The CASA Briefing
Your monthly CASA update

 Civil Aviation Safety Authority

June 2007

From CEO Bruce Byron

CEO Bruce Byron

A revised set of principles to guide the development of new aviation safety regulations has been issued. The new principles address a number of concerns being voiced by people across the aviation industry, particularly the need to avoid unnecessary costs imposed by new regulations. I formally signed off on the Development of Regulations and Regulatory Framework directive last week, which replaces an earlier version released in 2004. Key points are:

  • Aviation safety regulations must be shown to be necessary to address known or likely safety risks
  • If a regulation can be justified on safety grounds, it must be made in a form that provides for the most efficient allocation of industry and CASA resources
  • The regulations must not impose unnecessary costs or unnecessarily hinder high levels of participation in aviation and its capacity for growth
  • Where appropriate regulations are to be aligned with the standards and practices of leading aviation countries
  • Regulations must be drafted to specify safety outcomes, unless more prescriptive requirements are required in the interests of safety
  • Regulations must be drafted to be as clear and concise as possible.

I am confident these principles will ensure all the new regulations being developed achieve the safety outcomes the Australian aviation industry requires, without placing additional burdens on organisations and people. The directive has been issued at the same time that the Aviation Regulation Review Taskforce has been considering a range of issues. The Taskforce is the high-level group set up by the Minister For Transport earlier this year to provide advice on key directions and priorities for regulatory reform. It has asked the Standards Consultative Committee - the CASA/industry group which looks in detail at new regulatory proposals - to review the large amount of work done to date on the development of Part 91 of the Civil Aviation Safety Regulations. Part 91 covers general operating and flight rules and is the key set of rules on which all the other operational regulations will be based. In particular, the Taskforce wants the Standards Consultative Committee working group that is responsible for Part 91 to make sure it is aligned with the principles in the new directive, especially in relation to unnecessary costs. I expect this review will be done quickly and will not add significantly to the time taken to finalise the Part 91 draft.

Read the new CEO directive.

Extra airline surveillance

CASA has been carrying out additional and varied types of surveillance of airline operations in recent months. This is the practical implementation of CASA's operational priority policy, which directs a majority of resources and activities to the safety oversight of passenger-carrying sectors. Late in May CASA deployed 32 staff across six aerodromes to conduct inspections of high capacity flights and related operations during the course of one day. There were more than 150 individual inspections carried out on airlines, aerodrome facilities, air traffic control and maintenance facilities. Aerodromes covered on the day were Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Coolangatta, Cairns and Avalon. Feedback from airlines and passengers was very positive and similar exercises are planned for the future. Data collected on the day is still being analysed and will be used in risk assessment and future surveillance planning.

Four CASA flying operations inspectors also recently conducted more than two dozen flight deck observations during flights on major domestic airlines. The inspectors were focussing on threat and error management, using a methodology based on Line Operations Safety Audits. The data is being de-identified and will be used to better target future surveillance activity.

Safety management on fast track

All passenger-carrying operations will be required to implement safety management systems for their organisations, as well as delivering crew resource management and human factors training for pilots. CASA has flagged the new requirements by setting up a project to fast track amendments to Civil Aviation Order 82. The Order - which covers air operator's certificates - will be amended to require safety management systems, and additional training for pilots, in high and low capacity regular public transport operations and passenger charter operations. CASA is moving to implement the requirements through amendments to CAO 82 due to significant and unexpected delays in developing Civil Aviation Safety Regulation Part 119. Since around 2002/2003 both CASA and air transport operators have been working in anticipation of Part 119 being enacted into legislation, with safety management and additional pilot training requirements specifically defined. To avoid further delaying the safety benefits of the requirements, CASA will now progressively make amendments to CAO 82 in relation to passenger-carrying operations. These amendments will be consistent with planned requirements being developed for the future Part 119.

For nearly ten years CASA has been encouraging operators to adopt safety management systems and a large amount of education and training has been provided to the aviation industry. In recent years CASA has also been assessing safety management processes and systems put in place by air transport operators under general provisions of the Civil Aviation Act. Find out more about the new requirements.

Read guidance and support material.

Approach revalidations

CASA is revalidating instrument approaches across the nation. The first stage of the exercise involves revalidating instrument approaches at 40 aerodromes and locations - which should be completed by the end of June 2007. Over time instrument approaches at more than 280 locations will be checked. This process is required under Civil Aviation Safety Regulations Part 173, which covers instrument flight procedure design. The provisions require CASA to conduct a flight validation of approaches after they have been designed or redesigned. A CASA staff member who is a qualified validation pilot flies the approaches with the designer to check for obstacles, assess 'flyability' and verify other database information. So far corrections have been required at most locations, many resulting from confirming the position of obstacles and terrain with modern navigation equipment such as GPS.

