Canadian Aviation Regulations (SOR/96-433)

Notice to Minister

302.603 The operator of an airport shall notify the Minister, no later than 90 days before the end of the period referred to in paragraph 302.600(5)(a) or (b) or subsection 302.601(2), as applicable, of the manner in which the operator intends to comply with the requirements of subsection 302.600(1) or 302.601(1).

Ministerial Order

302.604 If the operator fails to comply with the requirements of subsection 302.600(1) or 302.601(1), the Minister is authorized to make an order requiring the operator to reduce the length of the ASDA, LDA or TORA by the length required to meet the minimum length of a RESA.

Subpart 3 — Aircraft Rescue and Fire Fighting at Airports and Aerodromes

Division I — General

Interpretation

303.01 In this Subpart,

aircraft category for fire fighting

aircraft category for fire fighting means an aircraft category, determined in accordance with section 303.05 for the purpose of fighting fires involving aircraft; (catégorie d’aéronefs — SLIA)

aircraft emergency

aircraft emergency[Repealed, SOR/2002-226, s. 2]

aircraft fire-fighting standards

aircraft fire-fighting standards means the Aerodrome and Airport Standards respecting Aircraft Fire Fighting at Airports and Aerodromes published under the authority of the Minister; (normes de lutte contre les incendies d’aéronefs)

critical category for fire fighting

critical category for fire fighting means the aircraft category that

• (a) in respect of a designated airport, is determined in accordance with section 303.07 for the purpose of establishing the required level of service for fighting fires involving aircraft at the airport, and

• (b) in respect of a participating airport or aerodrome, is specified for the airport or aerodrome in the Canada Flight Supplement and corresponds to the level of service for fighting fires involving aircraft at that airport or aerodrome; (catégorie critique — SLIA)

designated airport

designated airport[Repealed, SOR/2006-86, s. 2]

in response posture

in response posture means, in respect of personnel, in a location at or near the airport or aerodrome that will permit an operator to obtain a satisfactory result in a response test referred to in subsection 303.18(4); (en position d’intervention)

participating airport or aerodrome

participating airport or aerodrome means an airport, other than a designated airport, or an aerodrome, for which a critical category for fire fighting is specified in the Canada Flight Supplement. (aéroport ou aérodrome participant)

rescue

rescue means the act of evacuating persons from an aircraft involved in an aircraft accident or incident at an airport by means of fire suppression and then, if circumstances permit, aircraft entry. (sauvetage)

Application

• 303.02 (1) This Subpart, except subsections 303.03(2) and 303.04(4), applies in respect of a designated airport, which is an airport at which, according to the statistics referred to in subsection 303.06(1), the total of the number of passengers that are emplaned and the number of passengers that are deplaned is more than 180,000 per year.

• (2) This Subpart, except subsections 303.03(1) and 303.04(1) to (3), sections 303.06 and 303.07, subsection 303.10(2) and sections 303.11 and 303.12, applies in respect of a participating airport or aerodrome.

General Requirements

• 303.03 (1) The operator of a designated airport shall provide the aircraft fire-fighting vehicles and the personnel required under this Subpart to respond to an aircraft emergency at the airport

  • (a) in the case of an airport listed in the schedule to this Subpart, on the coming into force of these Regulations; and

  • (b) in any other case, twelve months after the statistics compiled in accordance with subsection 303.06(1) show that the airport meets the criteria for a designated airport set out in subsection 303.02(1).

• (2) The operator of a participating airport or aerodrome shall provide the aircraft fire-fighting vehicles and the personnel required pursuant to this Subpart that correspond to the critical category for fire-fighting published in the Canada Flight Supplement to respond to an aircraft emergency at the airport or aerodrome.

Hours of Operation of an Aircraft Fire-fighting Service

• 303.04 (1) Subject to subsection (2), the operator of a designated airport shall

  • (a) at the beginning of each month and after consultation with the air operators that use the airport, establish the hours of operation of an aircraft fire-fighting service for the month and ensure that those hours coincide with at least 90 per cent of the movements during that month by commercial passenger-carrying aircraft at the airport of which the operator receives notice at least 30 days in advance; and

  • (b) ensure that the critical category for fire fighting and the hours of operation of an aircraft fire fighting service are published in the Canada Flight Supplement and in a NOTAM, if the NOTAM is published earlier.

• (2) Subject to subsection (5), the operator of a designated airport shall provide an aircraft fire-fighting service for the operation at the airport of aeroplanes in respect of which a type certificate has been issued authorizing the transport of 20 or more passengers if the aeroplanes are operated under

  • (a) Part VI, Subpart 4; or

  • (b) Part VII, Subpart 1 or 5.

• (3) The operator of a designated airport shall provide an aircraft fire-fighting service until an aircraft referred to in subsection (2) has taken off or landed or the flight has been cancelled.

• (4) The operator of a participating airport or aerodrome shall establish the hours during which an aircraft fire-fighting service is to be operated and shall ensure that the hours are published in the Canada Flight Supplement and in a NOTAM, if the NOTAM is published earlier.

• (5) Subsection (2) does not apply in respect of

  • (a) a cargo flight without passengers;

  • (b) a ferry flight;

  • (c) a positioning flight;

  • (d) a training flight if no fare-paying passengers are on board;

  • (e) the arrival of an aeroplane when the airport is being used for a diversion or as an alternate aerodrome; or

  • (f) the subsequent departure of an aeroplane referred to in paragraph (e), if it is conducted in accordance with paragraph 602.96(7)(f).

