Night Charter with an Expired Class 1 and Two Night Landings
Capt. R holds a CPL(A) with ME/IR and a Cessna 525 type rating: 780 hours total, 40 on type. Tonight he is rostered as sole pilot of a Citation CJ1 carrying six passengers on a night IFR charter from Pune to a hill airport. His Class 1 medical expired 12 days ago; his Class 2 medical was renewed last month and the Class 1 renewal appointment is next week. In the last 90 days he has logged six day take-offs and landings and two at night. His colleague F/O S holds a current CPL/IR but the licence carries the endorsement 'valid only when accompanied by a pilot holding a current IR'; the chief pilot proposes putting S in the right seat so that 'recency is covered'. The DGCA-approved operations manual requires two pilots for all passenger charters. The destination forecast goes below company minima after 2300, and passengers are already boarding.
1. Can Capt. R act as pilot-in-command tonight? Analyse each qualification element separately.
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No. Each element has to be satisfied independently, and two fail outright.
- Medical. A CPL may exercise its privileges only while a valid Class 1 medical is held. It expired 12 days ago, so the privileges are suspended. A Class 2 renewal is irrelevant: Class 2 does not support commercial passenger operations. Neither the operator nor the captain has discretion to 'carry on until the appointment'.
- Recency. Carrying passengers requires three take-offs and landings in the preceding 90 days, and for a night flight the three must be at night. He has two night landings and is therefore not night-current.
- Licence and rating. A CPL with ME/IR and a valid type rating is, in principle, capable of commanding a single-pilot-certificated aeroplane in commercial operations - but only within the operator's approved scope. Here the approved manual requires two pilots for passenger charters, so the planned flight is outside the approved operating procedure regardless of his licence.
- Weather. A forecast below company minima is an absolute bar. Minima can be changed only by an approved manual revision, never waived for one flight.
Any one of the medical, recency or weather points is sufficient to stop the flight; together they make it indefensible.
2. Does F/O S solve the recency or crew-composition problem?
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No. The endorsement on S's licence restricts his own privileges: he may exercise them only when accompanied by a pilot holding a current instrument rating. It is a limitation on him, not a resource for the captain.
Three separate points follow:
- Two restricted pilots do not make one compliant crew. S's presence does not restore R's Class 1 validity, and a second pilot cannot 'cover' a captain's lapsed medical in any circumstances.
- It does not fix recency. The three night take-offs and landings must be flown and logged by the pilot exercising the privilege; R still has only two.
- It does not satisfy the manual. The two-pilot requirement in an approved operations manual is a requirement on each pilot's qualification, not merely a headcount. The chief pilot's phrase 'recency is covered' describes a paperwork trick, not compliance.
If the intent were genuinely to operate with S as a required crew member, the company would have to show S is fully qualified for that role under the manual, and R would still need a valid Class 1. Neither is available tonight.
3. What should the captain and the operator do now, and what follows if the flight is operated as planned?
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Captain. Refuse the flight before the passengers are boarded further, notify the OCC in writing with the specific disqualifying item, and ask for a lawful crew or a delay. He should not sign the flight documents or allow the aircraft to be dispatched on the strength of his signature. If pressure continues, he should record it and file a safety report.
Operator. The operator must not dispatch. Roster control should have caught the medical expiry automatically - the failure indicates a defect in crew records and in the AOC holder's supervision, which is itself a finding. The commercial problem must be solved with another crew, a wet-lease or a delay, not by the captain.
If it flies anyway: operating without a valid medical and without recency is flying outside the licence. Consequences include suspension or withdrawal action against the pilot, enforcement action against the operator, possible variation or suspension of the AOC, invalidation of the flight's insurance, and personal liability for the captain. In an occurrence, the first fact to emerge would be the roster sheet.