FIFTH SCHEDULE
Regulation 178
Fatigue risk management programmes
Part 1
BASIC REQUIREMENTS FOR FATIGUE RISK MANAGEMENT
Types of fatigue
1.  An AOC holder must take into account the following types of fatigue in its fatigue risk management programme:
(a)transient fatigue, which is fatigue that may be dispelled by a single sufficient period of rest or sleep;
(b)cumulative fatigue, which occurs after incomplete recovery from transient fatigue over a period of time.
Flight Duty Period (FDP)
2.—(1)  The flight duty period of a person assigned duty as a crew member for a flight of a large aeroplane —
(a)commences when the person is required to report for duty in advance of the stipulated report time for a scheduled flight, to carry out a task at the behest of the AOC holder;
(b)includes the time the person spent on positioning at the behest of the AOC holder when this positioning immediately precedes a flight in which that person participates as a crew member; and
(c)does not include the time spent by the person to commute from the crew member’s place of rest to the point of reporting for duty.
(2)  In the planning of duty periods and flight duty periods, an AOC holder must consider all relevant factors, which includes —
(a)the number and direction of time zones crossed;
(b)the time at which a flight duty period is scheduled to begin;
(c)the number of planned and actual sectors within the flight duty period;
(d)the pattern of working and sleeping relative to the circadian rhythm, or the 24‑hour physiological cycle of the crew;
(e)the scheduling of days off;
(f)the sequence of early reporting times and late releases from duty;
(g)the mixing of early, late and night duties;
(h)the flight operation characteristics;
(i)the allocation of work patterns which avoid such undesirable practices, for example alternating day and night duties or the positioning of crew such that a serious disruption of established sleep and work patterns occur;
(j)the planning of days off and notifying crew well in advance of their duty periods;
(k)the basic roster concepts which ensure adequate rest prior to flight;
(l)the crew complement and the extent to which various tasks to be performed can be divided among the crew; and
(m)the availability of facilities onboard the aeroplane for a crew member to obtain recuperative rest.
Minimum rest period
3.—(1)  Subject to sub-paragraph (2), the minimum rest period provided for a crew member subsequent to or prior to a scheduled flight duty period must be —
(a)not less than 10 hours if the rest period includes a local night;
(b)not less than 12 hours if the rest period does not include a local night;
(c)if the preceding duty period exceeded 10 hours but is not more than 16 hours, at least as long as the preceding duty period rounded to the next whole hour; and
(d)if the preceding duty period exceeded 16 hours, at least 24 hours and inclusive of a local night.
(2)  The pilot-in-command has the discretion to reduce a minimum rest period in unforeseen operational circumstances by no more than 2 hours if the requirement for a local night, where required, is satisfied.
Duty with take-off or landing within the window of circadian low
4.  An AOC holder who has assigned a person to crew member duty on a relevant aircraft for a series of 2 or more consecutive flight duty periods that encompass an early start, a late finish, or a take‑off or landing in the window of circadian low must provide that person with —
(a)a rest period of 24 hours (inclusive of a local night) prior to the person commencing duty for the first flight duty period in the series; and
(b)the appropriate minimum rest period specified in paragraph 3 in the intermediate flight duty period in the series of flight duty periods that encompass an early start, a late finish, or a take‑off or landing in the window of circadian low.
Day off
5.—(1)  A day off for a crew member must be at least 34 hours free of all duties including a local night and commences —
(a)one hour after the crew member completes a duty period; or
(b)if the crew member is away from base, either one hour after the crew member is free of all duties, or the time taken to reach the accommodation designated for the day off, whichever is lesser.
(2)  A planned minimum rest period may be included as part of a day off.
(3)  When days off are rostered on consecutive days, each subsequent day off following that described in sub‑paragraph (1) must be a period of at least 24 hours and include a local night.
(4)  An AOC holder must ensure that every person who may be assigned duty as a crew member on a large aeroplane —
(a)does not work more than 7 consecutive days between days off;
(b)is rostered to have at least 2 days off every 2 consecutive weeks; and
(c)has at least 8 days off every 4 consecutive weeks except that a minimum of 6 days off in a consecutive 4‑week period is permissible if the shortfall of the remaining days off has been or will be made good in the preceding or following consecutive 4‑week period.
(5)  When a crew member has been away from home base for any period of 7 days or more, a period of at least 82 hours (including 3 local nights) at home base must be provided to re‑acclimate the crew member to home base before the start of the next flight duty period.
(6)  In the event that a flight is disrupted or delayed due to unforeseen circumstances, the ensuing day off may be reduced by 4 hours if the shortfall is made up in the next allocation of a day off and is in compliance with sub‑paragraph (4).
Standby duty
6.—(1)  An AOC holder must inform a crew member of the start time and end time of that crew member’s standby duty.
(2)  The length of any standby duty must not exceed —
(a)18 hours for a flight crew member; and
(b)24 hours for a cabin crew member.
(3)  When a person is on standby duty as a crew member is at the airport (called in this paragraph airport standby) and subsequently undertakes a flight duty immediately thereafter, the standby duty period —
(a)is part of the minimum rest period if the airport standby is provided with adequate rest facilities in accordance with sub‑paragraph (4); or
