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1. Flight Duty Time and Flight
Time Limitations
Definitions
 Flight duty time is the total tme commencing from the time of
reporting at the airport for the purpose of operating a flight and
ending with the termination of a flight or a series of flights (Chock on
plus 15 minutes).
 Flight time is the total time from the moment the aircraft first taxies
out under its own power for the purposes of take-off to the moment
it comes to rest at the end of a flight.
 Rest period is the period during which a flight crew is not assigned
any duty.
 Flight Crew means the pilots who fly the aircraft and shall also
include a flight engineer and flight navigator.

2. Flight Duty Time and Flight
Time Limitations
Definitions
Reporting Time- It is the time at which crew report at Airport /Helipad with
the intention of undertaking a flight. However for the FDTL computation
purposes, it shall be taken minimum 45 before the planned scheduled
departure.
Split Duty. A flight duty period, which consists of two duties separated by a
break.
Break A period free of all duties, but less than minimum rest period.
Calendar Day 24 hours period commencing at 0000hr local time.
Suitable accommodation A quiet, ventilated and comfortable place with a
bed and not open to public.
Neighboring Countries. Neighboring countries will be those countries
where the Standard local time differs from the IST by maximum of one hour
or where the single flight time to destination is not more than 4 hours
whichever is more restrictive.

3. Flight Duty Time and Flight
Time Limitations
Definitions
Ground Transportation The time spent by crew member between his /her
place of rest and the airport in a surface transport. For the purpose of FDTL,
Ground Transportation time shall be uniformly calculated as one hour each
before commencement of flight and at the end of flight or series of flights.
However it will neither count towards rest not for flight duty time.
Aerial Operations. Agriculture Operation, Pipeline Survey, Airport Facilities
Calibration flights, Leaflet and Flower /dropping flights, Under sling cargo
carriage, Rescue Hoist, Aerial Photography, Geographical Survey, Heli Skiing
and other like operations will constitute Aerial Operations.
Dead Heading The period during which a crew member travels on board any
air transport belonging to the company or its agents for the purpose of
positioning so as to operate a flight or after completion of flight.

4. Flight Duty Time and Flight
Time Limitations
Definitions
Local Night A period of 10 hours from 2000 hours to 0600 hours Local
StandardTime
Window of Circadian Low Window of Circadian Low is the time period
associated with low performance, alertness, body temperature and of
peak fatigue. It is the period between 0200 to 0600 hrs. of home base
time for flight duty time that crosses less than 3 time zones. For flight
duty time period which crosses 3 or more time zones it is 0200 to 0600
hrs. home base time for the first 48 hrs, thereafter it is referred to 0200
to 0600 hrs. of local time at the point of departure.

5. Flight Duty Time and Flight
Time Limitations
Operators must prepare and publish duty
rosters sufficiently in advance to provide the
opportunity to crew members to plan
adequate rest. Local days, free of duty shall be
notified to crew members at least 7 days in
advance.
Operator shall educate /train pilots regarding
stress, sleep and fatigue management in
consultation with the Aviation Medicine
experts.

6. Flight Duty Time and Flight
Time Limitations
Standard Provision
Every crew member shall be given rest, which will be pro-rata twice the flight time
subject to minimum of 10 hrs. in any 24 consecutive hrs. This sub para shall not be
applicable to International operations under para 5.
A minimum of 24 hrs rest encompassing period 2000 hrs to 0600 hrs shall be
provided to all crew members in any 7 consecutive days. This will be in addition to
the rest based upon the flying in the last 24 consecutive hours. This sub para shall
not be applicable to Helicopter operations under sub para 8.4.
Whenever flight crew member is scheduled on dead heading to operate the flight,
this shall count as flight duty.
Dead heading done after operating the commercial flight will neither count as duty
nor as rest period. In this case if flight duty time and dead heading time exceeds 18
hours, then the following rest period must include a local night.
Whenever a flight crew is deputed as safety pilot/observer the period of such duty
shall be counted in his flight Duty time.

