GM1 ORO.GEN.110(f) Operator responsibilities

CAA ORS9 Decision No. 1

STERILE FLIGHT CREW COMPARTMENT

(a) Establishment of procedures

The operator should establish procedures for flight, cabin, and technical crew that emphasise the objectives and importance of the sterile flight crew compartment. These procedures should also emphasise that, during periods of time when the sterile flight deck compartment procedures are applied, cabin crew and technical crew members should call the flight crew or enter the flight crew compartment only in cases related to safety or security matters. In such cases, information should be timely and accurate.

(b) Flight crew activities

When sterile flight crew compartment procedures are applied, flight crew members are focused on their essential operational activities without being disturbed by non-safety related matters. Examples of activities that should not be performed are:

(1) radio calls concerning passenger connections, fuel loads, catering, etc.;

(2) non-critical paperwork; and

(3) mass and balance corrections and performance calculations, unless required for safety reasons.

Cabin crew and technical crew use their own discretion to determine whether the situation is related to safety or security matters and whether to call the flight crew. Situations requiring information to the flight crew may include:

(1) any outbreak of fire inside the cabin or in an engine;

(2) a burning smell in the cabin or presence of smoke inside or outside;

(3) fuel or fluid leakage;

(4) exit door unable to be armed or disarmed;

(5) localised extreme cabin temperature changes;

(6) evidence of airframe icing;

(7) cabin/galley equipment or furniture malfunction/breakage posing a hazard to the occupants;

(8) suspicious object;

(9) disruptive passenger;

(10) security threat;

(11) abnormal vibration or noise;

(12) medical emergency;

(13) general drop-down of the oxygen masks in the cabin; and

(14) any other condition deemed relevant by a cabin crew or technical crew member.