Frequently asked questions

Should the Operations Manual be submitted together with the declaration of compliance required in BOP.ADD.100?

    No. In order to conduct commercial operations the operator must submit only the declaration of compliance.

Should the contents of the balloon Flight Manual be transcribed to the Operations Manual or the SOP?

    In accordance with paragraph (g) of the AMC1 BOP.ADD.200, where information from other sources is used in the operations manual, the operator may either transcribe it or refer to the specific section from which the information is extracted.

Are the Operations Manual and its amendments subject to approval by the State Aviation Safety Agency?

    No. Neither the manual nor its amendments are approved by the State Aviation Safety Agency. It is the responsibility of the operator, as indicated in BOP.ADD.200, to develop the operations manual, as well as the control of its editing or revision status.

Does the requirement of 3 years of experience for a person nominated in BOP.ADD.040 refer to experience in the specific position?

    The experience indicated in the GM1 BOP.ADD.040 is not required by performing the functions of one of the posts defined in BOP.ADD.040, in this case, experience refers to experience in balloon operations.

     

Is it necessary in any case to carry an additional crew member on the balloon?

    Oh, yeah, yeah. The requirement BOP.ADD.410 states that if more than 19 passengers are transported on the balloon, an additional crew member must be part of the crew.

    The acceptable means of compliance AMC1 BOP.ADD.410 sets the initial and recurrent training requirements, as well as recent experience, to be met by the additional crew member.

Should the person acting as Head of Flight Operations be an active pilot?

    Paragraph (c) of the GM1 BOP.ADD.040(c) guide material states that the Operations Officer should have or have had the balloon pilot licence, so it is not strictly necessary for the person performing the duties of Flight Operations Officer to have a valid license.

     

Should Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) be included in the Operations Manual or can they be separate documents?

    According to BOP.ADD.510(b) SOPs may be part of the operations manual or may be listed as a separate document.

     

Can the recurrent training and verification required in BOP.ADD.315 be performed on the same flight?

    Oh, yeah, yeah. In this case the person responsible for conducting the training and verification must be in possession of the in-flight instructor (FI) and flight examiner (FE) certificate.

What is the difference between the BOP.BAS.190 requirement and the BOP.ADD.510 requirement?

    Both requirements concern the conduct of specialised operations.

    The requirement BOP.BAS.190 contains the general information applicable to specialised non-commercial operations and the BOP.ADD.510 contains the general information applicable to specialised commercial operations.

What document does it justify that an operator can conduct commercial operations with balloons?

    Once the declaration required in BOP.ADD.100 has been submitted, the operator is authorised to conduct commercial operations with balloons in all the States of the European Union.

    The Spanish Aviation Safety Agency shall publish and keep up-to-date the list of balloon operators who conduct commercial operations and who have submitted a declaration in Spain.

    In duly justified cases and at the request of the operator, a certificate attesting that a declaration for commercial operations with balloons has been submitted to the State Aviation Safety Agency may be issued.