EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
CIVIL AVIATION REGULATIONS 1988
HELICOPTER MUSTERING OPERATIONS
FLIGHT AND DUTY TIME
Section 98 of the Civil Aviation Act 1988 empowers the Governor-General to make regulations.
Regulation 5.55 of the Civil Aviation Regulations 1988 (CAR 1988) provides that the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) may give directions to the holder of a flight crew licence, or to an aircraft operator, about matters relating to the regulation of flight time. These matters include the number of hours that a person may fly in any period, the rest periods that must be taken, and the circumstances in which a person must not fly or undertake other duties associated with his or her employment.
These directions have been issued under regulation 5.55. They provide a uniform set of rules applicable to operators engaged in helicopter mustering operations. They provide an alternative to the standard limitations and requirements set out in section 48.1 of the Civil Aviation Orders (the Orders) and will apply to any operator who notifies CASA in writing that he or she wishes to comply with them.
Apart from the maximum number of hours that a pilot may fly in any given period and the duty free periods that a pilot is required to have, the instrument also deals with the circumstances in which a pilot must not fly or in which an operator must not require a pilot to fly. It also requires the accurate recording of flight time and duty time and of helicopter flying time.
The directions set out two sets of flight time limitations, depending on whether the pilot in question is an entry level pilot or an experienced pilot. All pilots must hold an approval to engage in helicopter mustering operations or be undergoing training to obtain that approval. In addition, an experienced pilot is one who has a minimum of 500 flying hours in helicopter mustering operations as pilot in command or acting in command under supervision.
The directions provide for a pilot to have a minimum number of duty free days in each 16 day period and not to exceed the maximum number of flight hours provided for any of the specified periods. In addition, pilots must not fly, or be required to fly, in a mustering operation if unfit for duty because of fatigue, illness, or injury or for any other reason.
The directions also require the keeping of adequate records of flight time and duty time as well as helicopter flying time.
Regulation 5A of CAR 1988 provides that a direction that has the effect of repealing, amending or otherwise affecting the operation of, anything in the Orders is a disallowable instrument for the purposes of section 46A of the Acts Interpretation Act 1901.
The directions are a disallowable instrument because they affect the operation of section 48.1 of the Orders.
The directions start having effect on 1 November 2004 and stop having effect at the end of October 2007.
They replace previous directions in identical terms which stop having effect at the end of October 2004.
The directions have been issued by a delegate of CASA in accordance with regulation 7 of CAR 1988.
[Instrument Number: CASA 524/04]