(b)is part of the flight duty period of this subsequent flight if the airport standby is provided without adequate rest facilities.
(4)  A rest facility at an airport must provide an environment that is conducive to rest or sleep and comprise, as a minimum, an independent, screened off rest area with a horizontal sleeping surface.
(5)  When an AOC holder requires a person to be on standby as a crew member at an accommodation, the AOC holder must ensure adequate rest facilities are provided at the accommodation.
(6)  When an AOC holder activates a person who is on standby as a crew member —
(a)the standby duty ceases from the moment the crew member is activated for duty; and
(b)the duty period commences from the moment that crew member reports for duty at the designated reporting point.
(7)  Only 20% of the total time spent on standby at home or in local accommodation will be counted in the total period of standby for the purpose of determining cumulative duty limits under paragraph 12.
Provision of adequate time
7.—(1)  An AOC holder must ensure each crew member is provided with adequate time to complete that crew member’s duties, which includes ensuring that the crew member’s reporting time realistically reflects the time required to complete all assigned pre‑flight duties.
(2)  A minimum of 90 minutes must be provided for the completion of pre‑flight checks and post‑flight checks, which must include allocating a minimum of one hour to the completion of pre‑flight checks.
(3)  To avoid doubt, the completion of pre‑flight checks and post‑flight checks includes the completion of any necessary documentation.
Positioning
8.  Positioning is not considered as an operating sector when planning or calculating a flight duty period.
Mixed simulator and aircraft flying
9.—(1)  When a person who may be assigned duty as a flight crew member flies in a flight simulation training device, either undergoing or conducting training, and then within the same duty period flies as a crew member on a commercial air transport, training or test flight, all the time spent in the flight simulation training device is counted in full towards the subsequent flight duty period.
(2)  The flight duty period for flight in a flight simulation training device is calculated from the reporting time of the simulator detail even though flying in a flight simulation training device does not count as a sector for the purpose of paragraph 14.
Delayed reporting time
10.  When a crew member is informed of a delay to the reporting time before leaving the place of rest, the flight duty period is calculated as follows:
(a)where the delay is less than 4 hours, the maximum permitted flight duty period is based on the original reporting time but the flight duty period starts at the actual reporting time;
(b)where the delay is 4 hours or more, the maximum permitted flight duty period is based on the actual reporting time but the flight duty period starts 4 hours after the original reporting time;
(c)where the AOC holder informs a crew member of a delay in reporting time of 10 hours or more before the crew member is scheduled to leave the place of rest and that crew member is not further disturbed by the AOC holder until a mutually agreed hour, then that elapsed time is considered a continuation of the rest period.
Limits on flight time
11.  An AOC holder must take into account the maximum number of flying hours a flight crew member may perform, as specified in regulation 107 of the Air Navigation (91 — General Operating Rules) Regulations 2018, when scheduling a person’s duty as a flight crew member.
Limits on duty hours
12.—(1)  An AOC holder must ensure that the duty hours of any person who may be assigned duty as a flight crew member do not exceed —
(a)90 hours in any consecutive 14 days; and
(b)180 hours in any consecutive 28 days.
(2)  An AOC holder must ensure that the duty hours of any person who may be assigned duty as a cabin crew member do not exceed —
(a)100 hours in any consecutive 14 days; and
(b)200 hours in any consecutive 28 days.
Discretion by a pilot-in-command to extend flight duty period
13.—(1)  An AOC holder may grant the pilot‑in‑command the discretion to extend a flight duty period under unforeseen operational circumstances by no more than 3 hours under the following circumstances:
(a)before exercising this discretion, the pilot‑in‑command —
(i)has carried out a fatigue risk assessment; and
(ii)is satisfied that all members of the crew required to operate the aeroplane consider themselves fit to do so;
(b)the safety of the flight will not be prejudiced;
(c)the extended flight duty period does not exceed the maximum permitted flight duty period by more than 3 hours except in an emergency.
(2)  For the purposes of sub‑paragraph (1)(c), an emergency is a situation which, in the judgment of the pilot‑in‑command, presents a serious risk to the health or safety of the persons on board the aeroplane.
(3)  An AOC holder must —
(a)ensure that the pilot‑in‑command reports to the AOC holder the use of discretion to extend duty or reduce rest by more than 2 hours from the normal limitations; and
(b)report to the Director‑General of Civil Aviation when such discretion is exercised in accordance with regulation 179.
(4)  If the discretion is exercised for similar reasons on more than 20% of occasions when a particular route or route pattern is flown, an AOC holder must review the schedule or the crewing management —
(a)to ensure that the intent of its fatigue risk management programme is being met; and
(b)to reduce the frequency at which such events occur.
Maximum Permitted Flight Duty Periods — Flight Crew
14.—(1)  Subject to sub‑paragraph (2) and paragraphs 13(1) and 15, an AOC holder must ensure that every person who may be assigned duty as a flight crew member does not exceed the maximum permitted flight duty period specified in —
(a)Table A, when the person is acclimatised to the local time before commencing the person’s flight duty on an aeroplane with a normal flight crew complement of 2 pilots;
 
