Fly a King Air 200? Don’t worry about NCC.

Business aircraft operators need to comply with new European rules (Commission Regulation (EU) 956/2012). This regulation includes new operating rules (Part-NCC) and new organisational requirements (Part-ORO) that mean operators will need have a ‘management system’ including safety risk assessment and compliance monitoring processes.

The definition of complex motor-powered aircraft includes all jet aircraft and twin-turboprops (article 3 of Regulation (EC) 216/2008); however the European Commission has now published a derogation (article 2(c) of Commission Regulation 2016/1199) that allows twin-engine turboprops with a maximum take-off mass of less than 5700kg, like the B200 ‘King Air’, to be operated under the rules for non-commercial operators (known as ‘Part-NCO’) instead of ‘Part-NCC’. The derogation will also mean that operators of these aeroplanes will not need to comply with the management system requirements of ‘Part-ORO’. This is a significant concession and if you followed my earlier advice not to rush into making changes to your operation then you’ll have saved a lot of unnecessary work. If you operate a jet or larger turbo-prop (like the King Air 350) then you’ll need to put the necessary changes in place.