New Fatigue Regulations

[Freewheel]

35 minutes ago, Cirrus said:

Correct me if I am wrong, but I don't believe there's any allowance for hover exit under 703. Under my current AOC, hover exit is only permitted under 702 so I'd love to see their resolution for that.

You are correct. This actually happens to be something that came up at our company a few years g with TC. Funny thing is there was actually an exemption at the time to allow hover exit on 703 flights. When we brought it up, after findings, no one at TC even knew about it. It was issued in 1997 and remained valid for decades. It was even posted on the HAC website for years.

After several weeks of discussion they deemed that the exemption should have never been issued, and said it was unnecessary. They cancelled it immediately. We were advised by TC that the minute you do a hover exit the flight becomes a 702 flight. The kicker here is that only essential persons should be on board 702 flights. This could be a problem after an incident.

Consider  this, another “type of aerial work” is aerial inspection, which basically means observing something from the air. Air taxi is the transportation of persons or cargo from point A to point B; but there is nothing that says you can’t drop someone at a destination that differs from departure after conducting aerial work. When it comes to aerial inspection, the essential persons don’t require any special qualifications, but they do need a legitimate task assigned during the flight. I don’t know about you, but usually when inspecting, or conducting surveillance from the air, the more sets of eyes looking, the better.

When  it comes to fire fighting the CARS/CASS specifically makes reference to fire fighters. The types of aerial work (that used to be listed on your AOC) included “Fire Fighting” and “Forest Fire Management” (as well as others like aerial inspection). While several of these types are aerial work are not defined in the CARs, they are defined in the Air Operator Certification Manual. Look it up. It seems pretty clear in the definitions, that fire personnel can be transported to and from a fire, as well as other locations. Forest fire management doesn’t just include suppression, but also detection. The Commercial Air Service Standards themselves  allow for the carriage of persons to an aerial work site where they are essential. The fact that Forest Fire Management includes detection tells me that just about any fire hire flight Iis aerial work, whether there is a fire or not. 

[Torque Split]

The following is from CARS definitions 101.01

specialty air services means aerial mapping, aerial surveying, aerial photography, forest fire management, fire fighting, aerial advertising, glider towing, parachute jumping, aerial construction, heli-logging, aerial sightseeing, flight training, aerial inspection and surveillance and aerial spraying services; (services aériens spécialisés)

air transport service means a commercial air service that is operated for the purpose of transporting persons, personal belongings, baggage, goods or cargo in an aircraft between two points; (service de transport aérien)

 

Note; Though you may be moving firefighters between two points, they come under the specialty heading so it it 702. Can't be much clearer by Transports definition.  

 

An example I used during our recurrent training was as follows: 

You are flying a head surveyor out to a location and he has to scout an area where you are going land and then bring more surveyors to that location. He is doing an aerial survey or aerial inspection and as a 702 operation you could do a hover exit with him at the location he picks out.  

You go back to get all the rest of his crew and as they dont have to look at anything while enroute to the dropoff point, they would be classed as 703 and you cant do a hover exit with them.  

You cant bring a friend or ride along on 702 as they are not part of the job and you would be exposing them to a higher risk.

 

Most bush helicopter operation comes under 702 as most things that we do require the customer to look out the window as part of the job they are doing.   

 

In simple, terms if they have to see out the window as part of what they are doing it is 702.

While moving pax under 703 they should not be exposed to any low level flying (unless wx requires) as your job is to get them safely to their location and not expose them to undue risk.

[November]

“You go back to get all the rest of his crew and as they dont have to look at anything while enroute to the dropoff point, they would be classed as 703 and you cant do a hover exit with them.”  
 

For safety and situational awareness all members of the crews must take a look from above before being dropped off…. In your recurrent training you must be instilling that everyone that flys in the aircraft in this particular theatre (fires) become essential crew for the safety of the whole operation? From holding their gear down on the pad/lz to looking over aircraft from where they crouch for oil leaks, smoke, fire, open/broken cowlings closed cargo/tailboom doors etc etc 

Seems to be a no brainer (702) but maybe not nowadays..

