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/GENERAL/85 to correct an unsafe situation on transport category aircraft used in scheduled passenger carrying operations. The requirements for passenger seats in transport category aircraft were significantly upgraded by a change to the US Federal Aviation Regulations in June 1988, and these new standards have been adopted world wide. However, these new standards only apply to aircraft designed after that date. Aircraft which had already been certificated and were in production in June 1988 were allowed to continue using seats meeting the older, much less safe, standard. This directive, which is based on a US FAA requirement, will correct this shortcoming by requiring all transport category aircraft used in scheduled passenger carrying operations, and manufactured after 27 October 2009, to be fitted with the new standard seats regardless of when the type was originally certificated.
CASA has consulted with the Australian industry. Major operators and the Regional Airlines Association were consulted and did not object to the requirements of the directive.
The Office of Regulatory Review has determined that ADs do not require a Regulatory Impact Statement.
The AD has been made by the General Manager, Manufacturing, Certification and New Technologies Office, on behalf of CASA, in accordance with subsection 84A (2) of the Act.