EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
CIVIL AVIATION ACT 1988
CIVIL AVIATION REGULATIONS 1988
EXEMPTION UNDER REGULATION 308 RELATING TO TAKE-OFFS AND LANDINGS BY DASH 8 AIRCRAFT AT LORD HOWE ISLAND
Under subsection 98 (1) of the Civil Aviation Act 1988, 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. Subregulation 308 (3) of CAR 1988 provides that CASA can impose conditions necessary in the interests of safety. An exemption is a legislative instrument.
Subregulation 235 (2) of CAR 1988 provides that CASA may, for the purposes of ensuring the safety of air navigation, give directions setting out how to determine the maximum take-off and landing weights of an aircraft. These are given by paragraph 4.1 of section 20.7.1B of the Civil Aviation Orders (CAOs), which provides for the determination of take-off weight limitations, paragraph 5.1 which provides for the determination of landing weight limitations and paragraph 11.1 which provides for the landing distance required.
The landing distance required for a DASH 8 aircraft operated by Eastern Australia Airlines Pty Ltd at Lord Howe Island is 1.67 times the distance required to bring the aircraft to a complete stop. Internationally, a factor of 1.43 is accepted. It is proposed to incorporate this factor in the Civil Aviation Safety Regulations 1998. This exemption allows Eastern Australia Airlines Pty Ltd to apply the lower factor at Lord Howe Island.
A runway end safety area (RESA) is an area symmetrical about the extended runway centre line and beside the end of the strip, primarily intended to reduce the risk of damage to an aeroplane undershooting or overrunning the runway. Generally, a RESA cannot be taken in account in the length of runway available for take-offs. It must be available in case of a need for extra distance in landing or taking off. Its bearing strength is often less than the bearing strength of the runway.
At Lord Howe Island, the RESAs are constructed to an equivalent standard to the runway. It is therefore acceptable for the departure end RESA to be used for take-offs, and is a safety enhancement that provides for more runway length than would otherwise be available.
The exemption allows the RESA to be used for this purpose. It also removes, in accordance with international practice, the requirement to consider temperature in determining the landing distance required.
The 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 Eastern Australia Airlines Pty Ltd and meets its requirements for the DASH 8 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 February 2007.
The exemption has been made by the Deputy Chief Executive and Chief Operating Officer, a delegate of CASA, under subregulation 7 (1) of CAR 1988.
[Instrument Number: CASA EX04/2005]