Book: The Global Airline Industry By: Peter Belobaba Flight
Crew Activities During a Typical Flight Sections 8.3.1 8.3.8
Presented by: Nahid Boustani SYST. 660-Spring 2013
Slide 3
Typical Flight Phases
Slide 4
Flight Crew Activities 1 & 2 1. Flight Crew Sign in 1 hour
prior to the departure of the first leg 2. Operations/Planning
Airline Operations Control Center (AOCC) selecting the best routing
in terms of time, fuel burn, ride conditions, etc. Flight plan:
Aircraft type, forecast weather conditions, aircraft performance,
loads and operating weights, aircraft mechanical condition,
marketing constraints, airport limitations/curfews, alternate
airports and company priorities.
Slide 5
Sample Flight Plan Sections Header Flight plan summary Aircraft
type and registration The filed routing Planned cruise
Mach/altitude En route ATC sectors to be traversed Waypoints
Specific information about each waypoint in the filed route: flight
altitude, winds forecast, course, Mach/airspeed/groundspeed,
cumulative distance/flight time/fuel burn Fuel_ determining the
fuel load Fuel requirements to destination (including reserves)
Destination weather and alternates Off-optimum speed or altitude
requirements (maybe driven by marketing or ride condition) Ferrying
fuel to destination (due to cost effectiveness or mechanical
discrepancies of the aircraft) Effects on landing and takeoff
performance and the payload Takeoff Planning Load Available runways
Maximum runway and climb limited weights Takeoff engine-out
performance Significant reference airspeed or V-Speeds used by crew
Alternate Airports certain weather requirements or routing
limitations may impose takeoff, en route, or destination alternate
airports
Slide 6
Flight Crew Activity 3 Pre-flight Exterior walkaround visual
inspection Interior cockpit setup System checks Output 1:
Mechanical logbook update Output 2: Minimum equipment list (MEL)
Autoflight initialization and Flight Management System (FMS)
programming to allow their use during the flight Initialization of
the on-board data communication system Corroborating the fuel
quantity, type, and distribution in tanks with the flight plan and
on-board sensors Communications between the cockpit and cabin
crew
Slide 7
Flight Crew Activity 4 Pre-departure Finalize the FMS and
autoflight parameters by obtaining an update on weather and runways
Receive confirmation of flight routing and planned departure time
from ATC Performing before starting engines checklist fasten seat
belt sign Public address announcements Closing the aircraft doors
Completing the baggage and cargo loading and closing the cargo
doors Connecting to the tug and communicating to the tug driver
Arming the escape slide mechanism of the entry doors
Slide 8
Flight Crew Activity 5 Gate Departure Wheels chokes are removed
and safe to release the parking brake Acknowledge release of the
parking brake Call ramp control for push-back clearance
Arrangements are made for Deicing the airframe Starting the engines
Disconnecting the two bar and saluting to confirm the ramp area is
clear Acknowledge the salute Call for taxi clearance Taxi out
Slide 9
Flight Crew Activity 6 Taxi-Out Receive load closeout Calculate
finalized takeoff performance data Reset the stabilizer trim and
set takeoff reference speed Complete taxi and before takeoff
checklist Announce departure PA and flight attendants secure
time
Slide 10
Flight Crew Activity 7 Take-off Issue position and hold
clearance Receive takeoff clearance Engine throttle levers are
pushed forward Call out each V-speed until reaching abort decision
speed, V1 The take off is rejected if a critical problem is
occurred before reaching V1 Communicate the problem to the control
tower to close the runway
Slide 11
Flight Crew Activity 8 Terminal Area Departure Aircraft is
accelerated to maximum low-altitude climb speed (250 knots below
10000 feet in USA) ATC provides radar heading assignments to
achieve traffic spacing or efficiency objectives During climb-out
the flight conforms to Standard Instrument Departure (SID)
procedures