The CASA Briefing
Your monthly CASA update

November 2006

From CEO Bruce Byron

CEO Bruce Byron I think everyone will agree that for many years some people in aviation have had the philosophy that says: ‘as long as we meet the requirement of the regulations we will be safe'. In a speech earlier this month to the Australian Aviation Psychology Association I stated clearly that I wanted to see an end to this philosophy. The regulations can only seek to cover the minimum necessary requirements for safety and cannot cover all situations and circumstances. What CASA is really looking for are aviation organisations that can demonstrate they have gone beyond the regulations and looked for more innovative ways to manage risks, particularly those not covered by regulations.

Aviation organisations must not rely on CASA to find the cracks in their systems - our surveillance program must be complementary to an organisation's own safety checks. We are moving our surveillance and audits away from a focus on only doing scheduled audits assessing compliance with the regulations to a fully risk-based approach. This does not mean the regulations are unimportant - far from it – but there is more to safety than just the rules.

A key part of this is having the right safety attitudes and behaviours in aviation organisations. This can show up in people not following the right procedures or failing to identify new risks. One way for CASA to deal with the risk of poor safety attitudes and behaviours is for us to take a closer look at key accountable people in aviation organisations. CASA needs to use its entry control powers, for example, to make it harder for people with the wrong attitudes to hold important positions such as chief pilot or maintenance controller. In addition, CASA must shift its focus to the effectiveness of management and systems within organisations.

Read the full speech.

Have your say on CASA fees

A new set of proposed fees for CASA's regulatory services has been released for comment. Under the Australian Government's requirement for cost recovery for CASA regulatory services, changes to fees will be made on 1 July 2007. Earlier this year CASA issued a draft fee set for industry consultation and these proposals have now been adjusted to reflect industry views as appropriate. The revised draft fees are now available for comment until 12 January 2007.

Key changes in the revised draft fee set are: a new way of recovering the costs of CASA travel undertaken for the provision of regulatory services with the cost being included in the hourly charge-out rates rather than being an 'add-on' expense, four hourly rates instead of two, a reduction in the cost of some services and a move from fixed fees to hourly rates for some services.

The fixed fee CASA charges for pilot medical processing is proposed to be cut from $130 to $75. There will be special transition arrangements for pilots whose medicals fall due around June 2007, just before the new fees are scheduled to start. Read the full details of the proposed fees and send your comments to CASA.

New maintenance regulations

Work on finalising the first phase of the introduction of new maintenance regulations is progressing well. A notice of proposed rule making for the maintenance suite of regulations has been issued, with the comment period closing on November 27. CASA will analyse the comments received from industry, consider any relevant adjustments to the proposals and publish the results. Consultation is also continuing through the Standards Consultative Committee and the Maintenance Standards sub-committee.

A new civil aviation order will be available early in 2007, which will allow industry to take advantage of the maintenance personnel licensing and training organisation provisions of the proposed new rules. By using a new CAO and the existing regulations CASA is giving the participants the choice of using the new approach for training, without having to wait for the regulatory drafting and approval process to be completed. This is not expected until at least the second half of 2007.

CASA is currently briefing registered training organisations and other parties on the first phase of the new regulations. To find out more read the NPRM.

GA self-administration

On 30 November CASA is convening a follow-up meeting to the successful summit held in September to explore general aviation self-administration. The new meeting, to be held in Canberra, will focus on some of the specific issues that need to be addressed if work on self-administration is to progress. At the September summit in Brisbane there was in-principle support for self-administration.

It is expected that general aviation representatives will be putting forward the broad structure of at least one possible self-administration model. CASA will identify issues that would need to be addressed in a safety case to support any model. A safety case would have to show that self-administration would produce safety outcomes no worse than apply under the current general aviation arrangements. Most of the industry organisations represented at the Brisbane summit will be at the Canberra meeting. One likely outcome will be the establishment of an industry working group to further develop the initiative for GA self administration.

Visual Flight Guide

A new edition of the ever-popular Visual Flight Rules Guide for pilots will be available early in 2007. Work on finalising the new edition is almost complete and there are plans to have an electronic version available on the CASA web site by the start of 2007. The hard copy version will be ready for sale shortly afterwards. The VFR Guide is a complete operational document for the VFR pilot. It is broken down into a number of major sections, such as pre-flight planning, operations and emergency procedures. The guide is easy-to-use and includes a section for helicopter pilots. The hardcopy of the new VFR Guide will be sold through CASA's on-line store.

