NATOPS General Flight & Operating Instructions

NATOPS Sections

• NATOPS is broken down into 13 sections oriented to specific areas of policy, operations and relevant addenda. These include:

  Introduction
  Naval Air Training and Operating Procedures Standardization Program
  Policy Guidance
  Flight Authorization, Planning and Approval
  Flight Rules
  Air Traffic Control
  Safety
  Aeromedical and Survival
  Miscellaneous
  Flight Records, Reporting and Forms
  General Instructions on Duty Involving Flying and Annual Flight Performance Requirements
  Classification and Qualification of Flight Personal
  Instrument Requirements and Qualifications

History Of NATOPS

• In the early 1950s naval aviation was suffering through a series of flying and associated mishaps. During 1950 alone the Navy lost 776 aircraft due to accidents---an average of two planes per day or 54 mishaps per 10,000 hours of operation. As a result of a series of technical improvements such as the angled carrier deck and other innovations, the fleet began to see the number of annual incidents drop; but the Navy continued to seek improvement. In 1959 after investigating the incident trends during the preceding years the service reached a series of conclusions oriented to a general lack of operational standardization. As a result the Naval Aviation Maintenance Program (NAMP) was launched in 1959 and the program produced immediate improvements across the board. Subsequently in 1961 the Fleet Replacement Squadron (FRS) program was initiated. This goal was to insure that incoming fleet pilots, aircrew and support personnel were firmly educated in the specific characteristics of their aircraft. Prior to this program the Navy generally prosecuted a "Kick the Tires, Light the Fires" mentality. With little standardization across the fleet the responsibility for the safety of ever-more complex aircraft and systems were left to anecdotal and highly local duty authorities with commensurate failure rates.

More Than Just The Aircraft

• The initial NATOPS doctrine was generally oriented to active naval flight operations in the early part of the 1960s. However, as the service's aircraft support systems---in addition to its supporting vessels---became more complex, the Navy realized that the same positive standardized approach could be implemented across the board. Over the years some of these additions included:

  Air-to-Air Refueling
  Ground Refueling
  Aircraft Signals
  Carrier (CV) Operations
  Flight Deck/Hangar Deck Operations
  Landing Signal Officer (LSO) Procedures
  Weapons
  Crash and Salvage