Interview Questions Flashcards
(48 cards)
What do we need to commit?
OMA says that “a landing is assured if, in the judgement of the commander, it could be completed in the event of any forecast deterioration in the weather and plausible single failures of ground and/or airborne facilities eg CAT II/III to CAT I
Use TEM, must land with at least final reserve.
Consider threat of delay with no EAT
Be cautious with CB/TS activity
Be cautious with LVPs or when conditions close to CAT I minima with no LVPs in force
Be cautious when runway treatment, snow clearance or FZRA are possible
Safe landing Vs landing assured?
Safe landing: in the context of fuel schemes, a landing at an adequate aerodrome with no less than the final reserve fuel remaining and in compliance with the applicable operational procedures and aerodrome operating minima. (OMA 0.1.4)
Landing Assured: a landing is assured if, in the judgement of the commander, it could be completed in the event of any forecast deterioration in the weather and plausible single failures of ground and/or airborne facilities.
What overspeed protections do we have in normal and alternate law?
Normal law: VMO/MMO protection
Alternate law: high speed stability (nose up signal can be overridden by the pilot)
How much power is provided by a generator and the emergency generator?
Normal generator 90kva
Emergency generator 5kva
What are the low speed protections in normal and alternate law?
Normal law: VLS, V alpha prot, when alpha exceeds alpha prot, the elevator control switches to alpha protection mode where AoA is proportional to sidestick deflection. V Alpha max will not be exceeded even with full deflection.
Alternate law: low speed stability, nose down pitch signal. Low energy warning “speed, speed”
Talk about steep approaches. Can we do an autoland? What’s the limit?
Steep approach: any approach with glideslope angle >4.5 degrees. Requires specific operator approval for each type concerned.
Steeper angle approaches between -3.5° and -4.5° (early stabilised approach required)
Autoland not approved as the limit is between -2.5° and -3.25°
G+B hydraulic?
Controllability issue. AP 1+2 inop, ALTN to DCT law Once gear down, gravity gear extension. No slats, no ailerons, one elevator
Ref landing distance 1700m
G+Y hydraulic?
Landing distance issue
ALTN to DCT law Once gear down, AP 1+2 inop, gravity gear extension. No flaps, no reverse
Ref landing distance 2500M
Cabin crew doesn’t want to do discretion on sector 3, intentions?
Firstly I’d need to assess their fitness to fly, if it’s mentioned that they are unhappy with the company, I’d offer solutions such as no service on sector 4, use discretion to extend rest at the end of the duty. Ultimately it comes down to safety and if they tell me they are not fit to fly then I cannot lawfully force them.
Why do we recover better from a stall at low altitude than high altitude?
Due to greater air density and more available power from the engines
Normal law protections?
High AoA protection
Load factor limitation
High speed protection
Bank angle protection
Pitch attitude protection
Low energy warning
Name the airbus flight control laws?
Normal law
Alternate law
Direct law
Mechanical backup
Unusual attitude law
What is the MORA?
Company minimum flight altitude depicted on the OFP based on route MORA, provides 1000ft clearance on terrain <5000ft and 2000ft clearance on terrain>5000ft within 20nm of the route segment centre line.
Minimum MFA value depicted on OFPs is 2000ft
What is MGA?
Minimum grid altitude
Lowest safe altitude that can be flown off track
1000ft clearance on terrain or obstructions<6000ft
2000ft clearance on terrain or obstructions>6000ft
MGA is shown in hundreds of feet. Lowest indicated MGA is 2000ft
Value is also provided for terrain and obstacles that would result in an MGA below 2000ft. An exception is over water areas where the MGA can be omitted.
Explain high speed protection in Normal law?
The aircraft will automatically recover from a high speed upset. As the speed increases above VMO/MMO, sidestick nose down authority is reduced and a permanent nose up order is applied.
The autopilot will disconnect as high speed protection becomes active (VMO+6kts MMO +0.01)
With sidestick input the nose down authority reduced to zero
VMO +16
MMO +0.04
Max taxi speeds with damage or deflated tyres?
If one tire deflated max speed during turn MAX 7kt
If two tires deflated on same main gear MAX SPEED 3kt
Max NWS angle 30°
What is GS mini?
Autothrust function that makes a computation to enable a safe approach speed during windy conditions.
The calculation uses tower wind and actual winds aloft to vary the target speed to maintain a safe energy during the approach making use of the aircrafs inertia.
Minimum temperature for JET A1?
-43c
(Maximum is 54c)
You are told to hold for 20 minutes with 10 minutes extra fuel. Intentions?
Initially we’d assess what is causing the delays and obtain an EAT. What is the weather situation at destination. If we can judge it to be an assured landing then we can convert our alternate fuel to holding and commit for a safe landing.
If the weather is poor and deteriorating with high levels of traffic, delay is undetermined or there had been an incident then I’d be more diversion minded.
It’s sector 3, you have a long CTOT, CC say “no discretion for me”. Intentions?
Firstly and most importantly, I’d always be honest with the cabin crew about the delay and not hide anything. Initially I’d assess their fitness to fly, if they tell me they are not fit to operate then I cannot lawfully force them, safety should be the overiding factor.
If they tell me it’s because they are mad at the company (eg negotiations in Lis not going well and strike action ongoing), I would then try offer solutions such as no service on sector 4 to mitigate against fatigue, using discretion to increase rest for the next day etc. But ultimately I’d never force any crew member to fly who were not fit to do so.
When do we need two destination alternates?
-No meteorological information available
-Meteorological reports below the applicable planning minima taking in to consideration any NOTAM, MEL items or crew qualification impacting operating minima.
-landing performance requirements cannot be assured at destination aerodrome due to dependence on specific wind component or rwy state.
When can you have no destination alternate?
Under alternate planning procedures a flight may be planned without destination alternate provided the dest aerodrome has two separate landing runways where a risk of a single event or meteorological deterioration will not eliminate safe options.
The following conditions shall be met:
- duration of planned flight takeoff to landing <6hrs or in the event of in flight re-planning the remaining time <4hrs
- the appropriate wx reports and/or forecasts +/- 1 HR ETA indicate ceiling at least 2000ft or circling hgt+500ft whichever greater and
Ground visibility at least 5000m - additional fuel is carried, enough to hold 15mins at 1500ft above destination in still air ISA conditions
When can we consider two runway’s to be separated?
-Runway’s on the same aerodrome considered separated when there are separate landing surfaces.
-These runway’s may overlap or cross in such a way that if one were to be blocked, it will not prevent the planned type of operation on the other.
- each runway shall have a separate approach procedure based on a separate navigation aid.
Where can you find events to be reported by ASR?
OMA 11.9 List of reportable occurrences
