Hello everyone.
Regarding the new Airbus SOPs and the new "Departure Change" checklist, consider the following scenario:
Weather is favorable for takeoff on both RWY 01 and 19, ATC may clear the flight for departure on either runway. So, primary FPLN is programmed with departure from RWY01 and SEC FPLN is programmed with a RWY19 departure. Before pushing back, a full briefing, including crosscheck of PERF TO FMS page information for both runways, is performed. After pushing back, ATC clears the flight for the RWY19 departure, so SEC FPLN is activated and performance information is still valid, so there are no changes from what was briefed; there is no configuration change as both FPLNs were planned and computed with a Conf 1+F takeoff.
Do we run the departure change checklist?
FCOM/Procedures/Normal Procedures/SOP/Departure Change seems to point to a re-briefing, after recomputing and crosschecking of PERF and FPLN data and then run the checklist. But there's no re-briefing, as there were no changes from the briefing performed at the gate. There's no change of data either.
FCTM/Normal Procedures/Normal Checklists says the checklist trigger is "revised departure briefing completed". But once more, there are no revisions since there are no changes from the original briefing
A document posted here a while back, when the new procedures were introduced (I forgot the source) states the following, regarding the reason for the new checklist:
Ensure that new takeoff data are taken into account.
The DEPARTURE CHANGE checklist is designed to protect the flight crew against erroneous setting (RWY, SID,
CONF, Takeoff speeds and thrust, FCU altitude…) after a change in the departure clearance.
As previously mentioned, the SEC PERF TO page was already crosschecked by both crewmembers. So any errors would/should have been catch at that moment. The only condition which would seem to match is a change in departure clearance, assuming the flight was initially cleared for the RWY01 departure and then re-cleared for the RWY19 dep.
Do any of you guys have any input on this?
Thanks in advance!