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Longer duty hours, no seat recline: Indian pilots flag ‘grave safety concerns’ over new rules
The Airline Pilots' Association of India said to regulator that the existing 10-hour limit is already at the upper threshold of safe fatigue management
The Airline Pilots' Association of India on Sunday wrote to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation regarding the recent extension of the Flight Duty Time Limit (FDTL) for the two-pilot Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft.
The association called the extension from 10 hours FT to 10:30 hours and 13 hours of FDP to 14:00 hours a “matter of grave operational and safety concern”, saying it creates a “scenario ripe for fatigue induced errors.”
FDP is the time duration for which a flight crew member is on duty for operating an aircraft and ends when a plane comes to rest at the end of a flight.
The letter to the DGCA also highlighted the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) Airworthiness Directive (AD), FAA-2024-0218, which has restricted the seat recline function of the flight's captain on the Boeing 787 owing to safety concerns.
Seat recline limitation
It said that the inability to recline the seat has reduced the effectiveness of in-flight rest particularly during long sectors.
“This restriction has had a direct and severe impact on crew rest quality during flight,” the association said, in its letter, seen by HT.
The pilots said that airlines across the world have decided to provide additional operating crew owing to this new directive, in order to mitigate the increased fatigue risk.
“In sharp contrast, it is deeply concerning that the DGCA has chosen to extend the FDTL for 2-man crew operations on B787 to 10:30 Hrs,” the association said.
Raises question of fatigue
It added that the existing 10-hour limit is already at the upper threshold of safe fatigue management, and added that there was no pilot shortage in the country to necessitate the extension of the FTDL.
The association said that the formulation of the Civil Aviation Requirement (CAR) on Flight Duty Time Limitations was done to protect against performance degradation related to fatigue.
"The whole idea of formulating a Civil Aviation Requirement (CAR) on Flight Duty Time Limitations was based on extensive research and scientific study on human fatigue and its operational consequences, aligned with the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) recommendations and guidelines," the letter said.
It further raised concerns on the DGCA placing greater consideration on the convenience of flight operators and commercial airlines rather than prioritising flight safety.
