EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
CIVIL AVIATION ACT 1988
CIVIL AVIATION REGULATIONS 1988
PERMISSION UNDER SUBREGULATION 156 (1) FOR FLYING OVER A PUBLIC GATHERING AT THE AUSTRALIAN INTERNATIONAL AIR SHOW, AVALON, VICTORIA
Section 98 of the Civil Aviation Act 1988 (the Act) empowers the Governor-General to make regulations for the purposes of the Act and in the interests of the safety of air navigation.
Subregulation 156 (1) of the Civil Aviation Regulations 1988 (CAR 1988) provides that the pilot in command of an aircraft must not fly the aircraft over a public gathering without CASA’s written permission.
Regulation 5 of CAR 1988 provides that where CASA is empowered to issue directions, it may issue those directions in Civil Aviation Orders.
Section 29.4 of the Civil Aviation Orders (CAOs) provides that air displays must be approved by CASA and comply with various general and specific conditions in the interests of safety. These conditions include a requirement in paragraph 4.2 (2) that an aircraft in flight below 1 500 feet must not manoeuvre towards spectators within a horizontal distance of 500 metres, or pass within 200 metres horizontal distance from spectators.
The Australian International Air Show (the air show) is scheduled to be held at Avalon, Victoria, from 11 March 2005 to 20 March 2005. The organiser, AirShows DownUnder, has proposed a display program that includes flight by participating aircraft over the public gathering at the air show at a height below 1 500 feet and closer to spectators than the distances permitted by paragraph 4.2 (2) of section 29.4 of the CAOs. The organiser has requested a permission to allow this to occur.
Having considered the safety implications of the request for the permission in the context of the controlled environment of the air show that is provided by the operation of section 29.4 of the CAOs, CASA has given the permission.
The permission is given subject to compliance with section 29.4 of the CAOs except paragraph 4.2 (2). Alternative distances for different types of aircraft are substituted, by way of conditions, for the distances mentioned in paragraph 4.2 (2).
The permission will, therefore, allow slower aircraft types to operate closer to spectators. However, larger and high-speed aircraft will operate further away than the distance mentioned in paragraph 4.2 (2).
Because this instrument affects the operation of paragraph 4.2 (2) of section 29.4 of the CAOs, it is declared to be a disallowable instrument under regulation 5A of CAR 1988. Under subparagraph 6 (d) (i) of the Legislative Instruments 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. The permission is, therefore, a legislative instrument and is subject to tabling and disallowance in the Parliament under sections 38 and 42 of the LIA.
Consultation under section 17 of the LIA has not been undertaken in this case. The instrument is a permission requested for a specific activity during a specific period.
The instrument comes into effect at the start of the day after it is registered on the Federal Register of Legislative Instruments. However, it will only apply to flight that is part of the official program approved by the organisers of the air show. The instrument stops having effect at the end of 20 March 2005.
The permission has been made by the Deputy Chief Executive and Chief Operating Officer, a delegate of CASA, in accordance with subregulation 7 (1) of CAR 1988.
[Instrument Number: CASA 87/05]