Table A: Maximum permitted flight duty period for flight crew
(pilots acclimated to local time)
 
 
Maximum flight duty period (hours)
Local time of start
Total sectors to be flown
 
 
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8 or more
 
 
0600 – 0759
13
12 ¼
11 ½
10 ¾
10
9 ¼
9
9
 
 
0800 – 1459
14
13 ¼
12 ½
11 ¾
11
10 ¼
9 ½
9
 
 
1500 – 2159
13
12 ¼
11 ½
10 ¾
10
9 ¼
9
9
 
 
2200 – 0559
11
10 ¼
9 ½
9
9
9
9
9
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
(b)Table B, when the person is not acclimatised to the local time before commencing the person’s flight duty on an aeroplane with a normal flight crew complement of 2 pilots; or
 
Table B: Maximum permitted flight duty period for flight crew
(pilots not acclimated to local time)
 
 
Total sectors to be flown
1
2
3
4
5
6 or more
 
 
Maximum FDP (hours)
12 ½
12
11
10 ½
10
9
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
(c)Table C, when the aeroplane involved is a single-pilot aeroplane.
 
Table C: Maximum permitted flight duty period for flight crew
(Single pilot aeroplanes)
 
 
 
Total sectors to be flown
 
 
Local time of start
Up to 4
5
6
7
8 or more
 
 
0600 – 0759
10
9 ¼
8 ½
8
8
 
 
0800 – 1459
11
10 ¼
9 ½
8 ¾
8
 
 
1500 – 2159
10
9 ¼
8 ½
8
8
 
 
2200 – 0559
9
8 ¼
8
8
8
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
(2)  When the assigned flight crew for a flight of a large aeroplane only consists of 2 pilots, the flight duty period calculated with reference to Table A or B must be adjusted by counting long sectors as more than one sector in the following manner:
Single sector length (block time) as
Count as (sectors)
Table A
Table B
Over 7 but not over 9 hours
2
3
Over 9 but not over 11 hours
3
4
Over 11 hours
4
5
Maximum Permitted Flight Duty Periods — Augmented Flight Crew
15.—(1)  An AOC holder may extend the maximum permitted flight duty period specified in paragraph 14(1) in accordance with sub‑paragraph (2) when all the following conditions are met:
(a)the flight crew is augmented with appropriate composition and number of flight crew members to provide in‑flight relief;
(b)there are appropriate in‑flight rest facilities for use by the flight crew members;
(c)there is an appropriate division of in‑flight duties and rest among the crew members.
(2)  When all the conditions in sub‑paragraph (1) are met, the maximum permitted flight duty period may be extended as follows:
(a)if augmented with one flight crew member and appropriate rest facilities are available for one pilot, up to a maximum flight duty period of 15 hours;
(b)if augmented with 2 flight crew members and appropriate rest facilities are available for 2 pilots, up to a maximum flight duty period of 18 hours.
(3)  For the purpose of sub-paragraph (2) —
(a)in an augmented flight crew, a flight crew member may leave the flight crew member’s assigned post and be replaced by another appropriately qualified flight crew member for the purpose of in-flight rest; and
(b)no extension of flight duty period is permitted even with augmented flight crew if no rest facilities are available.
(4)  An AOC holder must ensure that horizontal rest facilities are available in an aeroplane before the aeroplane is used for a long haul flight with augmented flight crew, particularly if the flight duty period includes the time span from 0100 to 0659 hours (local time at the point of departure).
Flight Duty Period for Cabin Crew
16.—(1)  An AOC holder may require a person assigned to duty as a cabin crew member of any large aeroplane to report at a time that is earlier than the cabin crew member’s scheduled reporting time for pre‑flight briefing only if the earlier time is not more than 60 minutes before the reporting time for a flight crew member.
(2)  The maximum permitted flight duty period for a cabin crew member is the same as that applicable to a flight crew member (as specified in paragraph 14), plus the difference in reporting time specified in sub‑paragraph (1).
