can you define "flight time duty" (FTD)...?

Question

I am interested in the flight time limitations etc. of pilots.... So I have a few questions:
1. What is the FTD? As far as I know (but not really sure), it is the time when a pilot "enters" the operations room where he prepares the flight, until he made the flight(s), and until he shut down the engine(s) of his last scheduled flight (OR does the FTD end when he shut down the engine(s), made the paper-work, and "left" the airport?).

2. So I read that the max. FTD is 13 hours (with no double crew etc, just the normal crew).. Does that mean, that if you'd fly the route Paris-San Francisco (which has a scheduled flying time of maybe 12 hours), only the normal crew is required for that flight, or would you need at least one releave pilot for either the pilot or co-pilot (since your duty-time would begin at least one hour before departure, your FTD then would be more than 13 hours...)

Thanks very much guys

Answer 1

(i) You have your numbers wrong. Duty of more than 8 hours without rest is forbidden. Reference: FAR 121.481.

(ii) For flights up to 12 hours, three crewmembers are sufficient (of which 2 are required at any given moment). Reference: 121.483.

(iii) The regs speak of "scheduling a pilot to fly", i.e. "FDP" is not a term mentioned (or defined) there. There are some relevant descriptions on 121.470.

Answer 2

Theres literally dozens of different Flight and Duty Time combinations you can come up with using different combinations of different regulations in different operations, you'd need to specify the type of operation for an answer on here, otherwise look it up in CFR 14 FAR 121.



As far as duty time itself is concerned, it's when you first go on "duty" for the company, most consider this to be the time of arrival at the airport. As an example in a supplemental operation with a 3 person crew (2 pilots and 1 FE) you can do the CDG-SAN flight you mentioned, stay in the crew room for 12 hours and start heading back to CDG.

Answer 3

FDP is a proposed regulation change for FAR 121 carriers in the USA.



See below for a summary of the proposals.