View the current VFR Guide.

New rules update

The pace of work in developing new regulations is ramping up, with several notices of proposed rule making and one notice of final rule making due over the next two months. NPRMs for Civil Aviation Safety Regulations Parts 103 and 105 will be issued in December 2006. Part 103 covers sport and recreational aviation operations and Part 105 covers parachuting operations from aircraft. This will be followed by NPRMs for Parts 149 and 115B in January/February 2007. Part 149 deals with recreational aviation administration organisations, while Part 115B covers the use of balloons for non-recreational activities. An NPRM on Alcohol and other Drugs Testing is expected to be released by January.

The final regulatory package for CASR Part 137 – aerial application operations - will be sent to the Minister for Transport in the next few weeks. CASA’s chief executive officer is expected to approve a new Classification of Aircraft Activities policy shortly.

Find out about proposed new rules.

Help for pilots

More than 4500 pilots took part in CASA-sponsored education and training sessions during the last year. Ten ‘Crash Scene Investigation' pilot workshops were held in capital cities, as well as regional centres Cairns and Shepparton. A further 42 pilot evening seminars were held at aero clubs across the nation. Pilots surveyed about the value of the workshops overwhelming said they were practical and useful, with 95 per cent rating them good to excellent.

One of the CASA presenters, Andrew Warland-Browne, says feedback from pilots about the ‘CSI' workshops was a bit of an eye-opener. “The workshops focus on a real weather related accident and pilots told us they were wary about opening their mic when they got into weather trouble for fear of retribution from CASA,” Andrew says. “We can assure everyone nothing is further from the truth. ATC will help pilots who get caught out by weather and CASA will not come after you for making a genuine mistake. In 2006 CASA's focus is on helping people in the aviation industry fly safely. If you're in weather trouble don't worry about CASA – save your life.”

Find out more about pilot seminars.

Design approval workshops

A workshop for design approval delegates and authorised persons is being held in December in Sydney. This is the first of a series planned by CASA's Manufacturing, Certification and New Technologies office. The workshop will give people working in aviation design a briefing on issues relating to aircraft certification and delegations such as certification plans, procedures manuals, audit programs and instruments of appointment. There will also be presentations from industry and CASA people on technical issues and certification projects.

For information on the design approval workshops please contact Dinh Nguyen, manager Certification Policy and Programs. Email:  dinh.nguyen@casa.gov.au

ADS-B avionics

CASA has issued a notice of proposed rule making to begin formal consultation on new standards for Automatic Dependent Surveillance Broadcast (ADS-B) avionics in aircraft. The NPRM does not mandate ADS-B. It covers operational standards for the safe use of ADS-B technology and technical requirements to ensure that ADS-B equipment used is fit for the operational purpose. ADS-B offers improvements to the air traffic management system by providing high performance surveillance for both ground-based and aircraft-based applications.

The proposed rules in the NPRM are intended to support further voluntary uptake of the technology by the aviation industry. The NPRM seeks responses to proposed regulations to ensure that the use of ADS-B maintains or enhances the safety of operations. Read the ADS-B NPRM and access the on-line response form.

Christmas-New Year CASA hours

CASA will be closed for normal business from Friday 22 December 2006 until Tuesday 2 January 2007. This means normal regulatory services will not be available for ten days. Anyone who thinks they may need CASA services during this time should contact CASA now to make arrangements. CASA will not be issuing licences, medicals or other certificates or permissions during the Christmas-Year shutdown period.

Naturally, if you have an urgent aviation safety matter there will always be a CASA duty officer on call. Just ring the normal switchboard number – 131 757 – and follow the prompts.

Full details of CASA's closure.

Red Bull a safe success

CASA played a key behind-the-scenes role in making Australia's first Red Bull Air Race a huge success. More than 350,000 people watched the race in Perth, with a worldwide television audience estimated at six million. The air race featured Edge 540 and Extra 300 aircraft flying time trials between 19 metre inflatable gates. In addition to the air race there were a host of other aviation events such as a low-level Qantas 767 fly-past, aerobatics and display helicopter flying. CASA provided an instrument of approval for the race and air displays, using the civil aviation regulations and orders. Airspace restrictions were put in place due to the relatively close proximity to Perth Airport. CASA's Perth office reports the race went smoothly and safely.