Crew, Logs and Records — Page 102, Lesson 164

I want to walk you through the requirements for crew training, logs, and records. Let's start with aeroplane and simulator training. The operator has a clear responsibility: they must ensure that every flight crew member undergoes Aeroplane/STD training at least once every 12 months. STD stands for Synthetic Training Device, so this covers both the real aircraft and a simulator. There's a rule here called the 3-month rule — that means the training must be completed within three months before or after the anniversary date, giving a window rather than a hard deadline. The training programme must be structured so that over a three-year period, all major failures of aeroplane systems and the associated procedures will have been covered. So you're not expected to practice every possible failure every year; the operator cycles through them so that within three years, everything has been addressed. This required training can be combined with the operator proficiency check, meaning you can do both in one session. Now, pilot qualifications to operate in either pilot seat. Before a pilot is allowed to operate from either the left-hand seat or the right-hand seat, they must have completed additional training and undergone the required checking. That training programme must be included in the Operations Manual, or OM, and it must be acceptable to the Authority — that's the national civil aviation authority. There's a specific case for commanders: if a commander's duties require them to operate from the right-hand seat and carry out the duties of co-pilot, or if they need to conduct training or examining from the right-hand seat, they must be suitably qualified. The additional training must include three specific manoeuvres: an engine failure after take-off, a one-engine-inoperative approach and missed approach, and a one-engine-inoperative landing. If these engine-out manoeuvres are carried out in an actual aeroplane, the engine failure must be simulated — you don't actually shut down a live engine unless the procedure specifically calls for it. When operating from the right-hand seat, the pilot must still be fully qualified, valid, and current to operate from the left-hand seat. And a pilot who is relieving the commander must have demonstrated practice of drills and procedures that would not normally be the responsibility of the relieving pilot — so you need to have practiced the tasks you wouldn't usually do. Let's move to recent experience. To operate at the controls of an aeroplane in flight, a pilot must be in current flying practice. That means the pilot must have flown the aeroplane — or in certain circumstances, a flight simulator — and carried out specified manoeuvres on a specified number of occasions. Here are the specific requirements. A pilot is not permitted to act as pilot flying, or PF, or pilot not flying, PNF, unless they have carried out three take-offs and landings in the last 90 days in an aeroplane or in a flight simulator of the same type or class. So that's three take-offs and three landings within 90 days to maintain recency. Additionally, a pilot who does not hold a valid instrument rating is not to be assigned duty as the commander of an aeroplane at night unless they have carried out at least one landing at night in the preceding 90 days as pilot flying in an aeroplane or in a flight simulator of the same type or class. So night currency for a non-instrument-rated commander requires one night landing in the last 90 days. There is some flexibility. The 90-day period may be extended to 120 days under the supervision of a Type Rated Instructor, or TRI, or a Type Rated Examiner, a TRE. For periods beyond 120 days, the recency requirement is satisfied by a training flight or use of a flight simulator of the aeroplane type to be used. So if you're past 120 days, you need a dedicated training session rather than just supervision.