Plume rise assessments - Draft Advisory Circular 139.E-02 v1.0

Closed 20 May 2022

Opened 5 May 2022

Contact

Air Navigation Airspace and Aerodromes

131 757

regulatoryconsultation@casa.gov.au

Overview

The purpose of this advisory circular (AC) is to:

  • provide a standard method of determining the probability of an aircraft experiencing turbulence when flying in the vicinity of a facility emitting a vertical exhaust plume
  • ensure that the impact of plumes can be assessed in a consistent and reliable way
  • provide guidance to stakeholders involved in the approval, design and operation of facilities with vertical exhaust plumes to assess the potential hazard from a plume to aircraft operations
  • provide guidance to stakeholders on the plume rise assessment process.

AC 139.E-02 v1.0 incorporates the use of the Exhaust Plume Analyzer (EPA) tool developed by the MITRE Corporation for the United States’ Federal Aviation Administration (US FAA) and explains how the EPA tool has been adapted for consistency with Australian legislation.

This AC will be of interest to:

  • land use planning authorities including local councils, State/Territory planning agencies and the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Communications
  • aerodrome operators
  • aircraft operators
  • proponents of facilities that emit plumes such as power stations and road tunnels.

Why your views matter

CASA recognises the valuable contribution that community and industry consultation makes to the regulatory development process. For this reason, we are seeking feedback on whether the draft AC provides adequate guidance on: 

  • the process to obtain advice from CASA on the potential for a plume rise proposal to create risk to the safety of aircraft operations
  • the process CASA follows to assess plume rises.

This is the third revision of the AC relating to the conduct of plume rise assessments and replaces AC 139-05 v3.0 – Plume rise assessments issued in January 2019.

Documents for review

All documents related to this consultation are in the ‘related’ section at the bottom of the page. A copy of the draft AC is provided below as well as appearing on the designated page of the survey.  There is also an MS Word copy of the online survey to make it easy for you to peruse or coordinate feedback within your organisation.

Please submit your feedback through the Consultation Hub using the survey provided. If you are unable to provide feedback this way, please contact us for advice through regulatoryconsultation@casa.gov.au.

What happens next

At the end of the response period for public comment, we will review each comment and submission received. We will make all submissions publicly available on our website, unless you request your submission remain confidential. We will also publish a Summary of Consultation which summarises the feedback received, outlines any intended changes and details our plans for the AC.

Audiences

  • Aerodrome operator

Interests

  • Airworthiness / maintenance