WORKING HOURS OF AIRCRAFT

MAINTENANCE PERSONNEL

AIRWORTHINESS NOTICE

VERSION : 1.0
DATE OF IMPLEMENTATION : 01-11-2014
OFFICE OF PRIME INTEREST : AIRWORTHINESS DIRECTORATE

01/11/2014 AWNOT-082-AWXX-1.0
 WORKING HOURS OF AIRCRAFT MAINTENANCE PERSONNEL

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A. AUTHORITY:

A1. This Airworthiness Notice has been issued under the authority vested in DG CAA vide
Rule 4, 5 of Civil Aviation Rules 1994 and ANO-145.

B. PURPOSE:

B1. This Airworthiness Notice prescribes working hours for Aircraft Maintenance Personnel.

C. SCOPE:

C1. The scope of this Airworthiness Notice cover working Hours of Aircraft Maintenance
Personnel employed by Maintenance organisations/operators.

D. DESCRIPTION:

D1. DEFINITION:

Nil

D2. GENERAL:

D2.1 The aviation maintenance system is heavily dependent upon people being able to
perform their jobs efficiently. On a number of occasions, Airworthiness Directorate has
been reported excessive working hours or shift detailing of individuals involved in aircraft
maintenance. The stretched working hours are a potential hazard, which is contrary to
Human Performance Limitations. Despite obvious involvement of maintenance
personnel in the overall safety of air transport operations, there exist no such limit on the
work hours of aircraft maintenance personnel. Additionally, other factors also contribute
to concerns over the extended work hours of aircraft maintenance personnel, which
leads to making errors, omissions, lapses and failure to notice obvious flaws.

D3. APPLICABILITY:

D3.1 This Airworthiness Notice is applicable to all local operators, Maintenance Organizations
and individuals, who are engaged in aviation related maintenance activities; all local
approved organizations involved in aircraft maintenance/ overhaul, aviation training,
design, manufacture or repair of aircraft components.

D4. WORKING HOURS LIMITATIONS:

D4.1 All local organizations or persons / resident in Pakistan, are required to follow the
following limitations:

D4.1.1 No scheduled shift should exceed 12 hours.

D4.1.2 No shift should be extended through overtime beyond a total of 13 hours.

D4.1.3 A minimum rest period of 11 hours should be allowed between the end of a shift
and the beginning of the next, and this should not be compromised by overtime.

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D4.1.4 A break is to be taken after maximum of four hours’ work.

D4.1.5 A minimum break period of fifteen minutes for first hour plus five minutes for
each subsequent hour worked since the start of the work period or the last
break.

D4.1.6 Scheduled work hours should not exceed 48 hours in any period of seven
successive days.
D4.1.7 Total work, including overtime, should not exceed 60 hours or seven successive
work days before a period of rest days.

D4.1.8 A period of rest days should include a minimum of two successive rest days
continuous with the 11 hours off between shifts (i.e. a minimum of 59 hours
off).This limit should not be compromised by overtime.

D4.1.9 A minimum of 4 weeks annual leave should be allowed.

D4.1.10 A span of successive night shifts should be limited to 6 for shifts of up to 8

hours long, 4 for shifts exceeding 8 hours up to 10 hours long, and 2 for shifts of
exceeding 10 hours or longer. These limits should not be exceeded by
overtime.

D4.1.11 A span of nights shifts involving 12 or more hours of work should be

immediately followed by a minimum of two successive rest days continuous
with the 11 hours off between shifts (i.e. a minimum of 59 hours off) and this
should be increased to three successive rest days (i.e. 83 hours off) if the
preceding span of night shifts exceeds three or 36 hours of work. These limits
should not be compromised by overtime.

D4.1.12 The finish time of the night shift should not be later than 08:00.

D4.1.13 A morning or day shift should not be scheduled to start before 06:00, and
wherever possible should be delayed to start between 07:00 and 08:00.

D4.1.14 A span of successive morning or day shifts that start before 07:00 should be
limited to four, immediately following which there should be a minimum of two
successive rest days continuous with the 11 hours off between shifts (i.e. a
minimum of 59 hours off). This limit should not be compromised by overtime.

D4.1.15 Wherever possible aircraft maintenance personnel should be given at least 28

days’ notice of their routine work schedule.

D4.1.16 Training programmes should be developed to increase aircraft maintenance

engineers’ and support staff awareness on the problems associated with shift
work. In particular, it is important to draw their attention to the objective trends
in risk with a view to increasing their vigilance at points when risk may be high
despite the fact that fatigue may not be. It is also important to provide
information on how to plan for night work, and to give guidance on the health
risks which seem to be associated with shift work, particularly at night.

D4.1.17 Aircraft maintenance personnel should be required to report for duty after they
have taken adequate rest.

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D4.1.18 Aircraft maintenance personnel should be discouraged or prevented from

working for other organisations on their rest days, as it may result in exceeding
the subject regulation on working hours, despite emphasis by their parent
employer.

D5. WORKING HOURS RECORDS:

D5.1 Organisations shall establish an adequate, temper proof working hours/attendance

record keeping system. The said records shall be readily made available to PCAA
inspectors.

E. EVIDENCES (ACRONYMS / RECORDS / REFERENCES):

E1. ACRONYMS:
ANO AIR NAVIGATION ORDERS
AWNOT AIRWORTHINESS NOTICE
CAR CIVIL AVIATION RULES
DG CAA DIRECTOR GENERAL CIVIL AVIATION AUTHORITY
PCAA PAKISTAN CIVIL AVIATION AUTHORITY

E2. RECORDS:
Nil
E3. REFERENCES:
CAR 1994
ANO 145
CAA UK PAPER 2002/06
IMPLEMENTATION:

This Airworthiness Notice shall be implemented with effect from 1st November, 2014.

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