Operational Procedures: SOPs, MEL, minima and emergencies
Normal and abnormal
SOPs and checklists structure the flight: briefing, challenge-and-response, and the sterile flight deck below 10 000 ft. The MEL defines what may be inoperative and under what conditions; the CDL covers missing items such as a panel. Dispatch under the MEL is a decision about advisability as well as legality.
Takeoff and landing
Takeoff minima derive from the facilities available; a takeoff alternate is required when the departure aerodrome cannot be used after an engine failure. Low-visibility operations use LVP and RVR; some states permit a low-visibility takeoff with a suitable takeoff alternate. The approach ban and differences between landing minima are common questions.
Emergencies
Engine fire and failure: identify, then act - checklist order matters. Decompression and emergency descent; ditching; evacuation (certification assumes half the exits usable and evacuation within 90 seconds); fuel jettison with a minimum jettison height; rejected takeoff; contaminated runway; go-around. Lost communications: squawk 7600, follow the cleared route and last clearance, listen on the designated frequency.
Worked example
A twin loses an engine at 200 ft after V1. Continue the takeoff: the flight path before the acceleration altitude must clear obstacles using the net gradient, and no turn is made below the specified engine-out acceleration height. Rule of thumb: identify, verify, maintain V2, clean up on schedule - only then consider a return.
Traps
Treating the emergency checklist as a memory item; forgetting that an engine-out departure route must be cleared against obstacles; assuming the approach ban is identical everywhere.