7. Flight Duty Time and Flight
Time Limitations
SimulatorTraining and Aircraft Flying:
Whenever a crew member flies any simulator either on check or training
flight or as an instructor/training captain/examiner, all the time spent in
simulator including ‘pre’ and ‘post’ briefing shall count towards flight
duty time. For purpose of FDTL, minimum time for ‘post’ and ‘pre’ flight
briefing shall be taken as one hour.
Simulator time shall not count towards the flight time. If a crew member
flies an aircraft after simulator, flight duty time shall be counted from
the reporting time at the simulator. No extension of Flight Duty Time
shall be permitted in such cases.

8. Flight Duty Time and Flight
Time Limitations
Consecutive Night Flying:
Operator shall not roster any Flight Crew Member to undertake flight for
more than two consecutive nights with duty period embracing any
period between 0000 to 0500 hours local time.
Additional rest of two hours shall be provided for every hour or part
thereof of duty period that impinges into the said period of 0000 to 0500
hrs.
If any part of Flight Duty Time on second night is carried out in window
of circadian low then following rest period must include a local night.

9. Flight Duty Time and Flight
Time Limitations
Standby Duty:
Time of start /end and nature of standby duty must be notified to crew
members in advance. Maximum duration of standby duty shall be 8
hours. No standby duty can be assigned during mandatory rest period.
The standby duty if undertaken at home or in suitable accommodation
provided by the operator will neither be considered towards Flight Duty
nor the rest period.
If crew member is on standby duty or readiness at an airport then period
of standby duty shall count towards duty time.
Minimum rest of 10 hours has to be provided to crew member after
standby duty and before start of next duty.

10. Flight Duty Time and Flight
Time Limitations
Mixed Duties:
Whenever a crew member is required to report for duty in advance of the
stipulated reporting time for a scheduled flight to carry out any other task at
the behest of an operator, then the time spent on that task shall be part of
subsequent flight duty.
Whenever a crew member is required to carry out additional tasks at the
behest of operator, before , in between or after flight then the time spent on
the task shall be part of flight duty. Training, flight planning, commercial
activities, maintenance check, preparation of trim sheet, securing aircraft,
compressor wash, and ground running / taxiing for snag
rectification/positioning of aircraft and similar work shall constitute
additional tasks for the sub-para.
When both fixed and rotary wing flying is carried out, the more restrictive
flight and duty time limitations shall apply.
If flying is carried out on two or more different types of operations having
different flight/duty timings, the more restrictive flight and duty time
limitations shall apply.

11. Flight Duty Time and Flight
Time Limitations
Training Flights
Whenever training flight is conducted before or after operating a public
transport/commercial or private operation entire such period including
training flight shall count for Flight Duty Time/Flight Time. No training
flight shall be undertaken after operation of a flight embracing any
period between 0000 to 0500 hours.
Instructor /Examiner engaged in training flight for 3 hours , in addition to
non-commercial positioning flight upto maximum of two hours, shall
have a break/rest of minimum period of 2 hours away from aircraft.
However, if two Instructors/Examiners are on board, after 3 hours of
training Instructor/Examiner can take break/rest in aircraft provided he
shall not undertake flying/training thereafter.

12. Flight Duty Time and Flight
Time Limitations
If during any 24 hours period only training flight is carried out including
non-commercial positioning flight, there shall be no restriction
regarding number of circuits and landing. In case during any 24 hrs.
period training flight is combined with public transport/commercial,
private operations and training flight is conducted before such flight,
then the restriction of number of landing permitted for these operations
shall apply. For training flight conducted after such flights, circuits and
landing during training shall be restricted to 20.

13. Flight Duty Time and Flight
Time Limitations
Split Duty
Whenever there is a break between two flights or between positioning
journey and a flight in a period of 24 hour the break period will be
adjusted as under:
Break period shall not include time required for pre-flight and post-flight
duties which shall be a minimum of 45 minutes plus actual time spent on
transportation. This clause shall be applicable only if crew member is
provided with suitable accommodation /hotel facilities
No extension of Flight Duty Time shall be permitted if proviso of Split
Duty has been availed.
Break of 0 – 3 hrs Will be counted fully for Flight DutyTime
Break > 3 hrs – 10 hrs Half of it will count as Flight DutyTime
Break >10 hrs Will not be counted towards Flight Duty

14. Flight Duty Time and Flight
Time Limitations
Exceptions due to unforeseen Operational circumstances:
Exceptions allow the flexibility needed to respond to unforeseen
circumstances beyond the control of the operator that occur during
operations. These are not intended for use in regular practice. These
exceptions must not be scheduled or planned.
Extension o Flight Time/ flight Duty Time shall be permitted for
unforeseen circumstances occurring after take off on last two sectors
and maximum extension shall be limited to 3 hours of Flight Duty Time
and 1 1/2

