CC6506(A) - No Flight Crew for disembarkation

Initial Report

Landed after a 12-hour flight. During disembarking, the Business Class passengers disembarked the aircraft then, to our surprise, followed by all 3 Flight Crew with one saying ‘I have a flight to catch’ so all 3 of them left with all the Economy Class passengers still on board. No word to the crew at the rear of the aircraft. If there was an issue or we had to do a rapid disembarkation we would have not been able to facilitate this because they were not there.

comments

Company Comment

We have received cabin safety reports about this topic and, along with this CHIRP report, we have updated the procedure in the operations manual. Working with the team in Flight Operations, the revised procedure was communicated in April [2024] which states that when there are passengers onboard one flight crew member must be on the aircraft. There is an exemption during a transit stop for a very small (1-2) number of destinations on the route network, these are supported with a specific process in the operations manual.

Our company procedures have been updated by Flight Operations as below. [Changes highlighted in italic]

While passengers are onboard, one flight crew member must be on the aircraft, unless exempt under [OM B reference regarding transit stops]

One flight crew member should normally be on the flight deck. Cabin crew changes should not be made until the passengers due to leave the aircraft have disembarked. When cabin crew are scheduled to stay on the aircraft:

  • A cabin crew member must stay by each open door at all times;
  • SCCMs must obtain permission from the Commander before allowing cabin crew to leave the aircraft;
  • When flight crew are not present, Cabin crew must ensure that unauthorised people cannot enter the flight deck.

CAA Comment

AMC2 ORO.GEN.110(e) Operator responsibilities permits passengers to be on board the aircraft in the absence of Flight Crew provided that suitable procedures are in place to alert aerodrome services in the event of an emergency. It is for the operator to ensure that appropriate procedures are in place, they are being applied correctly, and that they have been robustly communicated to all relevant parties.

CHIRP Comment

We commend the company concerned for their rapid response to our observations and the subsequent changes made to their procedures to reflect the reporter’s comments; this reinforces the value of reporting concerns.

However, other companies seem to be more relaxed about no flight crew being present when passengers are on the aircraft and AMC2 ORO.GEN.110(e) Operator responsibilities (reproduced below) permits this to occur as long as someone can contact the emergency services if something happens. We do not think that this is a particularly robust policy. If an emergency happens, then the cabin crew will be absorbed in getting the passengers off in a hurry and, for their part, ground handling personnel may or may not be quick enough to call emergency services depending on where the emergency starts: they may not even be aware of an emergency for a considerable period (for example an internal cabin fire at the back of the aircraft from a lithium battery runaway might not be obvious to ground handlers for a long time).

In regulatory terms, CAT.GEN.MPA.105 Responsibilities of the commander simply states at Para (a)(1) that: “The commander…shall be responsible for the safety of all crew members, passengers and cargo on board, as soon as the commander arrives on board the aircraft, until the commander leaves the aircraft at the end of the flight;” but it is silent as to who this responsibility falls to if the commander leaves the aircraft at the end of the flight before the passengers. At the very least, we consider that CAT.GEN.MPA105 should require commanders to positively ensure that someone else takes on their responsibilities if they leave the aircraft before the passengers and other crew.

We also think that more consideration ought to be given to the appropriateness of AMC2 ORO.GEN.110(e) given that if an aircraft emergency did occur without flight crew on the aircraft, what is the reality of the cabin crew being able to coordinate aerodrome services in a timely manner whilst potentially simultaneously trying to evacuate passengers from the aircraft?

AMC2 ORO.GEN.110(e) Operator responsibilities

GROUND OPERATIONS WITH PASSENGERS ON BOARD IN THE ABSENCE OF FLIGHT CREW

For ground operations, whenever passengers are embarking, on board or disembarking in the absence of flight crew members, the operator should:

(a) establish procedures to alert the aerodrome services in the event of ground emergency or urgent need; and

(b) ensure that at least one person on board the aircraft is qualified to apply these procedures and ensure proper coordination between the aircraft and the aerodrome services.