Operational Procedures
This domain tests the practical conduct of a flight: pre-flight preparation, fuel and mass checks, NOTAM review, ATC coordination, altimetry, approach criteria, emergencies and search and rescue. It is applied law rather than abstract law.
Pre-flight and in-flight
- Confirm licences, medical, aircraft documents, mass and balance, fuel, weather, NOTAMs and ATC flight plan.
- Use the checklist and respect the MEL; a defect not covered by the MEL grounds the aircraft.
- Fuel: know trip, contingency, alternate, final reserve and taxi fuel. Minimum fuel is not an emergency; declare an emergency if safety is at risk.
ATC and emergencies
- Read back clearances and hold-short instructions.
- Radio failure in VMC: continue VFR, land at the nearest suitable aerodrome, report arrival. In IMC: maintain the last clearance and follow the published lost-communication procedure.
- Distress is MAYDAY; urgency is PAN PAN. Squawk 7700, 7600 or 7500 as appropriate.
Worked example
You are VFR in VMC and the radio fails. You cannot obtain a clearance into controlled airspace. The safest action is to remain clear of controlled airspace, land at the nearest suitable aerodrome, and telephone ATC to report. Do not enter a control zone hoping to be seen.
Traps
- Treating minimum fuel as a MAYDAY.
- Continuing into IMC without an instrument rating.
- Forgetting to report a radio failure on arrival.
- Using the wrong emergency frequency; 121.5 MHz is the civil distress frequency.
- Ignoring wake-turbulence separation behind a heavy aircraft.