Welcome

As a result of the work undertaken under RMT.0476, EASA is pleased to announce the publication of NPA 2022-04 on 25 May 2022, proposing amendments for a comprehensive update of the SERA IR (Regulation 923/2012) and of the related AMC and GM.

The proposals issued with this NPA:
• ensure synchronisation between the SERA regulatory framework and the originating transposed International Civil Aviation Organizaton (ICAO) provisions, especially those of ICAO Doc 4444 ‘PANS-ATM’ up to its Amendment 9, in particular in relation to new procedures on standard instrument departures (SID) and standard instrument arrivals (STAR) and other provisions identified as being of a ‘rules-of-the-air’ nature;
• introduce changes to the existing radio communication failure procedure in anticipation of a future amendment to ICAO Annex 2, thus bringing forward in time the related operational benefits;
• remove the Supplement to the Annex to the SERA IR, containing the commonly agreed differences to ICAO Standards and Recommended Practices (SARPs), and introduce regulatory references to Regulation (EU) 2018/1139 on the notification of differences;
• introduce speed restrictions to prevent supersonic flights over the territory of the EU, with the objective of protecting citizens from unacceptable sonic booms generated by supersonic transport (SST) aircraft, in order to maintain a high level of environmental protection;
• address issues in the implementation of the SERA IR as either identified by EASA through its standardisation activities or raised by stakeholders;
• satisfy a safety recommendation addressed to EASA, related to the inclusion of information on ballistic parachutes on board in the flight plan; and
• remove editorial mistakes and identified consistency issues.

This NPA is available at the following link of the EASA public website: NPA 2022-04 - Regular update of the SERA regulatory framework (IRs and AMC & GM) | EASA (europa.eu); comments may be submitted until 25 August 2022 through the Comment Response Tool (CRT) at http://hub.easa.europa.eu/crt/.

HAI Spotlight on Safety: What’s in Your Head? May 2022
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2e_alVVcL6E
https://rotormedia.com/spotlight-on-safety-whats-in-your-head/

In this HAI Spotlight on Safety, Vice Chair of the HAI Board of Directors Jeff Smith, HAI Director of Safety Chris Hill, HAI Policy Analyst Emma Taylor, and mechanic and HAI Ambassador Faith Ortega offer their thoughts after completing the “56 Seconds to Live” virtual reality challenge at #haiexpo22 in Dallas, Texas. To learn more, visit USHST.org/56secs.

See also these EASA Community Rotorcraft articles:
https://www.easa.europa.eu/community/topics/weather-threats-vmc-flights;
https://www.easa.europa.eu/community/topics/weather-threats-vmc-flights….

Dear colleagues,

I would like to ask some questions regarding the new training for Flight Operations Officers established in the AIR OPS. Hope you can assist me.

As part of the Regulation 2021/1296 and the corresponding Decision 2022/005/R, applicable from October, a new training is defined for FOOs/FDs in AMC1 ORO.GEN.110(c)&(e) Operator responsibilities.

IATA defines, in addition to the term FOO, the term FOA, which refers to "A suitably qualified person or specialist designated by an Operator with specific responsibilities relevant to the control and supervision of flight operations who supports, briefs and/or assists the FOO and/or pilot-incommand." However, this definition does not exist in the AIR OPS regulation.

Therefore, my questions are:
- Does the personnel considered as FOA for an IOSA operator fall into the FOO definition when referring to the AIR OPS?
- Is the training established in the above mentioned AMC applicable to a FOA?

Thank you in advance for your help.

Best regards,

Nazariy

New EASA Easy Access for Air Ops are published - these are the ones with the new rules of Fuel Management.

https://www.easa.europa.eu/newsroom-and-events/news/easy-access-rules-a…

Mountainflyers first helicopter flight school to offer training on EASA-qualified VR simulator - Vertical, May 10, 2022
https://verticalmag.com/press-releases/mountainflyers-first-helicopter-…
https://www.mountainflyers.ch/
https://vrm-switzerland.ch/

Mountainflyers of Berne, Switzerland, has become the first training organisation to operate the first virtual reality training device qualified by EASA.

EGNOS Bulletin, Issue 38, Spring 2022 Edition
https://egnos-user-support.essp-sas.eu/new_egnos_ops/news-events/egnos-…

Includes Garmin’s perspective on EGNOS and its adoption by the General Aviation community.

HAI Webinar Hydrogen - May 5, 2022, 16:00 EST
Speaker: Anita Sengupta, PhD, CEO and founder of Hydroplane, rocket scientist
Record: https://rotor.org/webinar/

Worth watching the record if you missed it live!

Fly more quietly and more cost effectively with an electric engine, but with all the power and range of a combustion powerplant.

Hydrogen fuel cell technology is coming to the helicopter industry in the not-too-distant future, in the form of a modular powerplant. Join Helicopter Association International (HAI) to hear from the founder of Hydroplane, a company of rocket scientists building this innovative technology from the ground up with proprietary new materials and designs specifically for single-engine aircraft, including helicopters.