March 2014, All Hands Meeting

By 2d Lt Karin Hollerbach, Photos Courtesy of Col Juan Tinnirello

Safety Briefing 

Safety Officer
Maj Frank Riebli

The safety briefing this month helped us all to understand the role of the Flight Release Officer (FRO), which is also described in CAPR 60-1.

FRO Capt Chris Johnson

Capt Chris Johnson conducted the safety briefing, as he is one of the squadron’s FROs.

For any given flight, the FRO is responsible both to the pilot in command (PIC) of the flight and to the corporation, i.e., Civil Air Patrol. This dual responsibility is to help ensure the safety of the flight and, in case any mishaps do occur, to help ensure the appropriate steps were and are followed, for insurance and other reasons.

To help the FRO do his/her job and for the PIC to take responsibility for the safety of the flight itself, the PIC for each flight must:

• Provide all required documentation
• Obtain a flight release (from the FRO)
• Certify the eligibility of passengers, which varies by mission
• Be clear about the mission type (A, B or C)
• Fly the mission as released
• Maintain a flight log
• Follow local unit instructions

Standards and Evaluation
Officer Capt George
Michelogiannakis

Understanding different mission types is as critical for pilots as for FROs.  The difference between B12 and C12 missions, for example, is that B12 missions are covered by higher levels of Federal Government insurance, and C12 missions are covered by Corporate insurance.  That is a significant difference if anything "unplanned" happens. The requirement though is that a B12 flight *must* fit in one of the flight profiles explained in 60-1.

Some profiles are available only to Mission Pilots (MPs), but they all specify a number of tasks that must be completed for the flight to fit the profile. When creating the sortie, pilots must specify the profile along with the mission symbol. CAP pilots who are not MPs or TMPs are restricted to C12.

If the FRO has any doubts about either the safety or the legitimacy of the flight or about the aircraft status, then the FRO will decline to release the flight.

Announcements

Ops is seeking more Ground Team members and Base Staff.

Communications will be conducting a communications training in Hayward on March 22-23. This is part of a multi-event training throughout the year pertaining to HF radios.

SM Tim Roberts

Welcome New Members

Finally, a warm welcome to our 2 new members:
SM Chris Fenolio
SM Tim Roberts