 

[Freewheel]

On 12/23/2022 at 3:31 PM, Torque Split said:

The following is from CARS definitions 101.01

specialty air services means aerial mapping, aerial surveying, aerial photography, forest fire management, fire fighting, aerial advertising, glider towing, parachute jumping, aerial construction, heli-logging, aerial sightseeing, flight training, aerial inspection and surveillance and aerial spraying services; (services aériens spécialisés)

air transport service means a commercial air service that is operated for the purpose of transporting persons, personal belongings, baggage, goods or cargo in an aircraft between two points; (service de transport aérien)

 

Note; Though you may be moving firefighters between two points, they come under the specialty heading so it it 702. Can't be much clearer by Transports definition.  

 

An example I used during our recurrent training was as follows: 

You are flying a head surveyor out to a location and he has to scout an area where you are going land and then bring more surveyors to that location. He is doing an aerial survey or aerial inspection and as a 702 operation you could do a hover exit with him at the location he picks out.  

You go back to get all the rest of his crew and as they dont have to look at anything while enroute to the dropoff point, they would be classed as 703 and you cant do a hover exit with them.  

You cant bring a friend or ride along on 702 as they are not part of the job and you would be exposing them to a higher risk.

 

Most bush helicopter operation comes under 702 as most things that we do require the customer to look out the window as part of the job they are doing.   

 

In simple, terms if they have to see out the window as part of what they are doing it is 702.

While moving pax under 703 they should not be exposed to any low level flying (unless wx requires) as your job is to get them safely to their location and not expose them to undue risk.

Thanks for the input. I don’t disagree that you are  in line with the general spirit of the regulations, I don’t think most operators, pilots or clients are flying one guy out to scout a landing spot, then heading back to get the rest of the crew. That would limit the hours that they get on the ground to complete their duties, particularly when days are short during winter months, and could in itself increase risk to the whole operation. It would also inflate the clients cost, as well as your flight time, hours worked etc. and cause the pilot to reach limits sooner.

Generally my clients show up with a coordinate (or several -as they are often dropped and picked up separate locations), and you don’t really know what the landing area is like until you get there.

As far as exposing them to increased risk of low level flight; define low level?

In the fixed wing world this point makes sense as cruising altitude would be thousands of feet higher than inspection/survey height, and low level flight is much more hazardous.Helicopters are designed to be flown low and slow, and many air taxi flights are conducted low level.
Depending on the terrain you are flying over, many air taxi flights can be safely accomplished in a helicopter at below 500 feet AGL. As an example, OMNR moose survey standards are to fly the survey at 500 feet AGL.  That would mean in many cases that I would be require to climb from cruising altitude to conduct the aerial work.

[Torque Split]

Carriage of Persons

702.16 No air operator shall allow a person who is not a flight crew member to be carried on board an aircraft unless

• (a) the person’s presence on board is essential during the flight

As you can see by the above reg that only persons essential to the aerial work job being done may be carried.  So.....if you are doing a pipeline patrol (our limit was 200 ft unless checking an anomaly) you can not carry your buddy along for the ride.   You would be exposing him to unnecessary risk as he is not required to be on board.

Transport Canada's mandate is to protect the general public that were paying you to transport them from point A to B.  Hence the higher standard for 703 regs vs 702

If you are conducting 702 which typically involves low altitude work then all on board must be essential to the work being done otherwise you may be exposing someone not involved to undo risk. The persons onboard essential to the work, would obviously  be accepting the higher level of risk in order to get their job done.

I would think that if you were doing a river run when you were supposed to transport a person from point A to B (703) they you may find yourself in court trying to defend yourself if you got into trouble low level when there was no need for you to be there. 

722.16 Carriage of Persons

The standards for authorization to carry persons other than flight crew members and persons essential during flight are:

1. (a) the person is a flight crew member trainee, is a person undergoing training for essential duties during flight or is an air operator employee aircraft maintenance technician;
2. (b) the person is a fire fighter or fire control officer being carried within a forest fire area;
3. (c) the person is being carried to an aerial work site, performs an essential function in connection with the aerial work operation and is necessary to accomplish the aerial work operation;

If you are flying persons to the cutblock to hook up loads, they are classed as 702 (Aerial work) as they are essential to the aerial work (flying logs off the hill)  being conducted as per Paragraph 3. And as per paragraph 2, firefighters come under 702 (Aerial work)

Dont forget to reference the standards for each regulations of which the second number of the reg is a 2

[Freewheel]

21 hours ago, Torque Split said:

Carriage of Persons

702.16 No air operator shall allow a person who is not a flight crew member to be carried on board an aircraft unless

• (a) the person’s presence on board is essential during the flight

As you can see by the above reg that only persons essential to the aerial work job being done may be carried.  So.....if you are doing a pipeline patrol (our limit was 200 ft unless checking an anomaly) you can not carry your buddy along for the ride.   You would be exposing him to unnecessary risk as he is not required to be on board.

