SAMRA/SARON Air Law and Procedures Questions

The holder of an Airline Transport Pilot Licence – Aeroplane, exercising the privileges of that licence, may act as

• pilot-in-command or second-in-command of any aeroplane, subject to holding the applicable type rating and meeting any other applicable requirements.
• second-in-command only, since command privileges require a separate command endorsement beyond the ATPL itself.
• pilot-in-command of any aeroplane, but never in an operation that requires two pilots, since the ATPL by itself does not extend to multi-crew command duties without further training and authorization.
• pilot-in-command only of aeroplanes operated under CARs Subpart 703 (air taxi operations), since ATPL privileges under other commercial subparts require a separate operational authorization from the Minister.

Explanation: CAR 401.34 gives an ATPL(A) holder the privileges of a commercial pilot licence plus the privilege of acting as pilot-in-command or second-in-command of any aeroplane, provided the holder has passed the appropriate type rating and meets any other applicable requirements (instrument rating, recency, etc.). The licence itself is not restricted to a particular subpart of commercial air service, and it does not bar the holder from multi-crew operations.

CARs 401.34 - ATPL (Aeroplane) Privileges

An aircraft operating within Class A, B, or C airspace, or within a designated transponder (Mode C) airspace around a major aerodrome, must be equipped with

• ADS-B receive equipment only, with the transponder itself being optional.
• an operating transponder with automatic pressure-altitude reporting equipment.
• HF radio equipment in addition to the required VHF equipment.
• a transponder capable of Mode A only, with code 1200 selected at all times.

Explanation: Transponder airspace requires an operating transponder with automatic pressure-altitude reporting (Mode C or Mode S) so that ATC surveillance systems and other aircraft's ACAS/TCAS equipment can determine the aircraft's altitude, not just its position.

CARs 605.35 - Transponder and Automatic Pressure-Altitude Reporting Equipment

A Private Operator Certificate, issued under CARs Subpart 604, authorizes

• the general public to purchase tickets directly from the certificate holder, in exactly the same way as a Subpart 705 scheduled commercial airline would allow.
• a company or individual to operate specified aircraft to transport their own employees or guests, without offering service for hire to the public.
• unrestricted commercial passenger carriage for hire to the general public, identical in scope to a Subpart 703 air taxi operation.
• flight training operations exclusively, with no passenger or cargo transportation component permitted at all.

Explanation: Subpart 604 exists for corporate/business aviation: it lets an operator carry its own personnel and guests using aircraft that may be quite large or sophisticated (comparable to some Subpart 704/705 aircraft), but without offering that transportation for hire to the general public the way a commercial air taxi, commuter, or airline operation does -- a meaningfully different regulatory category, even though the aircraft and even some procedures can look similar.

CARs Part VI, Subpart 4 - Private Operator Passenger Transportation Operations

ADS-B Out equipment carriage is mandated in certain designated portions of Canadian airspace primarily to

• provide ATC with a reliable, satellite-based surveillance source for aircraft operating in that airspace, particularly valuable where radar coverage is limited or absent.
• provide a two-way voice communication capability, functioning as a voice radio replacement rather than a surveillance technology.
• apply exclusively to aircraft operating under VFR, with IFR aircraft specifically exempted from any ADS-B Out carriage mandate.
• replace the requirement to carry a transponder entirely, with transponder carriage no longer required anywhere ADS-B Out is mandated.

Explanation: Mandating ADS-B Out in designated airspace gives ATC a dependable, satellite-derived surveillance picture of equipped aircraft, which is especially valuable in areas where ground-based radar coverage is limited, patchy, or entirely absent -- it's a surveillance mandate that generally works alongside (and, on many aircraft, integrates with) transponder equipment rather than eliminating the transponder requirement, and it applies based on the airspace and equipage rules involved rather than being VFR-only or IFR-exempt, and it provides positional data, not a voice communication function.

TP 690 Section 1 - Air Law and Procedures, ADS-B Equipage Requirements

The concept of 'operational control' of a flight refers to

• the physical manipulation of the aircraft's flight controls, a function that belongs exclusively to whichever pilot is designated as pilot flying at a given moment.
• the authority and responsibility for initiating, conducting, and terminating a flight, which under CARs Part VII is generally exercised jointly, in defined ways, by the air operator and the pilot-in-command.
• the maintenance organization's authority over whether an aircraft is released for a particular flight, a decision made independently of both the operator and the pilot-in-command.
• air traffic control's authority to issue clearances, a function entirely separate from and unrelated to both the air operator's own responsibilities and the pilot-in-command's role in conducting the flight itself.

Explanation: Operational control refers to the authority and responsibility for initiating, conducting, and terminating a flight, which under CARs Part VII is generally exercised, in defined ways, jointly by the air operator (through its operational control system) and the pilot-in-command -- it is distinct from the mechanical act of flying the aircraft, from ATC's clearance authority, and from maintenance release decisions considered in isolation.

CARs 700 - Operational Control

CARs Subpart 702 (Aerial Work) generally governs commercial air operations such as

• commuter operations using small multi-engine aircraft on scheduled routes, a category of operation more directly governed by Subpart 704.
• large transport-category aircraft operations carrying passengers on scheduled routes, a category of operation more directly governed by Subpart 705.
• specialized, typically single-aircraft-at-a-time operations conducted for purposes other than transporting passengers or cargo from one point to another for hire, such as aerial application, aerial survey, or forest fire fighting.
• strictly recreational, non-commercial private flying conducted entirely for personal enjoyment with no commercial component, remuneration, or air operator certificate requirement of any kind whatsoever, regardless of the aircraft type or activity being flown.

Explanation: CARs Subpart 702 governs aerial work operations -- specialized commercial flying conducted for purposes other than transporting passengers or cargo between points for hire, such as aerial application (spraying), aerial survey, forest fire fighting, and similar specialized tasks -- distinguishing it from the passenger/cargo transport operations governed by Subparts 703, 704, and 705.

CARs Subpart 702; TP 690 -- Air Law: Air Operator Certification

A Canadian pilot licence itself, once issued, generally

• remains valid to exercise all of its privileges indefinitely, with no need for a medical certificate or recency requirements of any kind.
• is automatically suspended the moment the holder's medical certificate lapses, requiring the licence itself to be physically returned to the regulator.
• expires automatically after a fixed number of years and must be entirely reissued through a new application process.
• does not expire on its own, but the privileges it confers can only be exercised when the holder also meets separate, ongoing requirements such as a valid medical certificate and applicable recency experience.

Explanation: A Canadian pilot licence does not carry its own expiry date and remains a licence the holder continues to possess; however, the ability to actually exercise its privileges -- to act as pilot-in-command or in another required crew position -- depends on separately meeting ongoing requirements such as holding a valid medical certificate and satisfying applicable recency experience, so a lapsed medical certificate suspends the ability to exercise privileges without invalidating the licence document itself.

TP 690 -- Air Law and Procedures: Personnel Licensing

The minimum number of flight attendants required to be carried on a commercial flight under the CARs is generally determined primarily by

• the number of passenger seats installed or the approved passenger seating configuration of the aircraft
• the total flight time of the sector, regardless of aircraft size, under the applicable CARs
• whether the flight is conducted by day or by night, as normally required under the regulations
• the number of pilots assigned to the flight, as normally required under the regulations

Explanation: The minimum required flight attendant complement is generally tied to the number of passenger seats installed or the approved passenger seating configuration of the aircraft, reflecting the need for adequate cabin crew to manage passenger safety and evacuation for that configuration.

TP 690 -- Air Law and Procedures: Cabin crew complement