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CIVIL AVIATION AMENDMENT REGULATIONS 2010 (NO. 1) (SLI NO 81 OF 2010)
EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
Select Legislative Instrument 2010 No. 81
Issued by the authority of the Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government
Civil Aviation Act 1988
Civil Aviation Amendment Regulations 2010 (No. 1)
Subsection 98 (1) of the Civil Aviation Act 1988 (the Act) provides, in part, that the Governor-General may make regulations, not inconsistent with the Act, prescribing matters required or permitted by the Act to be prescribed, or necessary or convenient to be prescribed for carrying out or giving effect to the Act. That subsection also provides that the Governor-General may make regulations in relation to the safety of air navigation, being regulations with respect to any other matters to which the Parliament has power to make laws.
Subsection 9 (1) of the Act specifies, in part, that the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) has the function of conducting the safety regulation of civil air operations in Australian territory by means that include developing and promulgating appropriate, clear and concise aviation safety standards and issuing certificates, licences, registrations and permits.
The purpose of such broadcasts and procedures is to assist in avoiding aircraft collisions by enhancing the situational awareness of pilots of aircraft operating on, and in the vicinity of, non-controlled aerodromes regarding the position and intentions of other such pilots.
The regulations have:
· extended radio carriage requirements to operations at all non-controlled certified, registered and military aerodromes, and at such other non-controlled aerodromes as CASA designates on a risk basis;
· introduced a new, generalised requirement for pilots to make such broadcasts as are reasonably necessary to avoid a collision or risk of a collision with another aircraft at, or in the vicinity of, the aerodrome;
· introduced new provisions to allow pilots of aircraft with unserviceable radio, or no radio, to use, subject to specified conditions and limitations, a non-controlled aerodrome at which the carriage of radio would normally be required;
· removed the current prohibition on joining the aerodrome circuit on the base leg (the base leg is the section of an aerodrome circuit immediately prior to the final approach and landing segment of the circuit);
· allowed use of down-wind runways if the aircraft’s flight manual permits;
· removed the current requirement for a 500 metres minimum final approach length;
· removed the requirement that serviceable radio equipment be carried when conducting a straight-in approach (except that it would effectively still apply to such approaches conducted at certified, registered, military and designated aerodromes);
· removed the requirement that a specific broadcast be made by a pilot intending to conduct a straight-in approach: and
· reduced the minimum distance by which a pilot must be aligned with the landing runway if conducting a straight-in approach from 5 nautical miles to 3 nautical miles from the landing runway threshold.
Background on the Regulations is at Attachment A and further details are set out in Attachment B.
The Act does not specify conditions that needed to be satisfied before the power to make the Regulations was exercised.
The Regulations are a legislative instrument for the purposes of the Legislative Instruments Act 2003.
The Regulations commence on 3 June 2010. This date has been selected to coincide with the Aeronautical Information Regulation and Control (AIRAC) amendment cycle which coordinates the promulgation of aeronautical information.
ATTACHMENT A
Civil Aviation Amendment Regulations 2010 (No. 1)
Previously, regulation 166 of the Civil Aviation Regulations 1988 (CAR) only required radio carriage and broadcasting when aircraft were operating in the vicinity of non-controlled aerodromes which had been designated under subregulation 166A (1). To enhance safety, these amendments have extended the mandatory radio carriage requirements to all certified, registered and military non-controlled aerodromes and to other non-controlled aerodromes designated for the purpose by CASA on a risk basis. A generalised broadcast provision has been introduced requiring pilots to make a broadcast whenever they consider that a broadcast may be necessary to avoid the risk of collision with another aircraft in the vicinity of the aerodrome. Supporting guidance material recommends when such broadcasts should be made so as to best enhance pilot awareness of the positions and intentions of other aerodrome traffic. The information to be included in a broadcast has also been mandated. Other amendments have introduced more flexibility into circuit procedures at non-controlled aerodromes.
Consultation was undertaken with the public and through CASA’s industry Standards Consultative Committee. The amendments do not impose any significant costs on the industry as the vast majority of aircraft operating into certified, registered and military aerodromes are already radio-equipped. As a result a Regulatory Impact Statement Exemption, reference number 9691, has been granted by the Office of Best Practice Regulation.
Amendments to regulation 167 of the CAR will be consequential upon these amendments to regulations 166 and 166A of the CAR.
The amendment to the definition in regulation 2 of the CAR of ‘aerodrome reference point’ removes the now outdated reference to the document named ‘Rules and Practices for Aerodromes’. This document was superseded by the introduction of Civil Aviation Safety Regulation Part 139 in 2002.
CASA Instrument No. 443/05, which specifies the aerodromes designated under the previous subregulation 166A(1), will be withdrawn. This action is considered necessary because this amendment renders the current list of designated aerodromes obsolete.
ATTACHMENT B
Civil Aviation Amendment Regulations 2010 (No. 1)
Regulation 1 - Name of Regulations
Regulation 1 provides that the title of the Regulations is the Civil Aviation Amendment Regulations 2010 (No. 1).
Regulation 2 - Commencement
Regulation 2 provides that the Regulations would commence on 3 June 2010.
Regulation 3 - Amendment of Civil Aviation Regulations 1988
Regulation 3 provides that Schedule 1 amends the Civil Aviation Regulations 1988.
