Explanatory Statement
Civil Aviation Regulations 1988
Determination — lowest safe altitude
Legislation
Section 98 of the Civil Aviation Act 1988 empowers the Governor-General to make Regulations.
Under subregulation 178 (1) of the Civil Aviation Regulations 1988 (CAR 1988), the pilot in command of an aircraft must not fly along a route segment at a height lower than the published lowest safe altitude (LSALT) for that segment. Under subregulation 178 (2), if there is no LSALT, the pilot must not fly lower than the LSALT calculated by a method determined by CASA.
Qantas Airways Limited (the operator) determines the LSALT in accordance with any 1 of 4 methods that have been approved by CASA. The method selected is based on many factors, including variations in available data, charting presentation, height of en route terrain and aircraft navigation capacity. The operator has applied to CASA to approve 2 methods that could be used for determining LSALT.
CASA, after taking into account any relevant considerations relating to the interest of safety, has determined that the operator may use either the Jeppesen Grid Minimum Off Route (MORA) method or the Digital Terrain method as a method of calculating the lowest safe en route altitude.
Legislative Instruments Act
Under subsections 5 (1) and (4) of the Legislative Instruments Act 2003 (the LIA), the determination is a legislative instrument. It is subject to tabling and disallowance in the Parliament under sections 38 and 42 of the LIA.
Consultation
Consultation under section 17 of the LIA has not been undertaken. The instrument varies a method that has been used for determining LSALT by the operator and is a renewal of an instrument, CASA 373/10, which stops having effect on 31 July 2011.
The instrument commences on 1 August 2011 and stops having effect at the end of 31 July 2014.
The instrument has been issued by a delegate of CASA in accordance with subregulation 11.260 (1) of the Civil Aviation Safety Regulations 1998.
[Instrument number CASA 327/11]