Flight and Duty Time Limitations, Rest Requirements and Fatigue Management
What the exam tests
This domain tests the difference between flight time, duty and rest, how limits are applied, and how fatigue risk management supports prescriptive rules. Expect scenario questions on cumulative duty, standby, positioning and reduced rest.
Core concepts
- Flight time is time from aircraft movement for take-off until it comes to rest after landing. Duty includes flight time plus ground duties such as pre-flight preparation, briefings, positioning and standby when notified.
- Rest must be a defined period free from duty, with adequate opportunity for sleep. It is not simply time between two flights if administrative tasks intervene.
- Annex 6 requires commercial air transport operators to establish flight time limitations and rest schemes, and to manage fatigue through a fatigue risk management system where required.
- Limits usually cover daily flight time, duty period, cumulative flight or duty hours, minimum rest and time-zone displacement. National rules may add extensions, split duty or standby rules.
- Fatigue management includes education, reporting, roster design and a non-punitive reporting culture.
Worked example
An illustrative national scheme sets a 13-hour duty limit and 10-hour flight-time limit. A crew reports at 06:00, completes 9 hours 30 minutes flight time, and finishes post-flight duties at 19:30. Duty is 13 hours 30 minutes, which exceeds the duty limit even though flight time is under 10 hours. The flight cannot be dispatched as planned unless a valid extension or other rule applies. Positioning before reporting may also count as duty, not rest.
Traps
Do not compare flight time only against the duty limit. Do not count rest as any gap in the roster. Do not ignore standby call-out or positioning. Do not assume fatigue rules are identical in every State; apply the operator's approved scheme and the State's rules.