(3)  An AOC holder must not assign a person to duty as a cabin crew member for a flight duty period of more than 14 hours, excluding the difference in reporting time between flight crew and cabin crew as described in sub‑paragraph (1), without providing in‑flight rest facilities.
(4)  An AOC holder may assign a cabin crew member a flight duty period of up to 19 hours only if —
(a)horizontal rest facilities are available in the aeroplane;
(b)the division of duty and rest is appropriately distributed among all cabin crew members on a flight; and
(c)the flight crew member is provided with a minimum in–flight rest period of —
(i)3 hours for a flight duty period of up to 16 hours; or
(ii)4 hours for a flight duty period of up to 19 hours is provided.
(5)  If horizontal rest facilities are not available in the aeroplane due to unforeseen circumstances, and the in‑flight rest has to be taken in a suitable seat, the minimum in‑flight rest period specified in sub‑paragraph (4)(c) must be increased by one hour.
Records
17.—(1)  An AOC holder must keep records of the duties performed and rest periods achieved in respect of every person who is assigned duty as a flight crew member, or as a cabin crew member, for the duration specified in the Sixth Schedule to the Air Navigation (91 — General Operating Rules) Regulations 2018.
(2)  An AOC holder must ensure that these records include, but are not limited to —
(a)for a person assigned duty as a flight crew member —
(i)the start, duration and end of each flight duty period;
(ii)the start, duration and end of each duty period;
(iii)rest periods and days off; and
(iv)flight time;
(b)for a person assigned duty as a cabin crew member —
(i)the start, duration and end of each flight duty period;
(ii)the start, duration and end of each duty period; and
(iii)rest periods and days off.
(3)  An AOC holder must maintain records of occasions when a pilot‑in‑command has exercised the pilot‑in‑command’s discretion to extend a duty period or reduce a rest period.
Part 2
FATIGUE RISK MANAGEMENT SYSTEM (FRMS)
FRMS
18.—(1)  An AOC holder’s FRMS must be approved by the Director‑General of Civil Aviation before the FRMS may take the place of all or any of the basic fatigue risk management regulations prescribed in Part 1.
(2)  Before the Director‑General of Civil Aviation approves an AOC holder’s FRMS, the Director‑General of Civil Aviation must be satisfied that the proposed FRMS will provide a level of safety equivalent to or better than the requirements prescribed in Part 1.
(3)  An AOC holder must —
(a)establish maximum values for flight times, flight duty periods and duty periods, and minimum values for rest periods;
(b)decrease the maximum values and increase the minimum if the AOC holder’s data indicates these values are too high or too low respectively; and
(c)not increase any maximum values or decrease in minimum values unless the AOC holder has —
(i)evaluated accumulated FRMS experience and fatigue‑related data to justify such changes; and
(ii)the Director‑General of Civil Aviation’s approval.
(4)  The values established under sub‑paragraph (3) must —
(a)be based upon scientific principles and knowledge;
(b)be subject to safety assurance processes; and
(c)be acceptable to the Director‑General of Civil Aviation.
(5)  An AOC holder must, as a minimum —
(a)incorporate scientific principles and knowledge within the FRMS;
(b)identify fatigue‑related safety hazards and the resulting risks on an ongoing basis;
(c)ensure that remedial actions, necessary to effectively mitigate the risks associated with the hazards, are implemented promptly;
(d)provide for continuous monitoring and regular assessment of the mitigation of fatigue risks achieved by such actions;
