Documents
Classification of Civil Aviation Activities
CASA’s policy on classifying aviation activities conducted by civil aircraft in Australian airspace is based on aircraft use and who or what is carried in the aircraft. This provides a risk-based framework for establishing safety outcome-based rules under the Civil Aviation Act.
The details of CASA’s policy on classifying aviation activities are set out in CASA Policy notice CEO-PN001-2004, Issue 2.
Categories of occupant
Occupants of aircraft who are not crew can be divided into three categories. These categories are important in defining the classes of aviation activity.
- Passengers
- Occupants who are not expected or assumed to have knowledge of the risks they are exposed to and have little or no control over the risks (other than choosing not to fly);
- Task specialists
- Occupants who have assigned in-flight duties related to a specialised use of an aircraft and are informed of and accept the associated risks;
- Participants
- Occupants who voluntarily engage in an aviation activity, are informed of the risks, and have explicitly accepted the risks of their involvement in that activity.
Classification System
There are three broad classes of aviation activities defined in the policy notice.
Passenger Transport
Passenger-carrying activities that:
- are conducted in large and small aircraft which are certified in the transport, commuter or normal category; and
- involve the carriage of passengers who have limited or no knowledge of the risks they are exposed to and little or no control over the risks (other than choosing not to fly).
The Passenger Transport class includes, but is not limited to, passenger operations in scheduled and non-scheduled air services provided to the public.
Activities in Passenger Transport require an Air Operator’s Certificate (AOC) — full or graduated.
Aerial Work
Activities in which:
- the aircraft is being used for specialised in-flight purposes; and
- the activity presents elevated operational and/or organisational risks, or the potential for significant consequences if there is an accident (by virtue of the number of persons carried on board and/or the area of
- operation).
The activities in the Aerial Work class are very diverse. Some may require a full AOC, graduated AOC, some other permission from CASA or be subject to operational limitations.
Note: AOCs are one of the many tools and NOT the only tool that CASA can utilise to deal with operational and/or organisational risks.
General and Freight-only Activities
Comprises:
- activities involving the carriage of participants — individuals who are adequately informed and have explicitly accepted the risks to which they are exposed;
Note: Limits will establish the maximum number of participants that can be involved before an activity triggers increased regulatory oversight. - freight-only activities; and
- any other aviation activities (e.g. crew-only) that do not fall into one of the other two classes.
Some activities in General and Freight-only Activities, e.g. freight-only activities in large aeroplanes, will require a full AOC or a graduated AOC.