Ship-Helicopter PQS, COMDTINST 3502.15
Section 106: Flight Deck Certification Fundamentals
Lesson 2: Definitions
Page 2 of 9
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Section 106 Lessons
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References
- Ship-Helo Manual (14.8mb PDF)
- Ship-Helo PQS (2.2mb PDF)
- Facilities Resume
Resources
LEVELs
If your ship is certified for Level I ("Level One") operations, it means the ship can
- control one or more aircraft while
- maintaining proper separation in
- day or
- night with
- weather down to a 200 foot CEILING and
- 1/2 mile VISIBILITY
Compare this to Level II ("Level Two"). If your ship is certified for Level II operations, it means the ship can
- Operate aircraft in
- day or
- night with
- weather down to 500 foot CEILING and
- 1 mile VISIBILITY
Notice that Level II has more restrictive weather minimums, and the ship can't provide aircraft separation. The main reason is because a Level II certified ship does not have certain equipment which allow aircraft to safely fly in the clouds. So Level II operations are restricted to visual, day or night conditions.
Finally, if your ship is certified for Level III ("Level Three") operations, it means the ship can
- Operate aircraft in
- Day only with
- Weather down to 500 foot CEILING and
- 1 mile VISIBILITY
Most Level III certified ships do not have enough (or any) lights, so operations are restricted to visual, daytime conditions.
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