15. FDTL
 Applicability – these flight time / flight duty time
limitations shall be applicable to all flight crew personnel.
 FLIGHTTIME LIMITATION: DOMESTIC AIR
OPERATIONS & NEIGHBOURING COUNTRIES
 The maximum number of hours any domestic air carrier
can schedule its flight crew members to do flgight time
shall be as follows:
 1. 1000 hours in any 12 months period
 2. 125 hours in a period of 30 consecutive days.
 3. 30 hours in any 7 consecutive days.

16. No air carrier operating domestic routes with pilots and
flights to neighbouring countries may schedule a flight crew
member for more that 8 hours of flight time during any 24
consecutive hours without a rest period of 16 hours or more
and under the following conditions:
A. Where the flight time is less than 8 hours a pro-rata rest
period of twice the flight time shall be provided, but the rest period
in no case shall be less than 8 hours;
B. Each Flight crew shall be relieved from all duty for at least 24
consecutive hours during any 7 consecutive days;
C. No domestic air carrier may assign any flight crew member to
any duty with the air carrier during any required rest period.

17. l
 D. Time spent in transportation by a flight crew member to or
from an airport at which he was relieved from duty to return to
his home station, is not considered a part of rest period.
 E. A flight crew member is not considered to be scheduled for
duty in excess of flight duty time limitation when due to
circumstances beyond the control of the air carrier ( such as
unanticipated technical delays, adverse weather conditions etc.)
the flight duty time gets inevitably extended provided that such
extension shall be limited to 4 hours in any particular case and
shall not be more than 8 hours during any period of 30
consecutive days. In such a case the rest period shall be extended
pro-rata by twice the amount of time by which the flight time
was extended.

18. FDTL
 F. Flight crew shall neither be detailed nor undertake any duty
between period embracing 0000 to 0500 hours local time if
during the previous day he / she performed flight duty between
the period embracing 0000 to 0500 local time; and
 G. The flight duty time limitation for a flight crew shall be as
follows:
 Crew Complement Flight Duty Time (hours)
2 Pilots 11
2 Pilots and one 12
Flight Engineer
No flight crew shall be asked to do more than 6 landings per day.This shall not
include landing for technical, ferry and for the purpose of retrieval of aircraft
after diversion.

19. Flight Time Limitations :
International Carriers
 Two Pilot Crew operations:
 A. No air carrier may schedule a flight crew to fly in an aeroplane
that has a crew of two pilots for more that 9 hours of flight time
during any 24 consecutive hours without a rest period. Before a
flight crew is detailed for a flight, his rest period since the last flight
shall not be less than 18 hours.
 B. If an air carrier schedules a flight crew to do flight time of more
than 9 hours during any 24 consecutive hours, the rest period at the
end of this flight duty shall be extended pro-rata by twice the
amount of time by which the flight time was extended.
 C. Flight time of a flight crew shall not exceed :
(i) 30 hrs in 7 consecutive days.
(ii) 125 hours during a period of 30 consecutive days.
(iii) 1000 hours during the preceding 12 months
D. Each flight crew shall be relieved from all duties for at least 24
consecutive hours once during any 7 consecutive days.

20. Flight Time Limitations :
International Carriers
 Operations with more than two pilots and additional flight crew member(s)
 A. When flights are operated with more than two pilots and
additional flight crew member, the flight time limitations shall be as
follows:
 (i) Two pilots and one additional crew member – A maximum of 10 hours of
flight time during 24 consecutive hours.
 (ii) Three piots and one additional crew meber – A maximum of 12 hours of
lfight time during 24 consecutive hours.
 (iii) Four pilots or 2 sets of crew – A maximum of 14 hours during 24 consecutive
hours.
B. If a flight crew has flown 9 hours or more during any 24 consecutive hours, he
shall be given at least 18 hours of rest before being assigned any further duty.
Where the flight time is less than 9 hours a rpo-rata rest period of twice the flight
time shall be provided but the rest period in no caseshall be less than 8 hours.
C. Each flight crew shall be relieved from all duty for at least 24 consecutive hours
once durng any 7 consecutive days.

