Helicopter Pilot

DEFINITION:
Pilots twin-turbine powered aircraft in aerial fire fighting, medical/rescue and related activities.

CLASSIFICATION STANDARDS:
Positions allocable to this class report to a Senior Pilot, Fire Services and are responsible for piloting departmental aircraft daily to assigned locations for stationing and ready response to emergency and non-emergency dispatch alarms involving County service flights, transportation of fire control workers on fires, fire related work and fire break maintenance, transportation of medical personnel to medical emergencies, and transportation of injured persons or patients to hospitals. During fire emergencies, positions in this class are responsible for accurately communicating information obtained from aerial surveillance of fire activities and conditions, and for carrying out the line chief's directive which may involve such tasks as transporting fire control workers, dropping fire retardant chemicals or water in assigned fire suppression target areas, effecting rescues, and transportation of logistical materials to the fire line. Incumbents in these positions may be engaged in prolonged periods of flying under hazardous conditions. Incumbents must be able to exercise judgment and make quick, accurate decisions involving rapidly varying flight conditions. Incumbents in these positions must exercise working knowledge of the operation of the aircraft used; the specific requirements for flying over mountainous terrain; safety precautions for loading, carrying, and discharging water and retardants; Federal Aviation Regulations; air traffic rules; and departmental policies and procedures.

Essential Job Functions

• Operates twin-turbine-powered aircraft over mountainous or hilly terrain to give assistance to fire fighting activities below.
• Transports personnel and equipment in fire areas during fire suppression activities.
• Uses a variety of helicopter accessories in fire suppression work including aerial drops of fire retardants.
• Drops hose in fire areas.
• Patrols mountains to detect fires, lost or missing aircraft, missing persons, or for related purposes.
• Reseeds burnt-over areas from the air.
• Functions as a ground vehicle operator during required personnel manning changes at remote deployment sites.
• Attends in and out-of-state Department training and meetings requiring operating a Department vehicle, privately owned or rented vehicle.
• Operates Department refueling vehicle during normal operations.

Additional Job Functions:

• Conducts pre-flight and post-flight inspections in accordance with manufacturer and/or organization approved checklists.
• Conducts ground and in-flight tests.
• Performs single-pilot operations.
• Transports essential personnel and equipment.
• Communicates with Air Traffic Control.
• Communicates with supported ground units.
• Operates a variety of helicopter mission equipment.
• Completes appropriate FAA and Fire Department documentation.
• Participates in briefings.
• Participates in periodic and annual flight evaluations and ground crew training, mandated departmental continuing education, FAA medical recertification, and flight simulation training.

Requirements

SELECTION REQUIREMENTS:

Four thousand (4,000) logged hours of flying time in helicopters as Pilot in command, excluding flight time logged while instructing to include experience in power-off-auto rotational landings. Fifteen hundred (1,500) hours of this time must have been flown to/from unimproved landing areas at altitudes over 4,000 feet Mean Sea Level (MSL) while conducting map survey work, power line patrol, construction work, fire control work, rescue operations work, emergency medical services work or similar assignments requiring take-off and landings at aircraft maximum loads on unimproved landing areas under adverse weather conditions.

REQUIRED CERTIFICATE(S)*:

A valid Airline Transport Pilot (ATP) certificate with a Rotorcraft-Helicopter Rating issued by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)* -OR- A valid Commercial Pilot certificate with a Rotorcraft-Helicopter Rating issued by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)*.

 A current and valid First Class (1) -OR- Second Class (2) Aviation Medical certificate issued by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)*.

A valid Commercial Pilot certificate with Helicopter Instrument Rating issued by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) at the time of  appointment.

LICENSE:
A valid California Class C Driver License** is required to perform job-related essential functions.

*CERTIFICATE INFORMATION:
Applicants for this position are required to include a copy of all required certificate(s) and license(s) at the time of filing or within fifteen (15) calendar days of submitting their online application. If you are unable to attach your documents, you may e-mail them to Fire-Examination@fire.lacounty.gov or fax them to (323) 264-7159. Failure to provide any required documentation will result in application rejection. Please include your name, Exam Number, and the Exam Title on the submitted documents.

**LICENSE INFORMATION:
Applicants for this position must provide a valid California driver's license at the time of appointment. Successful applicants for this position will be required to obtain and present a copy of his/her driving record from the California State Department of Motor Vehicles before being appointed. Applicants should not present a copy of their driving history until asked to do so by the hiring department. The County will make an individualized assessment of whether an applicant's driving history has a direct or adverse relationship with the specific duties of the job. License must not be currently suspended, restricted, or revoked.

