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Canadian Aviation Regulations (SOR/96-433)

Regulations are current to 2024-02-20 and last amended on 2023-06-21. Previous Versions

Part VII — Commercial Air Services (continued)

Subpart 5 — Airline Operations (continued)

Division IX — Manuals (continued)

Standard Operating Procedures
  •  (1) Every air operator shall, for each of its aircraft, establish and maintain standard operating procedures that enable the crew members to operate the aircraft within the limitations specified in the aircraft flight manual, and that meet the Commercial Air Service Standards.

  • (2) An air operator shall submit a copy of its aircraft standard operating procedures, and any amendments to those procedures, to the Minister.

  • (3) An air operator shall ensure that a copy of the standard operating procedures for an aircraft is carried on board the aircraft.

  • (4) Where an air operator has established an aircraft operating manual, the standard operating procedures for the aircraft shall form part of that manual.

Flight Attendant Manual
  •  (1) Every air operator, other than an air operator that is authorized solely for the transport of cargo in its air operator certificate, shall establish and maintain, as part of its company operations manual, a flight attendant manual for the use and guidance of flight attendants in the operation of its aircraft.

  • (2) A flight attendant manual shall contain the instructions and information necessary to enable flight attendants to perform their duties safely and shall contain the information required by the Flight Attendant Manual Standard.

  • (3) The Minister shall, where the Flight Attendant Manual Standard is met, approve those parts of a flight attendant manual, and any amendments to those parts, that relate to the safety and emergency information contained in Part A of the Flight Attendant Manual Standard.

  • (4) An air operator shall provide a copy of its flight attendant manual, including any amendments to that manual, to each of its flight attendants.

  • (5) Every flight attendant who has been provided with a copy of a flight attendant manual pursuant to subsection (4) shall keep it up to date with the amendments provided and shall ensure that the appropriate parts are accessible when the flight attendant is performing assigned duties on board an aircraft.

[705.140 to 705.150 reserved]

Division X — Safety Management System

Requirements

 The safety management system required under section 107.02 in respect of an applicant for, or a holder of, an air operator certificate shall

  • (a) meet the requirements of Subpart 7 of Part I and section 705.152;

  • (b) be under the control of the operations manager appointed under paragraph 700.09(1)(a); and

  • (c) cover the maintenance control activities undertaken under Subpart 6.

  • SOR/2005-173, s. 24
Components of the Safety Management System
  •  (1) The safety management system shall include, among others, the following components:

    • (a) a safety management plan that includes

      • (i) a safety policy that the accountable executive has approved and communicated to all employees,

      • (ii) the roles and responsibilities of personnel assigned duties under the quality assurance program established under section 706.07 or the safety management system,

      • (iii) performance goals and a means of measuring the attainment of those goals,

      • (iv) a policy for the internal reporting of a hazard, an incident or an accident, including the conditions under which immunity from disciplinary action will be granted, and

      • (v) a review of the safety management system to determine its effectiveness;

    • (b) procedures for reporting a hazard, an incident or an accident to the appropriate manager;

    • (c) procedures for the collection of data relating to hazards, incidents and accidents;

    • (d) procedures for analysing data obtained under paragraph (c) and during an audit conducted under subsection 706.07(3) and for taking corrective actions;

    • (e) an audit system referred to in subsection 706.07(3);

    • (f) training requirements for the operations manager, the maintenance manager and personnel assigned duties under the safety management system; and

    • (g) procedures for making progress reports to the accountable executive at intervals determined by the accountable executive and other reports as needed in urgent cases.

  • (2) The components specified in subsection (1) and the components of the safety management system that are required under section 107.03 shall be set out in

    • (a) the company operations manual of the applicant for, or the holder of, an air operator certificate; and

    • (b) the maintenance control manual (MCM) of the holder of an air operator certificate.

Person Managing the Safety Management System

 The person managing the safety management system shall

  • (a) establish and maintain a reporting system to ensure the timely collection of information related to hazards, incidents and accidents that may adversely affect safety;

  • (b) identify hazards and carry out risk management analyses of those hazards;

  • (c) investigate, analyze and identify the cause or probable cause of all hazards, incidents and accidents identified under the safety management system;

  • (d) establish and maintain a safety data system, either by electronic or by other means, to monitor and analyze trends in hazards, incidents and accidents;

  • (e) monitor and evaluate the results of corrective actions with respect to hazards, incidents and accidents;

  • (f) monitor the concerns of the civil aviation industry in respect of safety and their perceived effect on the air operator;

  • (g) determine the adequacy of the training required by paragraph 705.152(1)(f); and

  • (h) where the operations manager has assigned the management functions for the safety management system under subsection 705.03(3) to another person, report to the operations manager the hazards, incidents and accidents identified under the safety management system or as a result of an audit required under subsection 706.07(3).

