CIVIL AVIATION ACT 1988
CIVIL AVIATION SAFETY REGULATIONS 1998
ISSUE OF AIRWORTHINESS DIRECTIVE
Under section 98 of the Civil Aviation Act 1988, the Governor-General may make regulations for the purposes of the Act and in the interests of the safety of air navigation. Under regulation 39.001 of the Civil Aviation Safety Regulations 1998, CASA may issue airworthiness directives (ADs) for kinds of aircraft or aeronautical products. Subregulation 39.001(5) of the Civil Aviation Safety Regulations 1998 provides that an AD is a disallowable instrument for the purposes of section 46A of the Acts Interpretation Act 1901. Therefore, in accordance with section 6 of the Legislative Instruments Act 2003, an AD is a legislative instrument.
Under Annex 8 to the Convention on International Civil Aviation, the State of Design has overall responsibility for continuing airworthiness of an aircraft type, and must provide any information necessary to ensure the continuing airworthiness of a type to appropriate States of Registry. ADs (and their equivalents) are the most common form of continuing airworthiness information, and are issued by most ICAO Contracting States.
The State of Registry of an individual aircraft is responsible for its continuing airworthiness. Under Annex 8, the State of Registry must develop or adopt requirements to ensure the continuing airworthiness of aircraft. When a State of Design issues an AD against a type of aircraft on the Australian Register, CASA, as Australia’s national airworthiness authority, must assess that information and, if appropriate, issue an Australian AD to mandate the requirements of the State of Design.
CASA has raised AD/GA8/5, to correct an unsafe situation on Gippsland Aeronautics GA8 model aircraft. GA8 operators have experienced a number of problems relating to the attachment of the horizontal stabiliser. This directive requires a number of inspections and improvements aimed at overcoming these problems, and is based on service documentation provided by Gippsland Aeronautics. As Australia is the State of Design for the GA8, CASA is required to develop, and to transmit to other States of Registry, an AD to correct the problem. This directive will become effective on 15 February 2007.
CASA has not consulted widely with the Australian public. However, the directive has been raised as a result of consultation with, and with the support of, the aircraft manufacturer. Because of the potential consequences of a failure, urgent action is required, and this would be significantly delayed by widespread public consultation.
The Office of Regulatory Review has determined that ADs do not require a Regulatory Impact Statement.
The AD has been made by the Acting General Manager, Manufacturing, Certification and New Technologies Office, on behalf of CASA, in accordance with subsection 84A (2) of the Act.