(a) General: The Egyptian Civil Aviation Regulations
(ECARs) require operators to prepare and keep current various manuals for the
direction and guidance of flight and ground personnel conducting air
transportation operations. This EAC
provides general manual information and guidance on the development of required
manuals.
(b) Flight Manual: An ECAA approved flight manual must be
carried aboard each aircraft for the guidance of crewmembers when conducting
flight operations. This may be the
manufacturer's Aicraft Flight Manual (AFM) or one developed by the operator.
(c) General Manual: ECAR 121.133 requires each operator to
prepare and keep current a manual providing guidance for all categories of
flight and ground personnel. This
manual is termed a "general manual." The operator's general manual must include the duties and
responsibilities of each category of employee. The manual must also include adequate policy, direction, and
guidance for the safe and efficient performance of the duties assigned to each
category of employee. The ECARs
only require an operator to produce a single manual. In practice, however, a
system of manuals is usually necessary, even for relatively simple operations. Operators have wide latitude in structuring
their manuals.
(d) Definitions: Operators should be familiar with the
following terms:
(1) General
Operations Manual (GOM): A segment of the general manual which applies to
flight operational activities. The GOM is one of two major segments of an
operator's general manual.
(2) General
Maintenance Manual (GMM): A segment of the general manual which applies to
airworthiness activities. The GMM
is one of two major segments of an operator's general manual.
(3) User
Manual: A segment of a GOM or GMM that provides instruction, policies,
procedures, and guidance to a specific category of employee. Examples of user manuals commonly used
in the air transportation industry are:
(i) Flight Operations Policy Manual
(ii) Runway Analysis Manual
(iii) Security Manual
(iv) Cabin Crew Or Cabin
Service Manual
(v) Flight Dispatch Manual
(vi) Station Operations Manual
(vii) Route And Airport Manual
(viii)
Dangerous Goods Manual
(ix)
Emergency Procedures Manual
(4)
Aircraft Flight Manual (AFM): A manual prepared by the manufacturer and
accepted by the ECAA.
(5)
Aircraft Operating Manual (AOM): An approved manual that is developed
by, or for, an operator for a specific aircraft type.
(6) Policy:
A written requirement established by an operator's management which is expected
to be complied with by appropriate employee personnel.
(7)
Recommendation: A preferred technique or action described by the
operator which employees are expected to follow whenever practical.
(8)
Procedure: A logical progression of actions and/or decisions in a fixed
sequence which is prescribed by an operator to achieve an objective. In short, a procedure is step by step
guidance on how to do something.
(9)
Technique: A method of accomplishing a procedural step or maneuver.
(e) Distribution And
Availability Of Manuals: Each
operator is required to maintain a complete manual (or set of manuals) at its
principal base of operations and to furnish a complete manual to the ECAA. In addition, each operator must make
available or furnish applicable parts of the manual (user manuals) to flight
and ground operations personnel who conduct or support flight operations.
Each employee to whom the manual
is furnished must keep it current.
Each employee must have access to appropriate manuals or parts of manuals
when performing assigned duties.
(f) Review of Manuals: Operators must continually review their
manuals to ensure they contain adequate content and are in compliance with
applicable regulations, safe operating practices, and the operator's OpSpecs. The development and production of an
acceptable manual is solely the responsibility of the operator.
(g) Format/Style of
Manuals: Each page of a manual
must include the most recent revision date. In general, manuals and checklists should be easy to use and
understand, and in a format that can be easily revised. The following manual elements required:
(h) Preface Page: The first page of a manual should be a
preface page containing a brief statement of the manual's purpose and intended
user. The preface page should also
contain a statement which emphasizes that the procedures and policies in the
manual are expected to be used by company personnel.
(i) Revision Control: Each manual should be easy to
revise. Also, each manual should
contain a revision control page or section from which the user can readily
determine whether the manual is current.
This page should preferably follow the preface page. The control date of
the most recent revision must appear on each page. A bulletin system should be established to bring temporary
information or changes, which should not be delayed by a formal revision
process, to the attention of the user.
