ICAO Annex 6 — Page 8, Lesson 11

I want to walk you through the opening of ICAO Annex 6, which is a foundational document for how we operate aircraft internationally. Let's start with what ICAO itself is — the International Civil Aviation Organization. It's a specialized agency of the United Nations, and its publication Annex 6 is titled Operation of Aircraft. This annex contains what are called the international Standards and Recommended Practices — you'll hear the acronym SARPs for that. These SARPs are the rules and guidelines that apply when a country issues an air operator's certificate, or AOC, to a company that wants to conduct international commercial air transport. Now, Annex 6 has a European counterpart called EU-OPS, which is based directly on Annex 6. So if you understand Annex 6, you understand the foundation that EU-OPS is built on. The ICAO document itself is published in three parts. Part 1 covers aeroplanes used in international commercial air transport. Part 2 covers aeroplanes used in general aviation — that's non-commercial flying. Part 3 covers helicopters used in international commercial air transport. For this course, the syllabus references concern only Annex 6 Part 1. The SARPs in Part 1 relate to three main areas of responsibility. First, the responsibilities of the Operator — that's the airline or company holding the AOC. Second, the responsibilities of the Commander — and ICAO still uses the older definition here, which is Pilot in Command, or PIC. Third, the responsibilities of the Operations staff within a certified operation. Since the main syllabus reference for this course is EU-OPS, the learning objectives for Annex 6 are limited to specific definitions and internationally agreed laws, regulations, and procedures upon which the legal and regulatory framework of EU-OPS is based. Annex 6 is also covered to a limited extent in the subject 010 Air Law. Let's move to the section on Compliance with the Law. Because Annex 6 contains international standards that must be embodied in national law — and you'll find the definition of national law in your Air Law notes — operators of aeroplanes engaged in international operations will be subject to the laws of foreign states as well as the laws of the State of the Operator. There's also the State of Registration of the aeroplane, which may be different from the State of the Operator. So it's incumbent upon the Operator — meaning it's the Operator's duty — to ensure that all employees, wherever they are around the world, comply with the laws of the state in which they are operating. So to summarize what we've covered: ICAO Annex 6 Part 1 gives us the international SARPs for commercial air transport by aeroplanes. It defines responsibilities for the Operator, the Commander/PIC, and Operations staff. And it establishes that operators must ensure their people follow the laws of every state they operate in, not just their home country's laws.