If the applicant does not have a driving record from the State of California, the applicant may be required to provide his/her driving record from any other state/jurisdiction.

WITHHOLD INFORMATION: Applicants with an out-of-state driver Class C or higher driver's license may compete in the examination process, however, the names of such employees will be withheld from the eligible list until a California Class C or higher driver's license is obtained. 

PHYSICAL CLASS:
4 - Arduous: Involves frequent heavy lifting over 25 pounds, often combined with bending, twisting, or working on irregular surfaces; and occasionally requires extraordinary physical activity.

Additional Information

EXAMINATION CONTENT:

This exam will consist of THREE (3) parts:
 
PART I: A qualifying evaluation of training and experience based on application information and supplemental questionnaire responses.
 
Candidates must achieve a passing score of 70% or higher on Part I in order to be invited to Part II.
 
PART II:  A structured interview, weighted 30%, assessing Professional/Technical Expertise, Work Skills, and Interpersonal/Communication Skills.
 
Candidates must achieve a passing score of 70% or higher on Part II in order to be invited to Part III.
 
PART III:  A performance test administered during day and night hours, weighted 70%, assessing aircraft operations skills in a variety of environments and knowledge of Federal Aviation Regulations and air traffic rules.
 
Candidates must achieve a passing score of 70% or higher on each weighted part of the examination in order to be placed on the eligible list. 

Candidates will be scheduled for Part II and Part III in the month of April 2023.

Note:  All important notifications including invitation letters and Final Test Result notices will be sent electronically to the email address provided on the application.   It is important that you provide a valid email address.  Please add Jasmine.anderson@fire.lacounty.gov,  Fire-Examination@fire.lacounty.gov, Swang@hr.lacounty.gov,    noreply@governmentjobs.com  and info@governmentjobs.com to your email address book and list of approved senders to prevent email notifications from being filtered as spam/junk/clutter mail.

Applicants have the ability to opt out of emails from Los Angeles County.  If you unsubscribe, you will not receive any email notification for any examination for which you apply with Los Angeles County.

Regardless of whether you choose to unsubscribe, you can always check for notifications by logging into governmentjobs.com and viewing your profile inbox, which saves a copy of all emailed notices.

It is your responsibility to take the above steps to view correspondence.  Los Angeles County will not consider claims of not viewing or receiving notifications to be a valid reason for a late test administration or re-scheduling.

Test scores cannot be given over the phone.

TEST PREPARATION:
Study guides and other test preparation resources are available to help candidates prepare for employment tests. An interactive, Online Test Preparation System for taking practice tests may be accessed on the Department of Human Resources website at http://hr.lacounty.gov/. Please click on Find a Job, then click on Job Search Toolkit. While test study guides will help in preparing for the test, we advise you to review ALL related materials that you deem necessary.

SUPPLEMENTAL QUESTIONNAIRE:
The acceptance of your application depends on whether you have clearly shown that you meet the Selection Requirements. Please fill out your application and supplemental questionnaire completely and correctly to receive full credit for any related education, training, and job experience. For each job held, give the name and address of your employer, your actual job title, beginning and ending dates, description of work performed, total number of hours worked (full or part time). Provide any relevant education, training, and experience in the spaces provided so we can evaluate your qualifications for this job. Your application will be rejected if it is incomplete. We may reject your application at any time during the selection process.

All training and experience will be reviewed and validated by subject-matter experts and documentation/records provided must meet FAR 61.  Acceptable forms of flight records include but are not limited to: Commercially available log books with complete entries in accordance with FAR 61, 759 military flight records and verifiable 135 flight records. Logbooks must be completed in its entirety.*** An applicant’s records must clearly demonstrate work history and the training and experience claimed.
 
***Incomplete/missing flight records will not be accepted, and applicants will not move forward in the exam process.

ELIGIBILITY INFORMATION:
The names of candidates receiving a passing grade on the examination will be placed on the eligible list in order of their score group for a period of twelve (12) months following the date of promulgation.

SPECIAL INFORMATION:
All County workforce members must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 as a condition of employment. Successful candidates for this position will be required to submit proof of vaccination against COVID-19 or request an exemption for qualifying medical or religious reasons during the onboarding process. Candidates should not present proof of vaccination until instructed to do so by the hiring department.

