The following maximum operating periods are established for safe flight and ground support operations:
Maximum flight operations - any 24-hour period*:
10 flight hours
Maximum flight operations - any consecutive 7 days*:
40 flight hours or 60 duty hours
Maximum flight operations - any 30-day period*:
120 flight hours
Maximum consecutive working days
6 days
Maximum crew duty day
14 hours
Normal duty day
8 hours
Minimum crew rest period
12 consecutive hours
Maxium consecutive days over 10 hours, not to exceed
2 days
Time required to change over from day to nighttime** operations, or from nighttime to day
36 hours***
Maximum takeoff time shift during night operations, from the previous night's take-off
3 hours
* Above limits may be exceeded for ferry purposes at Pilot In Command (PIC) discretion.
** Night operations are those when the flight lands after midnight or the staff show time for work is 5 AM or earlier, local time.
*** No reporting for duty; may not occur on a hard down day; no flight planning for the pilots may occur on the changeover day.
The PIC will always have the option of calling a no-flight day when consecutive flights are scheduled and crew fatigue is a factor.
The crew duty limits apply to flight crew and all RAF staff in the field. Exceptions to non-flight critical duty limits may be allowed by field project managers on a case by case basis and must be reported to RAF Manager.
