gravy,
A very entertaining post! You sound very worldly.
Please don't misunderstand me, I am not saying that I
enjoy doing pre-departure inspections - for all the reasons you mention. Of course I would rather sit inside in air-conditioned comfort and let others do the dirty work.
Particularly if they are so keen to do it.
But I see nothing wrong with the idea of a properly trained and appropriately authorised pilot performing and certifying pre-departure inspections - irrespective of whether the subsequent flight is domestic or international.
To be clear, I am not talking about the long-range, low-cycle aircraft like B747s and B777s. For those aircraft the sectors are so long, the cycles are so low, and their destination ports are so well served by third-party maintenance organisations that there is no logical reason why you would want to use up a long-haul pilot's valuable duty time performing a pre-departure inspection. Rather, I am speaking about F100s, B737s, BAe 146s and similar.
Bus Tie Breaker,
Conversly why have highly qualified pilots sitting on flight decks all day long watching A/Ps fly the aircraft.
I agree with you – I don’t know why. I am sure we could reduce the number of pilots in most aircraft by at least one – maybe more.
…why let CASA reduce the level of safety…
I don’t understand why allowing a properly trained and authorised pilot to conduct and certify a pre-departure inspection would be a reduction in safety. Pilots are usually trained to do pre-departure inspections by an engineer. Are you suggesting that the training provided by the engineer is sub-standard? As Aunty Pauline once said, “Please explain?”
AN LAME,
That is illegal by any stretch of the imagination. Could you kindly put a CAIR report in on yourself.
I am genuinely intrigued.
So that I can fill in the CAIR report correctly, perhaps you might be able to advise precisely which rule has been broken, and provide a quotation? I guess you would have to quote the INTERNATIONAL rule, since you say this is an INTERNATIONAL requirement?
I was of the understanding that I had been properly trained and authorised to conduct pre-departure inspections - irrespective of the aircraft’s destination. The approved operations manual and approved maintenance manual does not mention any difference in the pre-departure inspection requirements for an international flight compared with a domestic flight. I could name ten pilots who conducted their own pre-departure inspections today prior to making an international flight. Are you saying that all of them are breaking an international rule?
About that ICAO Annex 6 stuff - which VOLUME and EDITION are you looking at?
He can. He is suitably trained and authorised if he is qualified to the same level as an ICAO Annex 1 person, i.e. he is an appropriately qualified LAME under the Australian CARs.
Are you suggesting that it is an ICAO requirement that the person who conducts the pre-departure inspection must be a licensed aircraft maintenance engineer, or are you suggesting that there is a requirement in the Australian CARs? Precisely which rule are you referring to?
The aircraft must be inspected – no problem. The person inspecting the aircraft must have been trained to inspect the aircraft – no problem. So where’s the hard bit?