No blanket extension given for Air India Boeing 787 pilot duty time

NEW DELHI: The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has “not given a blanket flight duty time limit (FDTL) extension for two-man flight crew operations from 10 hours (flying time) to 10.5 hours” for Boeing 787 Dreamliners. People in the know say the dispensation is “only for the 8-9 flights AI operates between north India, almost all Delhi and one Amritsar, & the west that are impacted by Pakistan airspace closure and where the flying time may exceed 10 hours by upto 30 minutes due to strong winds in winter.”

The Airlines Pilots’ Association of India had urged the DGCA to rollback the extension given to the “already stretched” FDTL for Boeing 787. Speaking on the issue, sources said: “This relaxation is not for crew planning purpose. Air India has been asked not to plan B787 pilot rostering factoring in this dispensation as it is only for the times when headwinds make the journey longer. AI has been asked to expedite the training of more pilots and the airline has to submit monthly reports on rostering with respect to this with the DGCA.”

Winters see strong west to east jetstreams. ALPA-India has told the regulator this is a “matter of grave operational and safety concern” due to poor quality of control rest for cockpit crew on the B787 as the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has mandated restriction on the pilots’ seat recline function on this aircraft.

The FAA “airworthiness directives (AD)” for the B787s issued late last year says: “…the fight deck door decompression panel can strike the captain’s seat headrest if a fight deck or below the fight deck rapid decompression event occurs when the seat is in a certain position…. (This order is) to address the possibility that the decompression panel could strike the captain's head or face. The unsafe condition, if not addressed, could result in serious or potentially fatal injury to the captain after a fight deck or below the fight deck rapid decompression event.”

In India, Air India operates Boeing 787s using its own planes and crew members. IndiGo also uses this planes but they are wet leased, meaning hired with pilots, from a foreign airline. So the Indian DGCA FDTL rules for Dreamliner pilots affect only Air India as of now.

ALPA urged the regulator to “immediately withdraw the FDTL extension for two-pilot 787 operations. Mandate augmented crew (3-man operations) for all flights exceeding 8 hours or operating through the window of circadian low (2 am to 6 am). Undertake a comprehensive fatigue risk assessment in consultation with flight crew representatives before approving any further deviation from established limits.”

Sources say the DGCA has not given a blanket dispensation for B787 FDTL norms. Air India sought the same to be in compliance when a B787 flight between North India and Europe/UK takes longer due to the combined impact of winter jetstreams (winds) and and the longer route taken due to Pakistan airspace closure. “This is not a dispensation for AI’s B787 flights from other places in India except primarily Delhi,” said sources.

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