Nika Khvedelidze posted in General Aviation
Dear members,
I would like to bring your attention to the sailplane commercial operations within member states of the EU. As Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/1976 (SAO) defines in Article 3 - Air operations (2), operators of
sailplanes shall engage in commercial operations only after having declared to the competent authority their capacity and means to discharge the responsibilities associated with the operation of the sailplane.
Furthermore, SAO.DEC.100 Declaration defines conditions for how to declare and what information shall be included in the declaration template (Appendix 1.)
Despite those requirements, I just want to precise, taking into account the member state's experience and practice, if there is any additional information, document, or manual requested by the member state to be prepared by the sailplane commercial operator.
Thank you!
Have a good day!
As a general rule, TEM risk analysis and complementing the operations manual with the specific commercial operations manual is preferable for safety reasons. Remember that for commercial operations it is necessary for the pilot in charge to have a Class II certificate. The BGA (British Gliding Association) has a document dedicated to commercial operations for instructors that can help you in the specific study for your operations. It's not just a question of having the documents in order, insurance for example should specify liability cover for such flights as well as covering the pilot responsible who ideally should have instructor training beyond what is required by the regulations. If you need any help feel free to ask me. Happy landings
Dear Francesco, thank you for your input! I will take a look the BGA documents as well.
What I understood from my little research across the available resources, there is no mandatory requirement as the regulation defines, to have a dedicated manual adapted to your particular operations and in this case commercial flights using sailplane. Nevertheless, I strongly agree with your point of view!
Have a safe flights!
Dear Nika,
it depends because the rule involved is the 965/2012 and in special art 6. There are some exception that you should analize before starting operation to avoid problems during an inspection, and check if you can comply to part NCO. For example you could read the GM1 Article 6.4a(c) or GM2 Article 6.4a(c) and check if the competent authority had established additional conditions ARO.OPS.300 (see GM ARO.OPS.300 also). Just for example, if your organitation sell the commercial fligth and you pay any money as benefit to some other for sell those fligts , you should comply to part SPO and you should apply for an authorisation (recomendable). Chek if such operation could be considered inside your organitation as a marginal activity and the money asked could be considered as shared cost. At last and based into 965/2012 if commercial activity you should comply to all requirements and the tem and op manual will be required , 90%, from your agency. Hope this could be useful for you.
Dear Francesco, thank you for your time and such a detailed explanation!
I will take a look all the articles you have mentioned here.
Very kind regards,
Nika
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