)CAT.OP.MPA - AMC1 CAT.OP.MPA.195 Refuelling/defuelling with passengers embarking, on board or disembarking":

OPERATIONAL PROCEDURES —GENERAL
(a) When refuelling/defuelling with passengers on board, ground servicing activities and work inside the aircraft, such as catering and cleaning, should be conducted in such a manner that they do not create a hazard and allow emergency evacuation to take place through those aisles and exits intended for emergency evacuation.
(b) The deployment of integral aircraft stairs or the opening of emergency exits as a prerequisite to refuelling is not necessarily required.

OPERATIONAL PROCEDURES —AEROPLANES
(c) Operational procedures should specify that at least the following precautions are taken:

1. one qualified person should remain at a specified location during fuelling operations with passengers on board. This qualified person should be capable of handling emergency procedures concerning fire protection and firefighting, handling communications, and initiating and directing an evacuation;
2. two-way communication should be established and should remain available by the aeroplane's inter-communication system or other suitable means between the ground crew supervising the refuelling and the qualified personnel on board the aeroplane; the involved personnel should remain within easy reach of the system of communication;
3. crew, personnel and passengers should be warned that re/defuelling will take place;
4. ‘Fasten Seat Belts’ signs should be off;
5. ‘NO SMOKING’ signs should be on, together with interior lighting to enable emergency exits to be identified;
6. passengers should be instructed to unfasten their seat belts and refrain from smoking;
7. the minimum required number of cabin crew should be on board and be prepared for an immediate emergency evacuation;
8. if the presence of fuel vapour is detected inside the aeroplane, or any other hazard arises during re/defuelling, fuelling should be stopped immediately;
9. the ground area beneath the exits intended for emergency evacuation and slide deployment areas should be kept clear at doors where stairs are not in position for use in the event of evacuation; and
10. provision is made for a safe and rapid evacuation.

Does not rseem to require cabin crew to be manning doors, and any announcement during this time would be made during boarding PA afaik

Hi Skyjob
At an airline not far from you this requires a pilot to leave the flight deck to become the "qualified supervisor". There being nobody else on the ground except the guys loading baggage and the refueller himself.
That pilot must plug in and communicate with the other pilot on the flight deck by inter phone. Or perhaps agreed visual hand signals.
The word "should" as written in the AMC EASA approved document is regarded as "will" since in an accident nobody is going to buy that the word "should" is a reasonable cause for non compliance. As in "should remain at a specified location during fuelling operations with passengers on board"
Certainly the Court would not do so when awarding 500 million in damages.
So I am asking guys who fly with "other airlines" that seem to not need to comply with the above - how do you do it?
By the way I fully agree that this is utter nonsense - but here we are!

Best wishes
R Guy