Crew, Logs and Records — Page 95, Lesson 153

I want to walk you through the start of the chapter on Crew, Logs and Records. This is the beginning of a new topic, so let's build it from the ground up. First, we have Crew Composition. The minimum flight crew for any operation is specified in the Airplane Flight Manual, or AFM. The operational flight crew — the actual crew you put on the flight — must be no less than that AFM minimum. The Operations Manual, or OM, may require additional crew members beyond that minimum. Every single member of the flight crew must hold the appropriate licence that is acceptable to the Authority — that's your national aviation authority, like the DGCA in India or EASA in Europe. They must also be suitably qualified to carry out the assigned duty. The operator has a specific responsibility: they must ensure that inexperienced flight crew members are not crewed together. You don't put two rookies in the same cockpit. Now, the Commander. One of the pilots must be appointed as the Commander. This pilot must be qualified as Pilot in Command, or PIC, as defined in the requirements for flight crew licences. That's the formal definition — the Commander is the PIC. Let's look at the Qualifications Required for Command. If you hold an Airline Transport Pilot Licence, or ATPL(A), and you are suitably qualified as defined below, you may be appointed Commander of a multi-pilot crew on aeroplanes that require a multi-pilot crew. That's your typical airline operation. If you hold a Commercial Pilot Licence, or CPL(A), you may be appointed Commander of a single-pilot operation aeroplane, but there are specific conditions. For a CPL holder to command a single-pilot aeroplane conducting passenger flights under VFR — Visual Flight Rules — more than 50 nautical miles radius from the aerodrome of departure, the pilot must have a minimum of 500 hours total flight time on aeroplanes, or hold a valid instrument rating. So it's either the hours or the rating. For a CPL holder to operate multi-engine aeroplanes under IFR — Instrument Flight Rules — the pilot must have a minimum of 700 hours total flight time on aeroplanes. That 700 hours must include 400 hours as PIC, and within those 400 PIC hours, 100 hours must be under IFR, and within those 100 IFR hours, 40 hours must be in multi-engine operation. There's a substitution rule here: the 400 hours as PIC may be substituted by hours operating as co-pilot within a multi-pilot crew system, as defined in the Operations Manual, on the basis of 2 hours as co-pilot equals 1 hour as PIC. So if you have 800 hours as co-pilot, that counts as 400 hours PIC for this requirement. Finally, Nomination as Commander. To upgrade from co-pilot to Commander, or for pilots joining an operation directly as a Commander, the pilot must have a minimum level of experience acceptable to the Authority, as specified in the Operations Manual. For multi-pilot operations specifically, the pilot must complete an appropriate command course as defined in the OM. That command course must include several elements. First, training in an STD — that's a Synthetic Training Device, including line oriented flying training — and/or flying training in an actual aircraft. Second, an Operator Proficiency Check as Commander. Third, training on Commander's responsibilities. Fourth, line training in command under supervision. For pilots already qualified on the aeroplane type, a minimum of 10 sectors is required. Fifth, completion of a Commander's line check and route and aerodrome competence qualification. And sixth, elements of Crew Resource Management, or CRM. So to summarise: we have the minimum crew from the AFM, the operator's responsibility to avoid pairing inexperienced crew, the Commander as the appointed PIC, the specific hour and rating requirements for CPL holders to command single-pilot operations, and the structured command course required for multi-pilot command upgrades. That's the foundation of crew composition and command qualification.