Aircraft Category for Fire Fighting

• 303.05 (1) An aircraft category for fire fighting set out in column I of an item of the table to this subsection shall be established for an aircraft based on the aircraft overall length set out in column II of the item and the aircraft maximum fuselage width set out in column III of that item.

  	Column I	Column II	Column III
  Item	Aircraft Category for Fire Fighting	Aircraft Overall Length	Aircraft Maximum Fuselage Width
  1	1	less than 9 m	2 m
  2	2	at least 9 m but less than 12 m	2 m
  3	3	at least 12 m but less than 18 m	3 m
  4	4	at least 18 m but less than 24 m	4 m
  5	5	at least 24 m but less than 28 m	4 m
  6	6	at least 28 m but less than 39 m	5 m
  7	7	at least 39 m but less than 49 m	5 m
  8	8	at least 49 m but less than 61 m	7 m
  9	9	at least 61 m but less than 76 m	7 m
  10	10	at least 76 m	8 m

• (2) Where the fuselage width of an aircraft that has an overall length within the range set out in column II of an item of the table to subsection (1) is greater than the aircraft maximum fuselage width set out in column III of the item, the aircraft category for fire fighting for the aircraft shall be one category higher than the category set out in column I of that item.

Statistics on the Number of Passengers and Aircraft Movements

• 303.06 (1) The operator of an airport or aerodrome shall review, at least once every six months, the statistics in respect of the number of emplaned and deplaned passengers resulting from the Electronic Collection of Air Transportation Statistics project carried out jointly by the Department of Transport and Statistics Canada for the twelve months preceding the date of the review and determine whether the airport or aerodrome qualifies as a designated airport under subsection 303.02(1).

• (2) The operator of a designated airport shall compile monthly statistics setting out the number of movements by commercial passenger-carrying aircraft in each aircraft category for fire fighting.

• (3) The operator of a designated airport shall, at least once every six months, review the monthly statistics for the twelve months preceding the date of the review and determine the three consecutive months with the highest total number of movements by commercial passenger-carrying aircraft in all aircraft categories for fire fighting.

• (4) Where the review shows more than one period of three consecutive months having the same total number of movements by commercial passenger-carrying aircraft, the period to be used for the purposes of section 303.07 is

  • (a) the period involving the highest aircraft category for fire fighting; or

  • (b) where those periods involve the same highest aircraft category for fire fighting, the period involving the greatest number of movements in that category.

• (5) The Minister may, in writing, on application by the operator of a designated airport, authorize the operator to cease providing an aircraft fire-fighting service if the operator demonstrates by means of a risk analysis based on Standard CAN/CSA-Q850-97 entitled Risk Management: Guideline for Decision-makers as amended from time to time that the cessation of the aircraft fire-fighting service will not result in an unacceptable risk to aviation safety.

• (6) If the Minister issues an authorization under subsection (5), the operator of a designated airport shall submit the content of the authorization for publication in the Canada Flight Supplement and in a NOTAM, if the NOTAM is published earlier.

• (7) The operator of a designated airport shall

  • (a) retain the monthly statistics referred to in subsection (2) for five years after the date of the review; and

  • (b) provide them to the Minister at the Minister’s request.

Critical Category for Fire Fighting

• 303.07 (1) The operator of a designated airport shall determine a critical category for fire fighting for the airport based on the number of movements at the airport during the three-month period determined in accordance with subsection 303.06(3) or (4) by commercial passenger-carrying aircraft in the highest and the next highest aircraft categories for fire fighting.

• (2) Where, during the period referred to in subsection (1), the number of movements at the designated airport by aircraft in the highest aircraft category for fire fighting is 700 or more, the critical category for fire fighting is equivalent to that highest aircraft category for fire fighting.

• (3) If, during the period referred to in subsection (1), the number of movements at the designated airport by aircraft in the highest aircraft category for fire fighting is less than 700, the critical category for fire fighting shall be determined by decreasing the highest aircraft category for fire fighting by one category.

• (4) If the operator of a designated airport anticipates a period of one or more hours of movements of aircraft of a lower aircraft category for fire fighting only, the operator may reduce the critical category for fire fighting to the highest aircraft category for fire fighting anticipated for that period if the operator

  • (a) documents the anticipated situation; and

  • (b) notifies the appropriate air traffic control unit or flight service station of the reduced critical category for fire fighting for publication in a NOTAM.

Division II — Extinguishing Agents and Aircraft Fire-Fighting Vehicles

Extinguishing Agents and Equipment

303.08 The operator of a designated airport or of a participating airport or aerodrome shall provide its aircraft fire-fighting service with both the principal and the complementary extinguishing agents and the equipment delivering the agents that meet the requirements set out in the aircraft fire-fighting standards.

Extinguishing Agent and Aircraft Fire-fighting Vehicle Requirements

303.09 Subject to sections 303.10 and 303.11, the operator of a designated airport or of a participating airport or aerodrome the critical category for fire fighting of which is set out in column I of an item of the table to this section shall provide to the aircraft fire-fighting service at the airport or aerodrome the quantities of water and complementary extinguishing agents set out in columns II and III of the item, and the minimum number of aircraft fire-fighting vehicles set out in column IV of that item necessary to provide the total discharge capacity set out in column V of that item.