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Capacity
If a visual approach is offered, and it gets accepted by the pilot, the airport can declare higher capacity. Whereas IFR procedures reduce the airport's capacity.
US and European airports handle their slots differently. Europe plans for the worst, which can on good days limit the full potential. The US plans for the best, which can on bad days end ...
44
There is absolutely nothing "typical" about such a situation, which is also why - as is the case for most abnormal situations and emergencies - there are no detailed and specific standard procedures for dealing with it.
Many ATC units around the world have adopted the general "ASSIST" checklist to deal with abnormal situations. This would ...
27
Generally, airlines are required to have content in their ops manual clearly stating who is entitled to flight deck access from the point the engines are started until shutdown. In some countries, such as the UK, airlines are required to limit access only to essential personnel, and foreign airlines must follow the rule while in UK airspace. I would find it ...
19
Since your question explicitly mentions emergency situations:
Especially during time-critical emergency landings, the workload of the flight crew is at a higher level anyway. The answer by ymb1 already explains that familiarity with the airport surroundings is usually lower for foreign pilots. Add to the fact that at the end of a long-haul flight, fatigue ...
15
This has happened several times and each time I was able to reach a local approach facility. Prior to GPS, I would circle above the event, and approach would get a pretty good fix. One time it was a propane facility near the uncontrolled airport I was flying out of at night. Shortly there after, when the flames shot above 4500 feet, the tower saw it form ...
14
You're right that having a common transition altitude is better- efforts are underway in Europe to set a common transition altitude. Multiple studies have been carried out by Eurocontrol and it has been noted that it is better to have a single transition altitude. For example, from an aircrew prespective:
The multiplicity of transition altitudes and the ...
13
Eurocontrol has an online repository of European Aeronatical Information Services.
You'll need to register, but the basic service is free.
By default, the application is JAVA applet based, which works not in the best way. After logging on, you can change the default behaviour to HTML based, which makes it more user friendly.
Then clicking "Enter ...
12
In the US, you can find this on the FAA's website here. You can search for a US Airport, and it will pull up a Airport diagram with Taxiways, Runup areas, and Runways on it.
I couldn't find an official guide for European airports, but this site has a detailed guide for CDG, among others, with a taxiway map being one component. They also have a similar guide ...
12
A great site to download airport diagrams and other charts is charts.aero. As of April 2015, however, the site seems gone.
Airport diagrams show all the taxiways and ramps, which is what you are looking for.
Keep in mind that this is an unofficial website. The charts should not be used for actual navigation.
11
I think the policy is completely justified. An analogy: You wouldn't allow an unsafe and unapproved car onto a highway in Europe where it presents a unjust danger to everybody else.
You have to remember that the European Union is a fairly compact bunch of nations: To get to Paris from Southeast Asia or Africa, you're probably looking at overflying at least ...
11
To add to Antzi's answer it is most likely about worker safety. Your question is where do the 50lbs/23kg and 70lbs/32kg numbers come from. The current answer for US based airports would be the recommendations of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). Here is a link to their current lifting standards. There is a neat worksheet down at the ...
11
Good observation. It's often misquoted that the 1,000 feet is the [international] standard. The standards and recommendations for runway markings can be found in ICAO Annex 14. In particular section 5.2.6 for the touchdown zone marking (diagram shown below).
When a country decides it wants to deviate, it lists the differences in its AIP. In this case indeed ...
9
Having gone through this process, I thought I'd share my experiences and timescales:
Useful Docs:
https://publicapps.caa.co.uk/docs/33/InformationNotice2017029.pdf
http://publicapps.caa.co.uk/docs/33/SRG2140_Issue02_Enabled.pdf
1 Oct 2018
Get a checkout from an instructor and get them to sign the SRG2140 form and also certify copies of the docs required (...
8
Canada:
1.3 The applicant shall have no established medical history or clinical diagnosis which, according to accredited medical conclusion,
would render the applicant unable to exercise safely the privileges of
the permit, licence or rating applied for or held, as follows: (a)
psychosis or established neurosis; (b) alcohol or chemical dependence
...
8
Part of the issue may be that airline companies have specific rules/regulations to what aircrew are allowed to do. In Europe it is quite common for airline companies to only allow their aircrews visual approaches at their home bases (e.g. Amsterdam for KLM) or, in case the company uses several hubs, on those hubs.
There's a thin line between allowing visual ...
