Originally Posted by
Karnak
A signed FDRA means we accept an FDP extension just as much as a signed FDRA means we accept the fuel load.
If something that affects the flight changes, the captain alters it…or doesn't proceed.
To assume anything else is silly. If a volcano erupts along your route, and you want more fuel to go around it, do you simply suck it up because you've signed an FDRA with a fuel load? If you wrench your back while shifting bags in the cockpit, do you ignore the injury because you've signed an FDRA with a statement about physical status?
Any captain that believes a signed FDRA can't be voided by evolving circumstances probably shouldn't be a pilot in command at Delta.
It's important to note that the FDRA signature only applies to FDP extensions that are known at the time it is signed. The FAA has clearly stated that you cannot pre-accept a FDP extension before you know about it. From the McFadden interpretation letter:
Q1: Does the fitness-for-duty affirmation that the PIC signed prior to when he found out about the delay serve as concurrence to an extension?
Subsection 117.l9(a) allows an FDP to be extended up to 2 hours beyond the pertinent FDP limit in response to unforeseen operational circumstances that arise prior to takeoff. This extension is subject to a number of limitations, one of which is that the PIC and the certificate holder must both concur with the extension.' A document that the PIC signed before he found out about the need for an extension would not be sufficient to concur with the extension because a person cannot concur with something that he or she does not know about. Instead, the PIC must affirmatively concur with the extension.