DGCA ATPL Air Regulations key terms

Indian statute that gives the central government power to make rules on the manufacture, possession, use, sale, import and export of aircraft, and provides the legal foundation for the Aircraft Rules and for DGCA regulation.

Subordinate legislation framed under the Aircraft Act 1934. It sets out detailed requirements for registration, airworthiness, licensing of personnel, operation of aircraft, aerodromes and enforcement, and is supplemented by DGCA Civil Aviation Requirements.

Directorate General of Civil Aviation, the Indian authority that administers the Aircraft Rules. It licenses personnel, approves organisations and maintenance, issues Air Operator Certificates and conducts oversight of civil aviation in India.

Numbered, section-wise technical directives issued by the DGCA under the Aircraft Rules. They translate ICAO Annex provisions into Indian requirements for licensing, airworthiness, operations, security and dangerous goods.

The 1944 Convention on International Civil Aviation, the treaty that established ICAO and the principles governing international air transport, including state sovereignty over airspace, nationality of aircraft and mutual recognition of certificates.

Specialised agency of the United Nations created by the Chicago Convention. It develops Standards and Recommended Practices in annexes, issues procedures and guidance, and coordinates international civil aviation safety, security and environmental policy.

Standards and Recommended Practices: the provisions contained in the ICAO Annexes. A Standard is a mandatory requirement for member states; a Recommended Practice is desirable, and states must notify ICAO of any differences from them.

The commercial rights that states grant each other in air services agreements, such as overflight, landing for technical reasons, and carrying traffic between or beyond the two states. They are negotiated, not granted automatically by the Chicago Convention.

An agreement between two states that permits designated airlines to operate scheduled international services on specified routes, and sets capacity, tariffs, traffic rights and the regulatory conditions under which those services run.

The highest professional pilot licence, required for pilots in command of scheduled commercial air transport. In India it requires a CPL, a Class 1 medical, an instrument rating and defined flight hours and experience.

A professional licence permitting the holder to act as pilot of an aircraft carrying passengers for remuneration, subject to the ratings held and to the privileges and limitations laid down in the licensing rules.

An authorisation entered on a pilot licence that allows the holder to fly a specific aircraft type. It requires type-specific ground and flight training, and often a skill test or proficiency check in a simulator or aircraft.

A rating that permits a pilot to fly under instrument flight rules in instrument meteorological conditions, relying on instruments for navigation and control. It requires instrument flying training and a passed instrument rating skill test.

The medical certificate required for professional flight crew and some licence holders. It is issued after examination by an approved medical examiner and periodic revalidation, and confirms the holder is medically fit for duty.

An endorsement on a pilot licence recording the holder's ability to speak and understand the language used in radio telephony, commonly assessed against ICAO levels, with Level 4 being the minimum operational standard.

A document issued for an individual aircraft confirming that it conforms to its approved type design and is in a condition for safe operation, subject to continuing airworthiness and maintenance requirements.

All processes ensuring that an aircraft, once certified, remains compliant with its type design and safe throughout its life, through maintenance, inspections, airworthiness directives, modifications and records, managed by approved maintenance and continuing airworthiness organisations.

A mandatory instruction issued by the state of design or registry requiring inspections, modifications or operational limitations on affected aircraft, engines or components to correct an unsafe condition. Compliance is compulsory and typically time-limited.

An approved document tailored to a specific operator and aircraft type that lists equipment which may be inoperative while the aircraft is dispatched under defined conditions, limitations and maintenance procedures.

A certification, made by authorised maintenance personnel after maintenance, that the work has been completed satisfactorily and the aircraft or component is fit for return to service.

The authorisation issued by the DGCA to an operator permitting commercial air transport operations. It specifies the types of aircraft, routes, areas and operations the holder may conduct, subject to continued compliance.

The operator's approved document, in parts A to D, setting out the policies, procedures, limitations and instructions that flight crew, cabin crew and ground staff must follow to conduct flights safely and legally.

Regulatory limits on the maximum flight duty period, flight time and minimum rest for crew, designed to control fatigue. They are applied with rest requirements and, in some cases, an operator's fatigue risk management system.

The exercise of authority over the initiation, conduct, diversion or termination of a flight by the operator, including dispatch, flight planning, fuel and weather decisions, in accordance with the operations manual.

The flight rules under which the pilot maintains separation from other aircraft and avoids obstacles by visual reference, subject to specified visibility, cloud clearance and airspace conditions.

The rule assigning cruising levels by magnetic track: generally odd flight levels for easterly tracks from 000 to 179 degrees and even flight levels for westerly tracks, with 500-foot increments used for VFR levels.

An authorisation from air traffic control for an aircraft to proceed under specified conditions. It does not relieve the pilot in command of responsibility for separation from terrain and other traffic where that responsibility rests with the pilot.

The altitude at or below which a pilot flies with reference to local altimeter settings, typically QNH, and above which the standard pressure setting of 1013.2 hPa is used and levels are expressed as flight levels.

The ICAO system classifying airspace as Classes A to G, each defining whether IFR and VFR flights are permitted, whether they receive an air traffic control service, and what separation is provided between them.

An occurrence associated with the operation of an aircraft in which a person is fatally or seriously injured, the aircraft sustains substantial damage, or the aircraft is missing or completely inaccessible.

An incident involving circumstances indicating that an accident nearly occurred, as listed in ICAO Annex 13, such as a near collision, an engine failure in flight or a serious runway incursion. It is subject to investigation.

The Indian body that investigates accidents and serious incidents involving civil aircraft, independently of the regulator, and publishes reports containing safety recommendations.

A report that operators, crew and maintenance personnel must submit on specified occurrences and hazards so that safety data can be collected and analysed without punitive use of the information.

The ICAO Annex containing Standards and Recommended Practices for aviation security, covering national programmes, airport and aircraft security, screening of passengers and baggage, and protection against acts of unlawful interference.

The Indian authority responsible for aviation security regulation, including setting standards for airport and airline security programmes, passenger and baggage screening, and security oversight at Indian airports.

The ICAO Annex on the safe transport of dangerous goods by air. It requires states to adopt the ICAO Technical Instructions and to establish inspection, training and enforcement arrangements for shippers and operators.

The document completed by the shipper of dangerous goods, identifying the consignment by proper shipping name, UN number, class, packing group and quantity, and certifying that it is correctly classified, packed, marked and labelled.

A document given to the pilot in command listing the dangerous goods loaded on the aircraft, their location, quantity and class, so that crew can respond to an emergency involving them.

The ICAO Annex on environmental protection. Volume I sets aircraft noise certification standards, Volume II regulates engine emissions, and Volume III addresses CO2 certification; it underpins national noise and emissions rules.

Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation: the ICAO global market-based measure requiring operators above defined thresholds to monitor, report and offset emissions above a baseline from international flights.