Find out more about instrument approach design.

New boss for licensing, education and training

CASA's Personnel Licensing, Education and Training group has a new general manager. Greg Hood took up the new position during June. Greg comes to CASA with a strong aviation background spanning 26 years, the last nine years in senior management roles. While Greg's early career was in the RAAF, the last 16 years have been spent at Air Services Australia. His recent roles have included manager Melbourne Centre, manager Regional Services and manager International Business Development. The Personnel Licensing, Education and Training group - known as PLET within CASA - covers a wide range of important functions. These include flight crew and maintenance licensing, aircraft registration, aviation medicine, safety promotion and flying training support.

Find out more about PLET.

Proposed rules for night vision goggles

A set of proposed rules to cover the use of night vision goggles in specialised helicopter operations has been released by CASA. A notice of proposed rule making for Civil Aviation Order 82.6 establishes operational and airworthiness standards and requirements for the use of night vision goggles. A trial of the goggles - limited to emergency medical services, search and rescue, marine pilot transfer, police and aerial fire fighting - has been underway since earlier this year. CASA has been working closely with the Helicopter Association of Australia on both the proposed rules and the trial. Under the proposed rules night vision goggles will only be available to holders of air operator's certificates and will require an approval from CASA. They will also be limited to specific types of helicopter operations.

The aviation industry is being asked to comment on the draft night vision goggle rules, with the comment period closing on 16 July 2007. Full details.

Aircraft registration gets easier

CASA has streamlined many of the procedures that must be followed when registering an aircraft or transferring registration. The changes cut down the size of registration forms by up to three pages, make them easier to fill in and eliminate a number of requirements for documentation. The requirement to routinely provide certified true copies of documents to provide proof of identity or eligibility when making aircraft registration applications has been removed. Instead of having to send in documents to CASA, applicants can now state they comply with the eligibility requirements and that no false or misleading statements have been made. CASA will still require certified documents in some cases, such as during registration audits or when additional proof is required. The changes mean registration applications can now be sent by email and fax, as well as through the post.

Find out more about registration changes.

Aussie takes ICAO post

Rod Graff has been appointed deputy regional director to the International Civil Aviation Organization's (ICAO) regional office in Bangkok. Rod is currently working as manager Safety Programs at Airservices Australia. From 2001 to 2005 Rod worked at the ICAO Montreal office on the Air Navigation Commission, taking on the role of president for the last of his two years there. Rod will take up his new role on 9 July 2007 for a three year period and will manage the technical work of the Asia-Pacific office, which is one of seven regional ICAO offices. Within the Asia-Pacific office there are ten technical officers and twelve support staff, as well as the deputy and regional directors, who look after a total of 35 ICAO member states within the region.

Bell 206L warning

Owners and operators of Bell 206L helicopters are being warned about an increase in the number of defect reports. The defects relate to disbonding at the tail rotor root end doublers. CASA has issued an airworthiness bulletin recommending careful pre-flight inspections in the area of the leading edge root end doubler plate for evidence of disbonding. If evidence of disbonding is found CASA recommends removing these tail rotor blades from service. It appears that corrosion between the doubler and the end plate may be causing the blade disbonding.

Read the airworthiness bulletin.

Focus on Pacific safety

Representatives from more than 15 nations came together in Canberra in June for a Pacific Aviation Safety Office (PASO) council meeting. The meeting was hosted by the Department of Transport and Regional Services, with support from CASA. Members discussed the Council's progress, recruitment issues and general business. PASO was formed following the recognition that Pacific nations had difficulty in developing and maintaining their own skill bases for aviation safety inspection and certification. The first meeting of the PASO Council of directors was held in August 2003 and members have been working since then to review current safety arrangements across Pacific countries and establish the framework for PASO operations. Member states include the Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, the Solomon Islands, Tonga, Vanuatu, Tuvalu, Niue, Nauru and Australia.

Reminder: New fees start July 1

From 1 July 2007 a range of changes to CASA's charges come into effect. Some fees are being cut, while others will rise. CASA will now be charging for a total of 231 regulatory services - which includes licences, ratings, exams, medicals, aircraft registration, certificates, permits, exemptions, approvals and authorities.

Full details of the new fees.