Air Operations, CAR-OPS (GCAA)
The Air Operator Certificate, operator responsibilities, the MMEL and the operator MEL, deferring defects within rectification intervals, the technical log and equipment carriage.
GCAA air operations, summary notes
- Commercial air transport in the UAE is regulated under CAR-OPS. An operator must hold an Air Operator Certificate issued by the GCAA, defining the operations it may conduct and the aircraft it may use.
- The operator is responsible for the continuing airworthiness of its fleet and for its Operations Manual, and must ensure aircraft are maintained by appropriately approved organisations and released to service correctly.
- The Minimum Equipment List permits dispatch with specified items inoperative. It is derived from the manufacturer Master Minimum Equipment List, tailored to the operator aircraft and operation and approved by the GCAA. The MEL may be more restrictive than the MMEL but never less.
- When a defect cannot be rectified immediately the engineer consults the MEL: if the item is listed and its conditions can be met, the defect is deferred within the stated rectification interval, any required maintenance procedure is carried out, the item is placarded and the deferral is recorded in the technical log. If the item is not in the MEL it must be serviceable before flight.
- The aircraft technical log is the primary interface between flight crew and maintenance, recording defects, deferred items, servicing and the certificate of release to service.
- Carriage requirements for emergency and safety equipment, recorders and emergency locator transmitters, and occurrence reporting to the GCAA, also fall under the operations rules.
- Operator approval
- Air Operator Certificate issued by the GCAA
- MEL derivation
- MMEL (manufacturer) > operator MEL > GCAA approved
- MEL rule
- MEL may be MORE restrictive than the MMEL, never less
A defect arises at a line station and cannot be fixed before the next sector. What governs whether the aircraft may depart?
The operator approved MEL. If the item is listed and its conditions and any operational or maintenance procedures are satisfied, the defect may be deferred within its rectification interval, placarded and recorded. If it is not listed, the item must be serviceable before flight.
What is the purpose of the aircraft technical log?
It is the formal record linking flight crew and maintenance, carrying defect entries, deferred defects, servicing records and the certificate of release to service, giving traceability of the aircraft status.
GCAA air operations quiz
GCAA Air Operations, quiz
1. A UAE commercial operator must hold:
An Air Operator Certificate issued by the GCAAA CAR-145 approvalA Type Certificate2. The MEL is derived from:
The manufacturer MMELThe AMMThe technical log3. Relative to the MMEL, an operator MEL may be:
More restrictive but never lessLess restrictiveIdentical only4. If an unserviceable item is NOT listed in the MEL:
It must be serviceable before flightIt may be deferred anywayIt is ignored5. A deferred defect must be:
Recorded and placarded, within the rectification intervalLeft unrecorded, provided the flight crew are briefed before the next departureReported directly to ICAO, which maintains the central register of deferred defects6. MEL categories A, B, C and D define:
The rectification intervalThe aircraft typeThe engineer category7. The aircraft technical log is used to record:
Defects, deferrals, servicing and the CRSCrew rostersPassenger loads8. An (M) procedure in the MEL indicates:
A maintenance procedure must be carried out for the deferralThe item is mandatory and may never be deferred, whatever the operational circumstancesManual flight only is permitted until the item has been rectified by maintenance staff