(e)provide for continuous improvement to the overall performance of the FRMS; and
(f)integrate the FRMS into the AOC holder’s safety management system.
(6)  An AOC holder’s FRMS must include the following:
(a)FRMS policy and documentation;
(b)fatigue risk management processes;
(c)FRMS safety assurance processes;
(d)FRMS promotion processes.
(7)  An AOC holder must maintain records for all its flight and cabin crew members pertaining to the duties performed and rest periods achieved for the duration specified in the Sixth Schedule to the Air Navigation (91 — General Operating Rules) Regulations 2018.
FRMS Policy and Documentation
19.—(1)  An AOC holder must include the FRMS policy and define the scope of FRMS operations in the Operations Manual.
(2)  An AOC holder must define its FRMS policy to reflect the shared responsibility of management, flight and cabin crew members, and other involved personnel.
(3)  The FRMS policy referred to in sub‑paragraph (2) must —
(a)clearly state the safety objectives of the FRMS;
(b)declare management commitment to —
(i)effective safety reporting;
(ii)the provision of adequate resources for the FRMS; and
(iii)continuous improvement of the FRMS;
(c)require clear lines of accountability for management, flight and cabin crews, and all other involved personnel are identified; and
(d)require periodic reviews to ensure the FRMS policy remains relevant and appropriate.
(4)  The FRMS policy must be signed by the accountable manager of the organisation and communicated, with visible endorsement, to all the relevant areas and levels of the organisation.
(5)  An AOC holder must develop and keep current FRMS documentation that describes and records —
(a)the FRMS policy and objectives;
(b)the FRMS processes and procedures;
(c)the accountabilities, responsibilities and authorities for these processes and procedures;
(d)the mechanisms for ongoing involvement of management, flight and cabin crew members, and all other involved personnel;
(e)the FRMS training programmes, training requirements and attendance records;
(f)the scheduled and actual flight times, duty periods and rest periods with significant deviations and reasons for deviations noted; and
(g)the FRMS outputs including findings from collected data, recommendations, and actions taken.
Fatigue risk management processes
Identification of hazards
20.—(1)  An AOC holder must develop and maintain 3 fundamental and documented processes for fatigue hazard identification:
(a)a predictive process;
(b)a proactive process; and
(c)a reactive process.
(2)  The predictive process mentioned in sub‑paragraph (1)(a) —
(a)must identify fatigue hazards by examining crew scheduling and taking into account factors known to affect sleep and fatigue and their effects on performance;
(b)may include, but is not limited to, methods of examination such as —
(i)AOC holder or industry operational experience and data collected on similar types of operations;
(ii)evidence-based scheduling practices; and
(iii)bio-mathematical models.
(3)  The proactive process mentioned in sub‑paragraph (1)(b) —
(a)must identify fatigue hazards within current flight operations;
(b)may include, but is not limited to, methods of examination such as —
(i)self-reporting of fatigue risks;
(ii)crew fatigue surveys;
(iii)relevant flight and cabin crew performance data;
(iv)available safety databases and scientific studies; and
(v)analysis of planned versus actual time worked.
(4)  The reactive process mentioned in sub‑paragraph (1)(c) —
(a)must identify the contribution of fatigue hazards to reports and events associated with potential negative safety consequences in order to determine how the impact of fatigue could have been minimised; and
(b)may be triggered by any of the following:
(i)fatigue reports;
(ii)confidential reports;
(iii)audit reports;
(iv)incidents; and
(v)flight data analysis events.
 
