With the introduction of new flight rules on 02 December 2021, CASA’s traditional guidance material in the form of Advisory Circulars (ACs), forms and (Civil Aviation Advisory Publications (CAAPs) went through a change as well.
What might have been relied upon as a ‘source of truth’ may no longer exist and in some cases it is has been left up to the ‘user’ to determine their specific regulatory requirements from the new rules.
Many aviation industry participants will be affected, either directly or indirectly by these changes, so it is worth taking note.
As a reminder, the definitions of ACs and CAAPs are provided below:
Advisory circulars are intended to provide advice and guidance to illustrate a means, but not necessarily the only means, of complying with the Regulations, or to explain certain regulatory requirements by providing informative, interpretative and explanatory material.
CAAPs provide guidance, interpretation and explanation on complying with the Civil Aviation Regulations (CAR) or Civil Aviation Orders (CAO). CAAPs provides advisory information to the aviation industry in support of a particular CAR or CAO. Ordinarily, the CAAP will provide additional ‘how to’ information not found in the source CAR, or elsewhere. A CAAP is not intended to clarify the intent of a CAR, which must be clear from a reading of the regulation itself, nor may the CAAP contain mandatory requirements not contained in legislation.
The transition to the new rules is still taking shape, and while numerous guidance documents appear in a list of material that has been removed, some links to repealed CAAPs and ACs are still live on the internet.
An important one for us in assessing impacts on non-certified aerodromes is CAAP 92-1(1) - Guidelines for aeroplane landing areas, which sets out factors that may be used to determine the suitability of a place for the landing and taking-off of aeroplanes.
Another document we frequently relied upon was CAAP 166-01 - Operations in the vicinity of non-controlled aerodromes.
The full list of guidance material which has been removed can be found here.
Note also that a new Visual Flight Rules Guide based on the revised regulations is available to download from CASA's website: VFRG V7.0.
CASA has stated the reason for updating or repealing these instruments is either to:
- correct errors
- clarify original intent of provisions
- provide relief in response to industry requests
- repeal unneeded laws.
While everyone is still adapting to these significant changes in the rules and regulations, aviation industry participants need to be especially diligent as to the source of information they are relying upon. What traditionally has been used as the source of truth may no longer exist and in the absence of guidance material, industry participants must specifically refer to (and interpret for the own context) the actual regulations.
The regulations transition can be found in this link.
If you need assistance in interpreting the effects of these changes, please contact us.
Tags: Civil Aviation Safety Regulations, Aviation Safety, Guidance, Visual Flight Rules Guide
