Proposed amendments to new Part 131 Manual of Standards - Balloons and hot air airships (CD 2307OS)

Overview

We are seeking your feedback on the new draft of the proposed Manual of Standards (MOS) for the operational rules for balloons and hot air airships.

The MOS provides technical details on the requirements in Part 131 of the Civil Aviation Safety Regulations 1998 (CASR).

Part 131 commenced on 2 December 2021 along with the other new flight operations regulations.

The first draft of the Part 131 MOS was publicly consulted between 16 August and 15 September 2021. The Summary of consultation was published in December 2021.

In response to industry input including advice from the Aviation Safety Advisory Panel and Part 131 MOS Technical Working Group (TWG), we deferred making the Part 131 MOS in 2021. We have been working with industry to progress the remaining issues.

The outcome of continued discussions between CASA, the Part 131 MOS TWG and other industry representatives has resulted in several new policy amendments and rewording of some sections of the draft MOS for clarity.

Your feedback on the new draft MOS will help us check that the policy is fit for purpose and the rules in the MOS work as intended.

The full details of the key changes in the Part 131 draft MOS are provided in the attached Summary of Proposed Change.

Overall framework

To help you understand how the proposed MOS interacts with all the regulations that apply to balloons and hot air airships, as well as relevant guidance materials and advisory documents, we've provided you with a draft guide to the rules.

The draft guide sets out all the regulatory requirements in a concise, clear, easy to read and practical format for:

• Part 131 regulations and the MOS for balloons and hot air airships
• Part 91 regulations and the MOS for general operating and flight rules – those that apply to balloons and hot air airships
• CARs and CAOs related to pilot training, licensing and maintenance
• relevant advisory circulars and guidance materials including acceptable means of compliance content.

We are not yet seeking your feedback on the draft guide. This consultation only requests feedback on the draft MOS. The draft guide is provided to aid you in reviewing the draft MOS.

The draft guide is available for review on the CASA website.

Watch our information session to learn more about the overarching framework for the rules, and how the guide puts everything in one place.

Why your views matter

Your feedback will help us make sure the proposed requirements are suitable, the final legislation is clear and will work as intended.

Please submit your comments using the survey link on this page.

If you are unable to provide feedback via the survey link, please email regulatoryconsultation@casa.gov.au for advice.

Documents for review

All documents directly related to this consultation are attached in the ‘Related’ section at the bottom of the overview page. They are:

• Summary of proposed change on CD 2307OS, which provides background on the proposed key changes in the MOS
• the current consultation draft of the Part 131 MOS
• Microsoft Word copy of online consultation for ease of distribution and feedback within your organisation.

What happens next

At the end of the response period, we will:

• review all comments received
• make responses publicly available on the consultation hub (unless you request your submission remain confidential)
• publish a summary of consultation which summarises the feedback received and outlines any intended changes and next steps.

All comments received on the proposed MOS will be considered. Relevant feedback that improves upon the MOS will be incorporated into the final.

A commencement date for the Part 131 MOS has not yet been decided. We want to make sure operators have enough time to become familiar with the content before updating their manuals. We will also support operators with further guidance and assistance to ensure a smooth transition. The last question in this survey requests your feedback as to when you think the Part 131 MOS should commence.