BACKGROUND CHECK AND MEDICAL EXAMINATION INFORMATION:
The County of Los Angeles is a Fair Chance employer.  Except for a very limited number of positions, you will not be asked to provide information about a conviction history unless you receive a conditional offer of employment.  The County will make an individualized assessment of whether your conviction history has a direct or adverse relationship with the specific duties of the job, and consider potential mitigating factors, including, but not limited to, evidence and extent of rehabilitation, recency of the offense(s), and age at the time of the offense(s).  If asked to provide information about a conviction history, any convictions or court records that are exempted by a valid court order do not have to be disclosed.

Candidates who are extended a conditional offer of employment will be required to complete a criminal background check, including a fingerprint scan, followed by a medical examination. A candidate with a conviction history which has a direct and adverse relationship with the duties of the Pilot, Fire Services position may have his or her conditional offer of employment rescinded and be removed from the certification list pursuant to Civil Service Rule 6.04.

In addition, candidates must successfully complete a medical examination and be able to perform all of the essential functions of the Pilot, Fire Services classification. A candidate who does not successfully complete a medical examination or is unable to perform all of the essential functions of the Pilot, Fire Services classification may have his or her conditional offer of employment rescinded and be removed from the certification list pursuant to Civil Service Rule 6.04.

AVAILABLE SHIFT:
Any Shift- Appointees must be willing to work any shift, including evenings, nights, weekends, and holidays.

VACANCY INFORMATION: 
The eligible list resulting from this examination will be used to fill Pilot, Fire Services vacancies in the County of Los Angeles Fire Department, as they occur.

APPLICATION AND FILING INFORMATION:
Applications must be filed online only. We must receive your online application by 5:00 p.m. (PST), on the last day of filing. Applications submitted by U.S. mail, fax, or in person will not be accepted. Apply online by clicking on the green "Apply" button, when it becomes available, at the top right of this posting. You can also track the status of your application using this website. If you are unable to access the website, you may enter the following link to access your profile: http://www.governmentjobs.com/careers/lacounty.

NOTE: We must receive your application and additional documents, if any, by 5:00 p.m. (PST), on the last day of filing. Please check your application to ensure that the documents are uploaded by logging on to County of Los Angeles Department of Human Resources website and reviewing your submitted application. Applicants must submit all documents to be considered (official diplomas, official transcripts, certificates, etc.) during or within fifteen (15) calendar days of application submission. All documents must be clear and legible. Although resumes may be uploaded as attachments to the online application, resumes cannot be accepted in lieu of completing the online application. If you are unable to attach documents, you may e-mail them to Fire-Examination@fire.lacounty.gov or fax the documents to (323) 264-7159 at the time of filing or within fifteen (15) calendar days of submitting your online application. Failure to provide the documentation will result in application rejection. Please include your Name, the Exam Number, and the Exam Title on the faxed documents.

IMPORTANT NOTE:
Please note that ALL information included in the application materials is subject to VERIFICATION at any point during the examination and hiring process, including after an appointment has been made. FALSIFICATION of any information may result in DISQUALIFICATION or RESCISSION OF APPOINTMENT. Utilizing VERBIAGE from Class Specification and Selection Requirements serving as your description of duties WILL NOT be sufficient to demonstrate that you meet the requirements. Doing so may result in an INCOMPLETE APPLICATION and you may be DISQUALIFIED.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION REGARDING ONLINE FILING:

SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER:
It is important that you provide your own Social Security Number (SSN) at the time of filing to ensure your application is processed accurately. Please include your SSN for record control purposes. Federal law requires that all employed persons have a SSN.

COMPUTER AND INTERNET ACCESS AT PUBLIC LIBRARIES:
For applicants who may not have regular access to a computer or the internet, applications can be completed on computers at public libraries throughout Los Angeles County. Refer to their website for more information: https://lacountylibrary.org/reopening. 

NO SHARING OF USER ID, E-MAIL, AND PASSWORD:
If you do not already have an account/profile with the County of Los Angeles, you will need to create one. All applicants must file their application online using their own user ID and password. Using someone else's user ID and password may erase the original candidate's application record.

TESTING ACCOMODATION:
If you need accommodation to take the assessment, let us know by contacting the ADA/Testing Coordinator at Fire-Examination@fire.lacounty.gov. The sooner you contact us, the sooner we can respond to your request and keep you moving through the process.

ADA Coordinator Phone: (213) 466-5500
Teletype Phone: (800) 735-2922
California Relay Services Phone: (800) 735-2922
Department Contact Name: Fire Examination Section
Department Contact Phone: (213) 466-5500
Department Contact E-mail: Fire-Examination@fire.lacounty.gov
Department Fax: (323) 264-7159 

BENEFITS

For detailed information, please click here

QUESTIONS