Risk assessment
(5)  An AOC holder must develop and implement risk assessment procedures that determine the probability and potential severity of fatigue‑related events and identify when the associated risks require mitigation.
(6)  The risk assessment procedures developed in accordance with sub-paragraph (5) must review the fatigue hazards identified under the processes in sub‑paragraphs (2), (3) and (4), and correlate each identified hazard to —
(a)the current operational processes;
(b)the probability of the hazard occurring;
(c)the possible consequences upon its occurrence; and
(d)the effectiveness of existing safety barriers and controls in preventing its occurrence.
 
Risk mitigation
(7)  An AOC holder must develop and implement procedures to mitigate the risks identified in sub‑paragraph (6).
(8)  The risk mitigation procedures required under sub‑paragraph (7) include:
(a)the selection of appropriate mitigation strategies;
(b)the implementation of the selected mitigation strategies; and
(c)the monitoring of the implementation and effectiveness of the selected mitigation strategies.
FRMS safety assurance processes
21.—(1)  An AOC holder must develop and maintain FRMS safety assurance processes —
(a)to provide for continuous FRMS performance monitoring, analysis of trends, and measurement to validate the effectiveness of the fatigue safety risk controls;
(b)to provide a formal process for the management of change; and
(c)to provide for the continuous improvement of the FRMS.
(2)  The sources of data for performance monitoring under sub‑paragraph (1)(a) may include, but are not limited to —
(a)hazard reporting and investigations;
(b)audits and surveys; and
(c)reviews and fatigue studies.
(3)  The formal processes mentioned in sub‑paragraph (1)(b) must include —
(a)the identification of changes in the operational environment that may affect FRMS;
(b)the identification of changes within the organisation that may affect FRMS; and
(c)the consideration of available tools which could be used to maintain or improve FRMS performance prior to implementing changes.
(4)  The improvements mentioned in sub‑paragraph (1)(c) must include —
(a)the elimination or modification of risk controls that have had unintended consequences or that are no longer needed due to changes in the operational or organisational environment;
(b)routine evaluations of facilities, equipment, documentation and procedures; and
(c)the determination of the need to introduce new processes and procedures to mitigate emerging fatigue‑related risks.
FRMS promotion processes
22.—(1)  An AOC holder must establish and implement processes which promote the implementation of FRMS and support —
(a)the ongoing development of the FRMS;
(b)the continuous improvement of the overall performance of the FRMS; and
(c)the attainment of optimum safety levels.
(2)  The processes mentioned in sub‑paragraph (1) must include —
(a)training programmes to ensure competency commensurate with the roles and responsibilities of management, flight and cabin crew, and all other involved personnel under the planned FRMS; and
(b)an effective FRMS communication plan that —
(i)explains FRMS policies, procedures and responsibilities to all relevant stakeholders; and
(ii)describes communication channels used to gather and disseminate FRMS‑related information.
Singapore Statutes Online
© 2024 Attorney-General's Chambers of Singapore,
Last updated 23 Apr 2024
Singapore Statutes Online is provided by the Legislation Division of the Attorney-General's Chambers of Singapore.