Fórsa and the Irish Air Line Pilots’ Association addressed members of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport last week (10th December), warning that Search and Rescue (SAR) aircrew operating on behalf of the Irish Coast Guard are facing “unfair and unsafe” working-time practices.

The union called on the Minister for Transport to intervene in the safety matter, to end the unsafe use of factoring in the Coast Guard helicopter service.

The warning was delivered by Fórsa assistant general secretary Eugene Gargan, who represents the union’s IAESA branch and its 40 technical crew – winchmen, winch operators, paramedics and advanced paramedics, and IALPA Vice President, Captain Daniel Langan representing pilots.

The committee heard opening remarks from Captain Daniel Langan, who gave a detailed account of how European law is being broken and how national legislation was being ignored. The IALPA delegation also included Captain Mark O’Callaghan, Chair of the IALPA Search and Rescue Committee and President of IALPA, Captain Mark Tighe.

Captain O’Callaghan outlined serious concerns regarding the unlawful factorisation of pilots’ hours and warned that Coast Guard pilot operations are not compliant with the EU Working Time Directive. “It is deeply disappointing that the IAA appears to have approved this practice, despite having no legal authority to do so,” he said.

IALPA Vice-President, Captain Daniel Langan, detailed how the Working Time Directive is being breached and called on the Minister for Transport to intervene.

The operators of the Irish Coast Guard Search and Rescue (SAR) service are mandating that all pilots and winch crew remain on base for 24 hours, being on constant readiness, which is a form of heliport standby. Under law, this time must be recorded in full. However, the Irish Aviation Authority approved the operators to factorise the hours, meaning 24 hours of work is only recorded, officially, as 16.5 hours for the purpose of working time directives and maximum Flight Time Limitations, which are in place as a safety mechanism.

IAESA official, Eugene Gargan, told the committee that the imminent introduction of the immediate-readiness model, makes the issue urgent for affected crews. Under this model, SAR crews must remain on site for 24-hour duty periods, ready to launch within 15 minutes in some circumstances. “Where crews are required to remain at the base for the full shift, that is unequivocally working time under EU and Irish law,” he said.

“This has the effect of artificially reducing the hours on the clock, allowing the operator to roster crew beyond the 2,000-hour annual limit, while technically remaining compliant with European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and IAA regulations,” Eugene said. “The disparity between hours worked and hours recorded could reach 800 hours in a year.”

He added that Fórsa is concerned about the misuse of the Fatigue Risk Management System (FRMS), which was introduced to support 24-hour operations. “FRMS exists to enhance safety. It does not override working-time law and cannot be used to justify the under-recording of hours,” he said.

Fórsa and IALPA have called on the Minister for Transport to direct the IAA to ensure all SAR operators correctly record worked hours in line with EASA (European Union Aviation Safety Agency) regulations and case law.

Eugene advised the Oireachtas members that the situation could be resolved relatively easily, if the IAA was directed by the Minister to mandate all operators “adhere to the spirit and intent” of the EASA regulations, and properly record all worked hours as elapsed hours. 

Captain Langan further added that “this situation mirrors what occurred in 2010, when the Coast Guard sought a derogation from the Working Time Directive. That request was refused by the Minister at the time. There has been no change in law since,” he said.
 

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