21. Flight Time Limitations :
International Carriers
D. No flight crew may fly as a flight crew member more than
(i) 125 hours during any 30 consecutive days
(ii) 270 hours during any 90 consecutive days
(iii) 1000 hours during any 12 months period.
E. Each air carrier shall also provide adequate sleeping quarters in
the aeroplane wherein a flight crew is scheduled to fly for more
than 12 hours during any 24 consecutive hours.
F. Any flight crew who has done 12 or more hours of flight time
shall be given at least 48 hours of rest before he is assigned for
further duty.
The air carrier shall give each flight crew upon return to base from
any flight or series of flight, a rest period that is at least twice
the total number of hours of his flight time while he was away
from the base.

22. Flight Time Limitations :
International Carriers
 The maximum flight duty time / flight time shall be as
follows:
(i) 2 pilots operations 12hrs/9hrs
(ii) 2 pilots and one other 12hrs/10hrs
Flight crew member
(iii) 3 pilots 14hrs/10hrs
(iv) 3 pilots and one other 15hrs/12hrs
Flight crew member
(v) 2 sets of flight crew 16 hrs/14 hrs

23. Flight Time Limitations :
International Carriers
 The flight duty time in all cases could be extended by a
maximum of 4 hours in case of technical snags, adverse
weather or any other unforeseen circumstances to avoid
inconvenience to passengers. However, whenever the flight
duty time gets extended, the rest period shall be pro-rata
increased by twice the amount of extended period of flight
duty time, provided that no flight crew shall be asked
toextend flight duty time more than 8 hours in a period of 30
days.
 No flight crew operating on an international flight shall be
required to do more than 3 landings during the operations of
the flight. This does not include Technical landing and landing
for retrieval after diversion and ferry.

24. Other Aerial Operations
 In agricultural spray operations, flight time on
any type of aircraft, irrespective of weight or
category, should not exceed four hours
during a consecutive period of 24 hours.
 In aerial work operations involving flight
below 1500 feet AGL, the flight time shall not
exceed 4 hours, or 5 hours, if airborne air-
conditioner system is in use, during a
consecutive period of 24 hours.

25. Other Aerial Operations
 In executive flying operations (including State
Government, V.I.P. flight operations) the
maximum flight time and flight duty time in any
consecutive 24 hours is as follows:
FlightTime Flight DutyTime
(Hrs) (Hrs)
(i) Single Pilot 6 9
(ii) Two or more pilots 8 12
After every flight every flight crew member shall be given
a minimum rest period of 10 hrs. and the time spent in
transportation, to and from the place of work shall not be
counted in the rest period.

26. Other Aerial Operations
 The weekly, monthly and annual flight time shall be as
follows:
 35 hrs in a period of 7 consecutive days.
 125 hrs in a period of 30 onsecutive days.
 1000 hrs in any 12 months period.
 Except as specified above, for executive flgiht
operations, aerial work and other operations, monthly,
quarterly and yearly flight and duty time limitations and
other conditions specified in para 3 shall apply.

27. General Conditions for all
operations
 The time spent in office duty prior to operating a flight
will be considered for calculation of Flight DutyTime.
 The restrictions in regard to number of landings are not
applicable to flight crew engaged in training flight. If the
training flight is conducted after public transport
operation(s) during any 24 hour period, the number of
landings shall not be the limiting factor for calculation of
FDTL, but the total flight and duty time shall not exceed
the specified FDTL. Whenever public transport operation
is conducted after a training flight, number of landings
and flight and duty time of training flight shall be
considered for calculating the FDTL.

28. Other Aerial Operations
 Flight and duty time limitations can be extended with the
specific approval of the DGCA in extraordinary
circumstances in accordance with the conditions, whch
the Director General may specify.
 In respect of helicopter pilots, of PHL, State
Governments and other than those engaged in
agricultural spray operaions, the Flight and Duty time
limitations specified in AIC No. 17/90 dated 17.8.1990 will
continue to apply.
 In all the above cases the period of transportation shall
neither be counted towards duty time or rest period.

29. Other Aerial Operations
 Each flight crew shall be relieved from all
duty for at least 24 consecutive hours during
any 7 consecutive days.
 Operator shall maintain record of flight and
duty time of each member of the flight crew.