The bulletin system should have a means of control that includes giving
bulletins an expiration date and systematically incorporating them in a timely
manner. Users should be able to
easily determine whether they possess all current bulletins.
(j) Table of Contents: Each manual should have a table of
contents containing lists of major topics with their respective page numbers.
(k) References: Manuals must include references to
specific ECARs when appropriate. A
reference to regulations or other manual material is appropriate when it is
necessary to clarify the intent of the text or when it is useful to the user
for looking up specific subject matter.
References should not be made to advisory circulars and to preambles of
ECARs, as these sources are advisory and not binding in nature.
(l) Definitions: Significant terms used in manuals
should be defined. Any acronym or
abbreviation not in common use should also be defined.
(m) Elements of Style: Manuals should be clear, concise, and
easy to understand. The following
suggestions will assist an operator during manual development:
(1)
Whenever possible, short, common words should be used.
(2)
When a word has more than one
meaning, the most common meaning should be used.
(3)
Operators should standardize
terminology whenever practical.
(4)
To provide appropriate
degrees of emphasis on specific points in the text, "cautions,"
"warnings," and "notes" should be used.
(5)
Descriptions in the manual
should not be overly complex and difficult to understand.
(6)
Long and detailed sentences
should be avoided.
(n) The operator should
ensure that manual contents are consistent with the following:
(1)
ECARs
(2)
ECAA guidance
(3)
The operator's OpSpecs
(4)
Appropriate EACs
(5)
Applicable aircraft flight
manuals, manufacturer's operating bulletins, and airworthiness directives
(6)
Safe operating procedures
(7)
The operator's cockpit
resource management policies
(o) Adequacy of
Procedures: Each operator should
develop procedures according to the following guidelines:
(p) Objective: Must be stated clearly unless it is so
commonly understood that a statement of the objective is not necessary.
(q) Logical Sequence: Procedures should flow in a logical step
by step sequence rather than in narrative format. The most effective procedures are usually simple and contain
only the information necessary for accomplishing that procedure.
(r) General Considerations:
(1)
A procedure must be an
acceptable method for accomplishing the intended objective.
(2)
The individual responsible
for each step of a procedure must be clearly identified.
(3)
The acceptable standards of
performance for a procedure are to be stated if those standards are not
commonly understood or clearly obvious.
(4)
Since a variety of personnel
with differing degrees of expertise are involved in procedures, adequate
information must be provided for the least experienced individual. A procedure may be described very
briefly and concisely when the user is capable of achieving the objective
without extensive direction or detail.
When the user has limited training or experience, however, a procedure
must be described in enough detail for the user to correctly accomplish it.
(5)
When a form or checklist is
necessary to accomplish a procedure, the location of that item must be
indicated in the procedure.
(6)
Enough time should be
available under normal circumstances for the user to accomplish a procedure. If
sufficient time is not available, either the procedure or the user's duties
must be revised.
(s) Approvals/Acceptance of
Manuals
(1)
"Approved" is used
to describe a document, manual, or checklist that is required by the ECARs and
must be evaluated and approved by the ECAA.
(2)
"Accepted" is used
to describe a document, manual, or checklist that is not required to have ECAA
approval. Only a portion of an
operator's manuals is required to have ECAA approval. The remaining portions are "accepted" by the
ECAA. Operators are required to
submit the entire general manual to the ECAA for evaluation and review. If the ECAA concludes that an accepted
section of the general manual is not in compliance, they will formally notify
the operator of the deficiency. Upon notification, the operator must take
appropriate action to resolve the deficiency.
(t) Emergency
Revisions: For safety reasons, an
operator may sometimes find it necessary to immediately revise approved
material before there is an opportunity to coordinate the revision with the
ECAA. In such cases, the operator
should take action, as necessary, to make the revision effective (such as alert
bulletins or dispatch messages).
For example, an operator may become aware of a deficiency after business
hours, on a weekend, or on a holiday.
In such cases, the operator should take immediate action. When emergency revisions to approved
material are made, the operator shall notify the ECAA of the revision at the
earliest practical opportunity (first working day after the action).