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/GAF-N22/69 Amendment 6, which will become effective on
22 October 2009, to correct an unsafe situation on Nomad N22 and N24 aircraft. The Nomad type has been subject to operational limitations for several years as a result of aileron flutter. The operational limitations, which reduced the likelihood of aileron flutter, introduced other problems which could only be addressed by removal of the limitations. The Type Certificate holder has investigated the flutter problem, and has now developed a solution which allows the limitations to be removed. This AD requires corrective action to eliminate the cause of the flutter, and removes the operational limitations. This AD cancels and replaces the previous issue.
CASA has not consulted with the Australian industry and public because no Australian aircraft is affected. The only Nomad on the Australian register has already been modified. However, as Australia is the State of Design for the type, CASA is required to develop, and to transmit to other States of Registry, an AD to correct the problem.
The Office of Regulatory Review has determined that ADs do not require a Regulatory Impact Statement.
The AD has been made by the Manager, Initial Airworthiness, within the Airworthiness and Engineering Branch, on behalf of CASA, in accordance with subsection 84A (2) of the Act.