The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on January 08, 2024, issued a notification to modify the fatigue risk management system for flight crew.
The revised FDTL regulations are effective forthwith and the airline operators are required to comply with the revised regulations by June 01, 2024.
The following highlights of the revised FDTL Regulations are as stated:
• Extended Weekly Rest Periods for flight crew: The revised regulations mandate increased weekly rest periods from 36 hours to 48 hours for flight crew, thus ensuring sufficient time for recovery from cumulative fatigue.
• Night Duty: The definition of night has been amended which now covers the period of 0000-0600 hours in the revised regulations vis-à-vis the period of 0000-0500 hours under the previous regulations. This enhancement of one hour during the early morning will ensure adequate rest and also align the night duty period which encompasses the Window of Circadian Low (WOCL) from 0200-0600 hours i.e. the time during which the circadian body clock cycle is at its lowest in terms of alertness.
• Maximum Flight Time, Maximum Flight Duty Periods and Number of Landings during the night: The revised regulations have taken into consideration different types of operations across time zones. The maximum flight time & maximum flight duty period for flight operations encroaching night have been restricted to 8 hours’ flight time & 10 hours’ flight duty period respectively and the number of landings has been limited to only two landings as compared to the maximum permissible 6 landings under previous regulations during night operations, thus enhancing flight safety.
• The DGCA has mandated that all airline operators submit quarterly fatigue reports after analysis, including the Action Taken on such reports. Further, it has been stipulated that the fatigue reports shall follow a non-punitive and confidentiality policy.
[Release ID: 1994183]