Transport Canada's mandate is to protect the general public that were paying you to transport them from point A to B.  Hence the higher standard for 703 regs vs 702

If you are conducting 702 which typically involves low altitude work then all on board must be essential to the work being done otherwise you may be exposing someone not involved to undo risk. The persons onboard essential to the work, would obviously  be accepting the higher level of risk in order to get their job done.

I would think that if you were doing a river run when you were supposed to transport a person from point A to B (703) they you may find yourself in court trying to defend yourself if you got into trouble low level when there was no need for you to be there. 

722.16 Carriage of Persons

The standards for authorization to carry persons other than flight crew members and persons essential during flight are:

1. (a) the person is a flight crew member trainee, is a person undergoing training for essential duties during flight or is an air operator employee aircraft maintenance technician;
2. (b) the person is a fire fighter or fire control officer being carried within a forest fire area;
3. (c) the person is being carried to an aerial work site, performs an essential function in connection with the aerial work operation and is necessary to accomplish the aerial work operation;

If you are flying persons to the cutblock to hook up loads, they are classed as 702 (Aerial work) as they are essential to the aerial work (flying logs off the hill)  being conducted as per Paragraph 3. And as per paragraph 2, firefighters come under 702 (Aerial work)

Dont forget to reference the standards for each regulations of which the second number of the reg is a 2

I’m familiar with the CARs and standard, as well as their organization, structure and numbering system, but that is for posting, I’m working from a mobile device.

What I’m discussing, is what many would call dual purpose flights. Let’s say you’re tasked by your client with flying 3 people to a location. Your client who you’ve educated on the difference between 702 and 703, as well as the new 703 fatigue rules, wants you to conduct aerial inspection/surveillance on route. All persons on board are assigned the task of looking out the window for something, (maybe it’s caribou, maybe it’s an old drill hole). You depart location A, then you drop them at location B. 702 flight, and 702  rules apply, correct? 

Getting back to the standard you pasted, 722.16 (3) states  “the person is being carried to an aerial work site…”. There is no mention of flying them “from an aerial work site”. Is the flight back to your original departure, after the aerial work is completed a 702 flight? 
This is also something that was brought up with our TC inspector. My response was that if you can fly them out under 702, it’s only reasonable that you can fly them back

[Torque Split]

If they are all surveyors and only one was looking out the window to find a place to land or scoping out access, I would think they would all be be working together and would be classed as aerial work. Going to pick them up at the end of the day could go either way.   If they scout access on the way home then it would be 702 or if they dont look at anything then it may be construed as 703.   That could be a tough one.  For the guys hooking up the sling loads they would still be classed as an essential function, associated with the aerial work and in my opinion would still be classed as 702 Aerial work. 

[simpleton]

Any given leg of a flight can only operate under a single CARs ruleset at a time.

I find it dubious at best the claim that any and all work for forestry can legally be conducted only under 702 rules, and wouldn't want to have to try and defend that position in a courtroom after an accident.

That there are still any well known grey areas left in the regulations like this is an indication of the level of incompetence at Transport Canada. It was somewhat tolerable when the flight duty regs were as they were, but now it is going to cause serious issues.

[Torque Split]

If they are looking out the window relating to their work, in my opinion it would come under aerial inspection or surveillance or aerial mapping or surveying and would be 702.. Then again TC does not give a definition of either term.

specialty air services means aerial mapping, aerial surveying, aerial photography, forest fire management, fire fighting, aerial advertising, glider towing, parachute jumping, aerial construction, heli-logging, aerial sightseeing, flight training, aerial inspection and surveillance and aerial spraying services; (services aériens spécialisés)

[Torque Split]

In an unrelated Advisory Circular AC No 700-034........TC defines the following in their definitions:

2.3 Definitions and abbreviations

• (1) The following definitions are used in this document:
  • (a) Aerial Inspection: means the inspection from an aircraft of crops, forests, livestock or wildlife, the patrolling of pipelines or power lines, a flight inspection or any other operation of a similar nature.