Helicopter ops into congested areas by AOC holders (Revised rules)

[Flying Lawyer]

The procedures whereby the (UK) CAA permits AOC holders operating twins to self-authorise landings and take-offs within congested areas have been revised.

Details here: FODCOM 26/05 (http://www.caa.co.uk/docs/33/fod200526.pdf)



FL

[headsethair]

Strange. The reason quoted for this FODCOM is:

"Following recent events in London, the introduction of Rules of the Air Regulations 2005 Rule 5 and the more widespread use of JAR-OPS 3 as an acceptable operational code, it is considered timely to revisit these guidelines."

I would love to know what the "recent events in London" refers to. Initially I thought it might be security/terrorism. But I can't see a connection to landing sites.....

Anyone know what the CAA means ?

[northpoint]

What we are seeing here may be another shot in the tri-partite turf war between CAA/JAA/EASA.
If/when EASA gets up & running then the role of our CAA will be reduced to that of a local administrative centre and some departments, particularly the GA Dept, will probably disappear.
We can expect to see many more safety driven initiatives from the GA Dept as they demonstrate their indispensability.
And who amongst us is wise enough or brave enough to argue against safety?

[SASless]

Safety at what cost? If you kill the Goose what lays the eggs....what have you accomplished? Total safety because there are no aircraft operating?

This keeps on...and the kettle will be outlawed....who knows if a scalding could happen if an untrained and unsupervised operator hits the switch thinking a cuppa would be in order.:E

[Spunk]

... and I just finished Revision # 121 of our flight ops manual...:{

[headsethair]

Bump. Interested if anyone understands the CAA's "recent events" comment ? Did a terrorist try to land a twin in London ? :hmm:

[nigelh]

What is the relevance of " AOC " holders ? Is it different if you lease the heli for the trip and make it private? ie you can lease a single without floats and go into B,sea but you cannot do same as a charter.

[Flying Lawyer]

headsethair
No idea. That puzzled me too. :confused:

nigelh
Yes, it's different for Private flights.
AOC holders can apply to the CAA for a 'long-term' permission to self-authorise landing and take-off at sites in a congested area. If granted, they are then permitted to assess a site themselves in acordance with the specified procedure and, if satisfied it complies with the conditions, can authorise themselves to land/take-off there.
Private operators aren't permitted to self-authorise. They have to apply to the CAA for authorisation.

If a helicopter is leased, the lessee is the operator of any flights he operates. If he's not an AOC holder, he can't self-authorise.

Battersea -
The rules are different for Private and Public Transport ops.


Tudor Owen

[old heliman]

The reasons for updating the requirements for ops into congested sites had nothing to do with either JAR OPS or EASA. It was the need to remind operators of requirements that were only previously issued by means of letters some considerable time ago. Since that time a number of operators and postholders have changed and adherence to the requirements was becoming variable.

The reference to 'recent events' was the use of self-authorising Permissions at a recent event that attracted a number of different AOC holders to it. One operator in particular showed how it could and should be done to ensure performance operating standards were acheived, whilst some others were less succesful in their performance planning.

By including the FODCOM as the basis for their Ops manual instructions, AOC holders can be issues with long term Permissions (against The Rules of the Air) to operate into congested area sites, provided they do so in accordance with their OM

The material allows AOC holders to authorise themselves to fly into and out off congested area sites without having to apply to the CAA each time, as used to be the case about 10 years ago. This also has the benefit of letting an AOC holder respond to a charter request over the weekend or outside normal office hours.

[Thomas coupling]

Straight from the glass house's mouth!