The Expiry Stack
A cabin crew member employed by a Kenyan AOC holds a KCAA Cabin Crew Member Certificate (CMC) valid until 30 June. Her aviation medical certificate expires on 12 June and carries the limitation 'valid only with corrective lenses.' She completed recurrent training on 5 May. Her last operating flight was 14 months ago because of extended unpaid leave. On 13 June the operator schedules her on a 23:40 domestic flight in an aircraft type she last flew 14 months ago; the crew complement requires four cabin crew, and she is rostered at an emergency exit. The scheduler says the CMC is still valid and the medical 'only expires at midnight.' The flight has 168 passengers. The crew member has no other medical restriction and her glasses are current. The operator's manual requires 90-day recency for emergency exit operation and annual recurrent training.
1. Can she be assigned as a required cabin crew member on the 13 June flight? Give your conclusion and the reasoning that follows from the dates, the medical limitation and the recency gap.
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No. Three independent checks fail or are not established:
- Medical validity: the medical certificate expires on 12 June. On 13 June there is no valid aviation medical certificate, so the CMC cannot be exercised. A CMC is not a standalone permission to fly; it depends on a valid medical certificate.
- Recency: her last flight and last operation on type were 14 months ago. The operator's manual requires 90-day recency for emergency-exit operation. Recurrent training on 5 May does not restore recency.
- Limitation: the corrective-lenses limitation would have to be complied with if she operated, but this is secondary because the medical is already expired. The scheduler's midnight argument does not help: the flight is on 13 June, after the 12 June expiry. She cannot be counted in the four-cabin-crew complement or rostered at an exit.
2. What must be completed before she can return to line duty, and which items are licensing actions rather than operator actions?
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Licensing actions: renew the aviation medical certificate with a KCAA-accepted medical examiner; ensure any limitation is compatible with cabin crew duties; keep the CMC valid and renew it before 30 June if it is not renewed automatically. If the medical renewal produces a new limitation, the CMC holder must not exercise privileges beyond it. Operator actions: put her through the approved requalification programme for the 14-month absence: type-specific emergency equipment and exit drills, emergency procedures, first aid, dangerous goods, crew resource management, and a line check or supervised line flying as required by the operator's manual. The 90-day recency requirement must be restored before she operates at an exit. Records: training records, medical certificate, CMC, and line-check sign-off must be complete before rostering. A one-day refresher alone would not cure the recency gap.
3. If the flight is delayed until 00:30 on 14 June and she obtains a medical certificate valid from 13 June, would that make her eligible? Explain.
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It would remove the medical-expiry obstacle, but not the recency obstacle. She would still be 14 months out of line flying and outside the 90-day exit recency. She would still need the operator's requalification and line check. The limitation on corrective lenses would also need to be met. So no, a new medical alone is not enough.