Air Law

The PPL lesson covered the rules every pilot follows. As a commercial pilot you fly for hire, often under instrument flight rules and as part of an operator's organisation – so the law adds rules about your licence, your operator, your working hours and the passengers and cargo you carry.

1. The commercial pilot licence

A CPL lets you be paid to fly: pilot-in-command of a single-pilot aircraft in commercial operations, and co-pilot of multi-pilot aircraft. Typical EASA requirements for a CPL(A):

• Minimum age 18 and a Class 1 medical.
• At least 200 hours of flight time (150 on an integrated course), including 100 hours as pilot-in-command (70 integrated).
• 20 hours of VFR cross-country as PIC, including one flight of at least 300 NM with full-stop landings at two aerodromes other than the departure aerodrome.
• 10 hours of instrument instruction and 5 hours at night (including 5 solo take-offs and full-stop landings).
• Theory exams and a skill test. Most commercial pilots also hold an instrument rating (IR) and a multi-engine rating.

2. The freedoms of the air

Countries exchange traffic rights through agreements based on the "freedoms of the air":

Freedom	Right
1st	Fly over another country without landing
2nd	Land in another country for non-traffic reasons (fuel, maintenance)
3rd	Carry passengers from your country to another
4th	Carry passengers from another country back to yours
5th	Carry passengers between two foreign countries on a flight that starts or ends in your own

The first two are "technical" freedoms, agreed by most states through the International Air Services Transit Agreement. Royal Jordanian flying Amman–Beirut uses the 3rd and 4th freedoms.

3. Operators and their documents

• A commercial air transport operator needs an Air Operator Certificate (AOC) from its national authority, with operations specifications listing what it may do (aircraft, areas, low-visibility operations and so on).
• The Operations Manual is the company's rule book, usually in four parts: A general, B aircraft-specific, C routes and aerodromes, D training.
• The MEL (minimum equipment list) says which items may be inoperative for a departure, and under what conditions. It is based on the manufacturer's MMEL and can never be less restrictive. The CDL covers missing external parts.
• The technical log records defects and the aircraft's maintenance status; the commander checks it before every flight.

4. Instrument flight rules

• Minimum altitude en route: at least 1,000 ft above the highest obstacle within 8 km of the aircraft's estimated position, or 2,000 ft over high terrain or mountains – unless on a published route or cleared lower by ATC.
• An IFR flight plan is required, with a destination alternate when the weather or the type of approach demands it.
• IFR flights use the semicircular cruising levels (odd for magnetic tracks 000°–179°, even for 180°–359°) and, in RVSM airspace between FL290 and FL410, 1,000 ft vertical separation.
• Changing from IFR to VFR is only possible in VMC and must be reported to ATC ("cancelling my IFR flight").

5. Flight time limitations

Fatigue causes accidents, so crew working hours are limited by law. The EASA flight time limitations (ORO.FTL) include, for example:

• No more than 100 flight hours in any 28 days, 900 hours in a calendar year and 1,000 hours in 12 consecutive months.
• Duty limited to 60 hours in 7 days and 190 hours in 28 days.
• A minimum rest of at least 12 hours (or as long as the preceding duty, if longer) at home base, and 10 hours away from base.
• The maximum daily flight duty period depends on the reporting time and the number of sectors – shorter when starting at night.

Other authorities use similar systems. A pilot must not fly when unfit through fatigue, whatever the limits say.

6. Security, dangerous goods and facilitation

• Annex 17 – Security: screening of passengers and baggage, locked flight-deck doors, procedures for unlawful interference (squawk 7500).
• Annex 18 – Dangerous goods: lithium batteries, flammable liquids, gases and other hazardous items may be carried only if they are classified, packed and labelled correctly; the commander is told what is on board through the NOTOC (notification to captain).
• Annex 9 – Facilitation: customs, immigration and health formalities – the documents passengers and crew need at the border.

7. The law on board

• The Tokyo Convention (1963) gives the commander powers over offences on board: the commander may restrain a passenger, disembark them, and hand them to the authorities.
• The Montreal Convention (1999) sets the airline's liability for death, injury, delay and lost baggage on international flights.
• Accidents and serious incidents must be reported; investigations follow Annex 13 and are about prevention, not blame.

8. Interception

If intercepted by military aircraft: follow the interceptor's instructions, call on 121.5 MHz, squawk 7700 (unless told otherwise) and use the standard signals. The interceptor rocking its wings in front of you means "you have been intercepted, follow me"; you acknowledge by rocking your wings and following.

Flying it at Levant

As a Levant pilot you fly each airline's real schedules under its callsign, the way a commercial pilot works within an operator. Treat the OFP as your operational flight plan, respect the minimum altitudes on IFR flights and use the IVAO procedures for your region – and take a rest between long sessions.

Check yourself

1. What minimum flight time does a CPL(A) require on a non-integrated course? 200 hours.
2. Which freedom lets an airline fly passengers from its own country to another? The 3rd freedom.
3. What is the minimum IFR altitude over high terrain? 2,000 ft above the highest obstacle within 8 km.
4. What document lists the equipment that may be inoperative for a flight? The MEL.
5. How is the commander told about dangerous goods on board? Through the NOTOC.

Simulation training material summarising ICAO and EASA rules. Real-world operations follow the current regulations of the authority concerned.