CAT 3A minima in Melbourne

[Meikleour]

9.G: Can you direct me to the relevant EU-OPS and ICAO references which detail the minimum RVR requirements for the fire services to operate. This area is "glossed over" in my company manuals.

Many thanks.

[9.G]

Cat 3A with fail passive and still only need 75m midpoint (EU-OPS)

Absolutely NOT, you need 125 for the MID. It's not a matter of control loss but a system redundancy. CAT III Single on FMA (airbus) automatically means you're fail passive hence 125 M RVR requirement, mind you the autopilot is still ON. you can check the tables for RVR requirements for auto rollout.

So I return once again to the question of why no Cat 3A DH ?

The answer is lightning system installed for CAT III A and B. Obviously CAT III A doesn't require such a extensive lightning network as CAT III B, main difference is taxi routings and apron along with SMGCS whereas the RWY's lightning is almost the same. Operational benefit is obvious then ,isn't it? CAT III A can be flown with AH logically being fail operational and autoland being compulsory. Conclusion one can land without visual reference on CAT III A airport. The restriction of being fail operational, of course, alienate the possibility of manual rollout yet a min RVR must be in place. It's not directly related to rollout redundancy in this case but rather a matter of emergency services reach-out in time. Mixture between CAT III A airdrome and fail operational capabilities of aircraft created new set of rules.

P.S. AC 120-28D, is an extensive reference. FAA includes the option of fail operational for landing and fail passive for rollout which isn't available on airbus at least.

[9.G]

Meikleour, try CAP 168 airdrome licensing. This is an excerpt.
Rescue and Fire Fighting Service (RFFS) vehicles are essential to airfield operations at all times and response and deployment times are of vital concern to aerodrome licence holders. Although it is unlikely that RFFS response time will be significantly affected in visibilities down to 200 m, temporary relocation of vehicles to strategic points may be necessary for a very large or complicated aerodrome. In visibilities below 200 m there is greater probability that response times will be affected. Operational Instructions and training should be developed in accordance with the guidance at Chapter 8, paragraph 25.5.

[Meikleour]

9.G: Thanks. But does this mean that there are in fact NO hard RVR values required by the fire services in order to perform?

[9.G]

Meikleour, sorry mate I haven't dealt with it extensively but I can imagine there's a more detailed set of rules for certification where application of RFFS are included during LVO. I'm aware it affects it on CAT III ops but no hard flore figure as such. Canadian for instance connect directly RVR 600 with RFFS availability. See ATC Canada in Jepp.