6
You definitely do not need to answer any theoretical questions before beginning flight training in Europe. In fact pop down to your nearest airfield, find a flight school, and chances are they will get you in the air (even for a trial flight) as soon as they are able.
Whoever told you that may have been thinking of the examinations you need to pass to get ...
6
If you look up the ICAO code, e.g. here
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Civil_Aviation_Organization_airport_code
then Google for the code + charts, e.g "EGLL charts", you will usually find what you're looking for.
https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=egll+charts
6
The project existed earlier but there is a clear and immediate reason for the creation of the first EU “black list”, it's the West Caribbean Airways Flight 708. The crash created a lot of emotion in France. Here is a Guardian article from the time.
After that crash, the EU felt the need to be seen as “doing something”, especially since many passengers might ...
6
I ended up asking my instructor about this.
His answer: If you aren't already talking to ATC, then switch to whatever frequency Control can be reached at in that location at the lowest controlled airspace altitude (which in the case of Sweden typically means whatever the local frequency for Sweden Control is at 5000 ft AMSL and above), climb in place if ...
6
You get to the 1500 hours by working in a flying job once you have your comm/group 1 IFR, which is where the 62k gets you. Even if you wanted to spend a decade renting airplanes to get the time in, for the 500 multi-crew part you have no choice but to find a flying job since there is no other way to get those hours unless you are rich enough to afford your ...
6
ATS routes in Europe are designated just like the rest of the world. ICAO publishes guidelines for the designation of ATS routes in Annex 11, which are adopted by almost all countries.
A route will consist of a possible prefix (see below) a letter (see below) and a basic designator (a number between 1-999).
The three types of prefix are:
K (Kopter) to ...
6
I would suggest to contact the IT ANSP and ask if they accept applications for ready entry ATCOS: https://www.enav.it/sites/public/en/LavoraConNoi/Traduzione-di-Contatti-n.html
In Germany we have plenty of so called „ready entries“ who applied for a job as ATC in Germany while holding a valid non-EU ATCO license.
After an assesment by our company and - ...
6
As a US citizen you can own an N-reg aircraft directly, regardless of where you live. The regulations on aircraft registration are in 14 CFR Part 47. They say who can register an N-reg aircraft, but they don't say anything about where that person must be. 47.3(a)(1) simply says:
§47.3 Registration required.
(a) An aircraft may be registered under 49 U.S.C....
5
Airport ground charts are always part of the AIP (Airport Information Publication). They are usually publicly available in electronic format, but not always easy to find. Wikipedia's entry for AIP has a
For european airports, you can get them from Eurocontrol (requires registration).
However, you can also usually get these directly from the country's CAA ...
5
Because people have to handle your luggage by hand, which is quite a hard job.
Heavier luggages would pose a health threat for them, putting even more stress on their back.
I once flew with a heavier (>32kg) luggage on a Seoul-Taipei flight and the ground staff was not pleased at the checking counter...
5
Is there ... a single license that allows a pilot to operate any European registered aircraft in any European country,
Yes.
According to the UK CAA
an EASA Part-FCL licence can be used to fly any EASA aircraft in any EASA member country.
I have interpreted your "Europe" as "EASA member" in order to avoid ambiguity about Switzerland, Croatia, Kalingrad, ...
5
If you're just wandering around VFR in uncontrolled airspace in the boonies, I would call in on whatever frequency is used for VFR enroute purposes in the EU and tell them what you are seeing and where it is, and go on with your day. If you are out of radio range but there is cell phone service, then call whatever regional control or flight information unit ...
5
Passengers on commercial airliners (US, EU, Canada, most of the world) aren't allowed to sit on the floor because 1) they could block the aisles and emergency exits and 2) they cannot be buckled up, putting their and others lives at risk.
That does not mean it could not have happened, just if it did it was against regulation.
There are cases where ...
4
Eurocontrol has the charts for all participating countries. You'll need to register for a free account.
https://eadbasic.ead-it.com/cms-eadbasic/opencms/en/login/ead-basic/
"The EAD Basic solution is specifically targeted at:
private pilots and general aviation;
members of the public searching for aeronautical information;
training schools;
everyone who ...
4
The US Medical Certificate application form (FAA 8500-8, the thing we fill out online now) includes a question asking if you have or have ever been diagnosed with Mental disorders of any sort; depression, anxiety, etc.
If you answer yes your application for a medical is subject to additional scrutiny, and per the FAA's guidance:
An applicant with an ...
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