Explanatory Statement
Civil Aviation Regulations 1988
Direction — number of cabin attendants
Subsection 98 (1) of the Civil Aviation Act 1988 (the Act) provides that the Governor-General may make regulations for the Act and in the interests of the safety of air navigation.
Under regulation 208 of the Civil Aviation Regulations 1988 (CAR 1988), CASA may give directions as to the operating crew required to be carried on an aircraft, having regard to the safety of air navigation. Subsection 7 and subparagraph 6.1 (a) of Civil Aviation Order 20.16.3 (CAO 20.16.3) were made under regulation 208 of CAR 1988 and provide, among other things, that aircraft carrying more than 36 and not more than 216 passengers must carry a cabin attendant for each unit of 36 passengers or part of that.
CAO 20.16.3 has remained in the same form since 1960 and as such represents a 47 year gap since a reassessment of cabin attendant numbers against a criterion of allowable seating rather than passenger numbers.
CASA in a report Review of Policies and Practices for First-Of-Type Certification of Imported Aircraft recommended the recognition of the Federal Aviation Administration (the FAA) certification standards. The recommendation was adopted by CASA. The ATR certification of the aircraft relates to the design of the floor plan and the seating configuration in relation to the location of exits. CASA does not call for a re-evaluation of the aircraft design; instead CASA accepts the design criterion. CASA does require operators to demonstrate the procedures that are specific to the operator, which are evaluated, thus there is a subtle distinction between the certification criterion and an operator imposed safety procedure which may or may not enhance the evacuation of the aircraft in an emergency evacuation.
Safety improvements have been made in regard to the mandatory seating and briefing of passengers seated at the “Self-Help” exits by CASA, in accordance with safety recommendations from Cranfield University.
CASA does not consider that safety would be compromised if an ATR 42-500 aircraft carried 1 cabin attendant to 50 seats fitted to the aircraft. To ensure the safety of air navigation, the exemption is subject to conditions. For example, only physically competent (able-bodied) persons may occupy seats in the emergency exit rows. During the aircraft take-off or landing operation and in prepared emergencies, each exit row must be occupied by a minimum of 2 physically competent (able-bodied) persons. All passengers seated in the emergency exit rows must receive, and respond to, a briefing on the opening of emergency exits and subsequent actions required in the event of an emergency.
Legislative Instruments Act
Under subparagraph 6 (d) (i) of the Legislative Instrument Act 2003 (the LIA), an instrument is a legislative instrument for section 5 of the LIA if it is declared to be a disallowable instrument under legislation in force before the commencement of the LIA. Under regulation 5A of CAR 1988, if CASA has issued a Civil Aviation Order (the CAO), and CASA later issues a direction that affects the operation of the CAO, the later document is declared to be a disallowable instrument. The instrument affects the operation of subparagraph 6.1 (a) of CAO 20.16.3. As 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 in this case because the instrument is similar to a previous instrument issued to another operator.
The direction has been issued by a delegate of CASA. It commences on 11 September 2007 and stops having effect at the end of 30 September 2008.
[Instrument number CASA 344/07]