  • SOR/2005-173, s. 24
Holder of More Than One Certificate

 The holder of an air operator certificate issued under section 705.07 who is also the holder of an approved maintenance organization (AMO) certificate issued under section 573.02, shall adhere to the requirements referred to in section 573.30 with respect to a safety management system when undertaking maintenance control activities under Subpart 6.

  • SOR/2005-173, s. 24

[705.155 to 705.170 reserved]

Division XI — Interference With a Crew Member

[
  • SOR/2015-160, s. 31(E)
]
Interpretation

 In this Division,

interference with a crew member

interference with a crew member means any action or statement set out in the levels listed in section 705.175 by a person on board or about to board an aircraft that distracts a crew member from their assigned safety responsibilities or prevents the crew member from carrying out those responsibilities; (entrave au travail d’un membre d’équipage)

operational personnel

operational personnel means an air operator’s employees whose duties require that they interact directly with persons on board or about to board an aircraft, and includes crew members, gate and check-in staff and their immediate supervisors. (personnel d’exploitation)

  • SOR/2009-90, s. 4
  • SOR/2015-160, s. 32
Preventing and Managing Incidents of Interference with a Crew Member

 An applicant for an air operator certificate shall set out in the company operations manual and in their flight attendant manual the procedures established to prevent and manage incidents of interference with a crew member covering the topics set out in section 725.172 of Standard 725 — Airline Operations — Aeroplanes of the Commercial Air Service Standards.

Training

 An air operator shall provide initial and annual training to all operational personnel that covers the topics set out in subsection 725.124(56) of Standard 725 — Airline Operations — Aeroplanes of the Commercial Air Service Standards for the purpose of enabling

  • (a) the recognition, prevention and management of behaviour that could reasonably be expected to lead to an incident of interference with a crew member;

  • (b) the recognition, prevention and management of incidents of interference with a crew member; and

  • (c) the knowledge of post-flight procedures related to incidents of interference with a crew member.

  • SOR/2009-90, s. 4
  • SOR/2015-160, s. 34
Reporting Incidents of Interference with a Crew Member
  •  (1) An applicant for an air operator certificate shall set out in the company operations manual and in their flight attendant manual the procedures established to ensure that level 2, level 3 and level 4 incidents of interference with a crew member are reported to them and to allow for the reporting of a level 1 incident.

  • (2) [Repealed, SOR/2019-295, s. 19]

  • (3) A report of an incident of interference with a crew member shall contain the information set out in section 725.174 of Standard 725 — Airline Operations — Aeroplanes of the Commercial Air Service Standards.

  • (4) An air operator shall ensure that reports are retained for a period of three years after the date of the incident and are made available to the Minister on request.

  • (5) An air operator shall submit to the Minister statistics relating to incidents of interference with a crew member, the content of which is set out in section 725.174 of Standard 725 — Airline Operations — Aeroplanes of the Commercial Air Service Standards, every six months.

Levels of Interference with a Crew Member

 The levels of interference with a crew member are as follows:

  • (a) a level 1 incident, which is an incident of a minor nature that either requires no action of the crew member beyond heightened awareness or is quickly resolved by a crew member, and which includes but is not limited to

    • (i) the use of insulting or obscene language towards a crew member,

    • (ii) the causing of a disturbance, including verbal abuse or obscene gestures towards a crew member, and

    • (iii) a display of suspicious behaviour;

  • (b) a level 2 incident, which is an incident of a moderate nature that is resolved by a crew member only after some difficulty and which includes but is not limited to

    • (i) the repetition of a level 1 incident,

    • (ii) the continuation of a level 1 incident that was unresolved,

    • (iii) the repeated failure of a passenger to comply with a crew member’s safety instructions, and

    • (iv) belligerent, obscene or lewd behaviour towards a crew member;

  • (c) a level 3 incident, which is an incident where the safety of passengers or crew members is seriously threatened and which includes but is not limited to

    • (i) threatening a person on board or about to board the aircraft or making threats in an attempt to board the aircraft,

    • (ii) the continuation of a level 2 incident that was unresolved,

    • (iii) tampering with any emergency or safety equipment on board the aircraft,

    • (iv) deliberate damage of any part of the aircraft or any property on board the aircraft,

    • (v) injuring a person on board the aircraft, and

    • (vi) violent, argumentative, threatening, intimidating or disorderly behaviour, including harassment and assault; and

  • (d) a level 4 incident, which is an incident that constitutes a security threat and which includes but is not limited to

    • (i) an attempted or unauthorized intrusion into the flight deck,

    • (ii) a credible threat of death or serious bodily injury in an attempt to gain control over the aircraft,

    • (iii) the display or use of a weapon,

    • (iv) the sabotage of, or the attempt to sabotage, an aircraft that renders it incapable of flight or that is likely to endanger its safety in flight,

    • (v) any attempt to unlawfully seize control of the aircraft, and

    • (vi) an incident that is required to be reported under section 543 of the Canadian Aviation Security Regulations, 2012.

