Regulation (EU) 2019/1384, .100 “Levels of maintenance check flights” has introduced a distinction in Regulation (EU) No 965/2012 between Level A and Level B MCFs: The difference between Level A or Level B MCFs? All have their own internal MCF procedures and responsibilities, but they must communicate and work together to ensure a safe and effective flight. MCFs aren’t standards flights, they require the involvement of three departments in your organisation: the CAMO, the Maintenance Organisation, and the Operations Team. You should also plan an adequate flight path and operating area in case of emergencies requiring an immediate landing (e.g. You should know which maintenance operations were performed to know which systems could fail. Be prepared to any eventuality and to cope with any emergency promptly and effectively. What if the tail rotor fails due to a problem undetected during maintenance? After all, this is the reason why a check flight is performed: to verify that everything is working correctly because that might not be the case. For example, after replacing a tail rotor component a routine level-flight may be requested to check the tail rotor functions. Most MCFs are uneventful but if you are an MCF pilot, are you aware that the systems you check are potentially more likely to fail during an MCF than in a normal flight? Do you know what can go wrong when checking potentially unreliable systems or equipment, how likely failures or malfunctions are to occur and how severe the consequences can be? Are you sufficiently equipped to cope with any failures or malfunctions that may occur and their consequences? This article and the material developed by the ESPN-R Team Ops and SMS will help you to maximise the safety of your MCFs. But MCFs can be more demanding: entering an autorotation to check rotor speed or flying close to Vne (Velocity not to exceed) to check if the aircraft is behaving as expected, for instance. ![]() MCFs are in majority easy flights: read gouges and record numbers, verify that flight controls work properly, check hydraulic system pressure stability or check (“feel”) if vibrations are acceptable. MCFs are post-maintenance flights carried out for troubleshooting purposes or to check the functioning of one or more systems (system functionality, recording parameters, etc.), parts or appliances, if the functioning of these cannot be established during ground checks. Understanding more about Maintenance Check Flights A wide range of safety experts from the European Safety Promotion Network – Rotorcraft (ESPN-R) have got collected all the key information of MCFs – at the bottom of the article you can download and use the sample MCF Operational Manual and Risk Assessment Guidelines. There is another type of flight that deserves your attention and discussion, Maintenance Check Flights (MCFs). ![]() When we talk about safety, we generally think of revenue flights such as a Commercial Air Transport (CAT), Special Operations (SPO) Aerial Work, Search and Rescue (SAR), Helicopter Emergency Medical Service (HEMS) flights or as recreational flights.
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