EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
CIVIL AVIATION ACT 1988
CIVIL AVIATION REGULATIONS 1988
EXEMPTION UNDER SUBREGULATION 308 (1) RELATING TO FUEL DISCREPANCY ALLOWANCE FOR QANTAS B747-300 AIRCRAFT
Under subsection 98 (1) of the Civil Aviation Act 1988 (the Act) the Governor-General may make regulations for the purposes of the Act and in the interests of the safety of air navigation.
Under regulation 308 of the Civil Aviation Regulations 1988 (CAR 1988), CASA may exempt aircraft, or persons in, on, or otherwise associated with the operation of the aircraft, from compliance with specified provisions of CAR 1988.
Under subregulation 308 (3) of CAR 1988, CASA may give the exemption subject to conditions specified in the exemption that are necessary in the interests of safety.
Regulation 5 of CAR 1988 provides that where CASA is empowered under the regulations to issue any directions, it may do so by means of Civil Aviation Orders (CAOs). Under subregulation 244 (2) of CAR 1988, CASA may issue directions about the precautions to be taken by pilots and others before take-off. CASA made such directions and, consistent with regulation 5, issued them in section 20.2 of the CAOs.
Paragraph 6.1 of section 20.2 provides that aircraft with a maximum take-off weight in excess of 5 700 kg must not take-off unless the pilot in command has ensured that the fuel quantity on board has been checked by two separate methods. Paragraph 6.2 provides, in effect, that the discrepancy between the higher and the lower of the fuel amounts so determined must not exceed 3% of the higher amount.
A CASA audit of Qantas Airways Limited (Qantas) in May 2004 found an instrument of exemption from this requirement was in force for Qantas B767 aircraft dating from 21 June 1990 (Concession Number: NSW 90/56). However, exemptions in respect of other Boeing aircraft could not be located. These aircraft had been, or were being, operated as if exemptions were in force.
Following consultation with Qantas, it was agreed that the only exemption required was that for B747-300 aircraft. Qantas no longer operated B767-200 aircraft, and B767-300 and B747-400 aircraft now operated with newer fuel quantity systems incorporating densitometers with high degrees of accuracy that made the need for an exemption redundant.
The instrument therefore exempts B747-300 aircraft operated by Qantas from so much of subregulation 244 (2) of CAR 1988 as relates to compliance with the directions in section 20.2 of the CAOs that the allowable discrepancy must not exceed 3% of the higher fuel quantity.
The exemption is subject to certain conditions in the interests of safety. Where the minimum fuel required for a flight is 25 000 kg or less, the allowable discrepancy must not exceed 6% of the higher fuel quantity determined by two separate methods. Between 25 000 kg and 50 000 kg, the allowable discrepancy is to be calculated, pro rata, from 6% down to 3%. Above 50 000 kg the allowable discrepancy is 3%. Where the allowable fuel discrepancy exceeds 3%, the lower of the two fuel quantities determined must not be less than the amount of fuel required for the flight.
Because of the age of the existing instrument of exemption (21 June 1990), the apparent industry assumption that other aircraft were similarly exempted, and the failure to uncover any other instruments of exemption, out of an abundance of caution the instrument not only revokes the existing instrument but also revokes any previous exemptions that may exist that have not come to light.
This exemption is a legislative instrument for the purposes of section 5 of the Legislative Instruments Act 2003. It is subject to tabling and disallowance in the Parliament under sections 38 and 42 of that Act.
Consultation under section 17 of the Legislative Instruments Act 2003 has not been undertaken in this case. The instrument has been specifically requested by Qantas and meets its requirements for the 747-300 aircraft to which it applies.
The exemption takes effect at the start of the day after it is registered on the Federal Register of Legislative Instruments, and it stops having effect at the end of July 2008.
The exemption has been made by the Director of Aviation Safety in accordance with subsection 84A (2) of the Act.
[Exemption Number: CASA EX01/2005]