Schedule 1 - Amendments
Item [1] - Subregulation 2 (1), definition of aerodrome reference point, paragraph (a)
Item [1] amends the definition of ‘aerodrome reference point’ in subregulation 2 (1) by removing the outdated reference to the ‘Rules and Practices for Aerodromes’ and substituting a reference to the Civil Aviation Safety Regulation (CASR) Part 139 Manual of Standards.
Item [2]
Item [2] inserts “Subdivision 1 General” after the Part 12, Division 2, heading.
Item [3]
Item [3] inserts “Subdivision 2 - Operating on and in the vicinity of non-controlled aerodromes” after regulation 165.
Item [4] – Regulations 166, 166A and 167
Item [4] replaces regulations 166, 166A and 167 with revised and new regulations. New regulation 166 comprises definitions for Subdivision 2. A new definition has been introduced to allow for the validity of radiotelephone qualifications issued by the organisations listed in the definition. These organisations administer sport and recreational flying activities. A new provision specifies that, where an aerodrome reference point is published in the Aeronautical Information Publication for an aerodrome, the radial distance that constitutes the boundary of the vicinity of a non-controlled aerodrome (10 miles) is to be measured from that point.
New regulation 166A requires the pilot in command of an aircraft being operated on the manoeuvring area, or in the vicinity of, a non-controlled aerodrome to maintain a look out for other aircraft to avoid a collision, and to ensure that his or her aircraft does not cause a danger to other aircraft. These requirements are similar to the current provisions at paragraphs 166(2)(a) and (b). The new regulation also requires a pilot flying in the vicinity of a non-controlled aerodrome to either join the circuit pattern for the aerodrome or avoid the circuit pattern, and requires the pilot, when taking off from such an aerodrome to maintain the same track from the take-off until the aircraft reaches 500 feet above the ground unless terrain prevents this. These requirements are similar to the current provisions at paragraphs 166(2)(c) and (h).
New regulation 166A also specifies the direction in which turns are to be made by pilots operating in the circuit pattern for an aerodrome. This requirement is similar to current paragraph 166(2)(e). The regulation prohibits the pilot in command of an aircraft from taking off from, or landing on, a part of the aerodrome that is outside the landing area of the aerodrome. This requirement is similar to that in current subregulation 166(7). The regulation also requires the pilot to take-off or land into wind unless the aircraft’s flight manual allows the aircraft to take off or land downwind and the pilot believes, taking into account other aerodrome traffic, it to be safe to do so. The regulation has been drafted as a strict liability offence (except in the case of the provision relating to taking off and landing downwind) with a penalty of 25 penalty units. The current provision is strict liability and has the same penalty attaching to it. Because of the potential serious safety implications resulting from non-compliance with the new regulations, it is appropriate that they are strict liability offences, (ie. CASA need only prove that the contravention occurred and not that the pilot intended to commit one).
New regulation 166B specifies requirements to be complied with by pilots making a straight-in approach to a non-controlled aerodrome. The requirements are similar to those at current paragraphs 166(3)(c), (d) and (e) but with the distance from the runway threshold by which the pilot must be aligned with the landing runway reduced from five miles to three miles. The regulation has been drafted as a strict liability offence with a penalty of 25 penalty units attaching, being the same penalty as applies under the current equivalent provision.
New regulation 166C introduces a generalised broadcasting requirement. Pilots of radio-equipped aircraft who are qualified to use the radio are now required to make a broadcast whenever they operate on the manoeuvring area or in the vicinity of a non-controlled aerodrome and consider a broadcast to be necessary to avoid the risk of a collision with another aircraft. The broadcast is required to include the name of the aerodrome, the aircraft type and call sign, its position and the pilot’s intentions. This regulation replaces the current requirements for positional broadcasts to be made by pilots at subregulation 166A(3). The regulation is supported by guidance material recommending when and where calls should be made. The regulation has been drafted as a duty on a pilot with no criminal penalty attached, but non compliance may result in counselling or in administrative action against the pilot’s licence.
New regulation 166D continues CASA’s power currently in subregulation 166A(1) to designate aerodromes at which the carriage of radio is mandatory, and continues to require CASA to publish details of such aerodromes in the AIP.
New regulation 166E expands the current requirement in paragraph 166(6)(a) that aircraft operating at designated aerodromes be radio-equipped, to also apply at all non-controlled certified, registered and military aerodromes. It also requires pilots operating at such aerodromes to be qualified to use the radio. The regulation has been drafted as a strict liability offence with a penalty of 25 penalty units attaching, both being the same as the current equivalent provision. However, new provisions specify conditions which, if met by the pilot in command, would allow, in limited circumstances, non-radio aircraft, aircraft with unserviceable radio and pilots who are not qualified to use the radio, to use aerodromes at which serviceable radio and a radio qualification would normally be required. These new provisions replace the current one in paragraph 166(6)(b) for CASA to authorise such operations, allowing them to take place without a CASA authorisation being necessary.
New Subdivision 3, titled “Controlled aerodromes, aerodromes at which the operation of aircraft is not restricted to runways and preventing collisions on water” include revised regulation 167. The revised regulation is based on the previous content of regulation 167 and does not introduce any new requirements. These regulations make consequential amendments to previous regulation 167 to allow for downwind landings where the aircraft’s flight manual permits, and delete the minimum final approach length requirement of 500 metres, reflecting amendments that would be made to current regulation 166. They have been drafted as strict liability offences with penalties of 25 penalty units attaching, both being the same as the current equivalent provision at subregulation 167(1).
Current regulations 168 and 169 remain unamended in the new Subdivision 3.