[705.176 to 705.199 reserved]

Division XII — Flight Attendants and Emergency Evacuation

Interpretation
  •  (1) For the purposes of this Division and subject to subsection (2), model means aircraft master series as described in section 3.7 of version 1.3 of the document entitled International Standard for Aircraft Make, Model, and Series Groupings, dated October 2012 and published by the Common Taxonomy Team of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and the Commercial Aviation Safety Team (CAST).

  • (2) If no aircraft master series is assigned to an aeroplane, model in respect of that aeroplane means aircraft model as described in section 3.6 of version 1.3 of the document entitled International Standard for Aircraft Make, Model, and Series Groupings, dated October 2012 and published by the Common Taxonomy Team of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and the Commercial Aviation Safety Team (CAST).

  • SOR/2015-127, s. 20
Minimum Number of Flight Attendants
  •  (1) No air operator shall operate an aeroplane to carry passengers unless the air operator does so with the minimum number of flight attendants required on each deck.

  • (2) Subject to subsections (4) to (7), the minimum number of flight attendants required on each deck of an aeroplane is determined in accordance with one of the following ratios that is selected by the air operator in respect of the model of that aeroplane:

    • (a) one flight attendant for each unit of 40 passengers or for each portion of such a unit; or

    • (b) one flight attendant for each unit of 50 passenger seats or for each portion of such a unit.

  • (3) A Department of Transport air carrier inspector or a person authorized under subsection 705.27(4) to access the flight deck is not counted as a passenger for the purposes of paragraph (2)(a).

  • (4) An air operator who has selected, in respect of a model of aeroplane, the ratio set out in paragraph (2)(b) shall not operate an aeroplane of that model with only one flight attendant unless

    • (a) the aeroplane has a single deck and is configured for 50 or fewer passenger seats;

    • (b) the aeroplane was certified under

      • (i) part 25, title 14, of the Code of Federal Regulations of the United States, in the version in effect on March 6, 1980 or after that date,

      • (ii) the European Joint Aviation Requirements — Large Aeroplanes (JAR-25), published by the Joint Aviation Authorities, in the version in effect on November 30, 1981 or after that date,

      • (iii) the Certification Specifications, Including Airworthiness Code and Acceptable Means of Compliance, for Large Aeroplanes (CS-25), published by the European Aviation Safety Agency, in the version in effect on October 17, 2003 or after that date, or

      • (iv) Chapter 525 — Transport Category Aeroplanes of the Airworthiness Manual, in the version in effect on July 1, 1986 or after that date;

    • (c) only one flight attendant was used for the emergency evacuation demonstration required for the certification of that model of aeroplane;

    • (d) the air operator’s flight attendant manual indicates how normal and emergency procedures differ depending on whether the aeroplane is operated with one flight attendant or with more than one flight attendant;

    • (e) the flight attendant occupies a flight attendant station that is located near a floor-level exit; and

    • (f) the public address system and the crew member interphone system are operative and are capable of being used at the flight attendant station.

  • (5) If an air operator has selected, in respect of a model of aeroplane, the ratio set out in paragraph (2)(a), but has carried out a successful demonstration of its emergency evacuation procedures for that model using more flight attendants than would have been required in accordance with that ratio, the minimum number of flight attendants required on each deck of an aeroplane of that model that is operated by the air operator is the number of flight attendants used in the demonstration.

  • (6) If an air operator has selected, in respect of a model of aeroplane, the ratio set out in paragraph (2)(b), but has carried out a successful demonstration of its emergency evacuation procedures for that model using more flight attendants than would have been required in accordance with that ratio, the minimum number of flight attendants required on each deck of an aeroplane of that model that is operated by the air operator is the number of flight attendants used in the demonstration.

  • (7) If the emergency evacuation demonstration required for the certification of a model of aeroplane was carried out using more flight attendants than would have been required in accordance with the ratio set out in paragraph (2)(b) and, after the demonstration, an aeroplane of that model is reconfigured for fewer passenger seats, the minimum number of flight attendants required on each deck of the reconfigured aeroplane is the number of flight attendants required in accordance with the ratio set out in paragraph (2)(b) plus an additional number of flight attendants that is equal to the difference between

    • (a) the number of flight attendants used in the demonstration, and

    • (b) the number of flight attendants that would have been required in accordance with the ratio set out in paragraph (2)(b) at the time of the demonstration.

 

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