CASA Consultation Hub

From 18 December 2018 to 31 January 2019 we invited public comment on our proposal to set a new minimum safety standard for community service flights (CSF). The consultation asked you to comment on a draft legislative instrument that would apply additional safety requirements for the conduct of CSF and included 16 provisions that related to licensing and medical requirements for pilots; minimum CSF pilot experience; a requirement that flights at night be conducted under the instrument flight rules (IFR); and maintenance-related enhancements intended to align with requirements governing similar operations in Australia.

CASA appreciates the contributions made by respondents and acknowledges that their feedback has been beneficial to the consultation process. The consultation received responses from 233 individuals or organisations—including 115 people who said they were a pilot who had flown a CSF. Responses were evenly split between a group of respondents that did not support any element of the proposal and a combined group of those respondents that partially or fully supported the proposal. Consultation feedback highlighted that some elements of the proposal were disproportionately costly compared to their safety benefits. A detailed analysis of the feedback in provided in the Summary of Consultation (published below).

In response to the consultation, CASA has modified the new minimum standard to provide appropriate safety protections to CSF passengers at a significantly reduced cost compared to the initial proposal.

Key changes are:

• Specific engine maintenance requirements have been removed.
• Factory-built light sport aircraft registered under Part 47 of CASR may be used.
• The definition of CSF has been refined to provide that the pilot and passengers are introduced through a charitable or community service organisation, and the passengers are not charged for the flight.
• The PPL multi-engine 100-hour experience requirement has been reduced to 25 hours and applied to all pilots.
• The flight notification requirement has been clarified to be a full flight details or SARTIME notification with a remark stating the flight is a CSF operation.

The requirements will come into effect on 19 March 2019.

Further information about the new requirements for CSF is published on the CASA website.

In September 2018 we asked for feedback on our flagship aviation safety magazine Flight Safety Australia. We asked a variety of questions to explore current reading habits and satisfaction levels, whether the magazine has an impact on aviation safety (knowledge, awareness and behaviour), and to source ideas for improvement (including audience preferences regarding the magazine’s format, frequency and content, and how to grow readership).

We received 1,299 responses from a wide range of people in the aviation industry. About 70 percent of respondents were current readers, and the rest had not read Flight Safety Australia within 12 months.

The results show that Flight Safety Australia magazine has a positive influence on knowledge and awareness about safety issues, and also behaviour. Of those who currently read the magazine, 95 per cent agree/strongly agree that they have learned useful information from Flight Safety Australia and 85 per cent agree/strongly agree it has influenced them to become safer in their aviation role. A majority of current readers surveyed (89%) would recommend it to other people in the industry because the content is well written, informative and enjoyable, it provides opportunities to learn from other’s mistakes, and it provides a relevant connection to real life practices.

The results show a high level of satisfaction with the current mixture of stories and a range of additional story ideas were received.

Almost 30 percent of respondents said they have not read Flight Safety Australia in the last 12 months mainly because the digital format doesn’t suit them (they prefer print).

We are changing our publishing model for Flight Safety Australia magazine in response to the feedback.

From September 2019 we will introduce the option for people to subscribe to a quarterly print magazine. It will cost $39.95 for a 12-month subscription (four issues per year delivered to your door including postage and handling within Australia). It is necessary for us to charge a subscription fee to make this option sustainable in the long term.

From our research we know that some of you would prefer to receive the content for free. As a result, we will continue to publish all the features of the print magazine on the Flight Safety Australia website and will also update it regularly with unique ‘digital only’ content (including topical news, safety videos, audio close calls and more).

Subscribe now to Flight Safety Australia print edition at the CASA Online Store.

CASA published a consultation draft of the proposed regulatory instrument for performance-based communication and surveillance on the CASA Consultation Hub from 18 April to 2 May 2018.

CASA received a total of three responses to the proposed instrument.

One of the main objectives of the consultation was to obtain feedback on whether open-ended relief statements for aircraft documentation, agreement with the communication service provider and the Minimum Equipment List (MEL) would be acceptable to foreign authorities in the long term. One response indicated that such open-ended statements didn't appear to be a problem. Another response queried if CASA would be prepared to accept the open-ended statements and how certain older aircraft equipment would be treated if it is determined or declared to be non-compliant by the State of design.

There was a suggestion to prepare and publish guidance on the subject in the form of an Advisory Circular (AC).

Other comments indicated preference for the use of less-restrictive statements concerning monitored performance of aircraft data link operations and training of the personnel.

Finally, a suggestion was provided to use the definitions contained in ICAO documents.

As PBCS is a recently developed concept and that it may take some time for operators to obtain the required documentation, CASA and foreign authorities should accept operator's request(s) to appropriate authorities or entities for documentation as an acceptable means of compliance. Otherwise, affected operators would be disadvantaged due to no fault of their own.

The comment regarding the possibility of certain aircraft equipment being declared non-compliant by State of design has been addressed so that the subject aircraft are no longer authorised to declare applicable RCP and RSP capabilities.

A new Advisory Circular on PBCS has been published by CASA to provide general guidance on the subject.

Suggestions to use less-restrictive statements on the monitoring of aircraft data link operations and training of the personnel have also been taken into consideration. The word "notification" has been replaced by "advice" in the context of data link monitoring. Furthermore, requirements for flight crew and other personnel have become more general so that having appropriate knowledge is considered acceptable. 

The definitions will remain the same. They are slightly reworded from those contained in ICAO documents and are for the purpose of the subject instrument only.

The regulatory instrument CASA 33/18 – Required Communication Performance and Required Surveillance Performance (RCP 240 and RSP 180) Capability Declarations – Direction 2018 – is available on the Federal Register of Legislation.