Explanatory Statement
Civil Aviation Regulations 1988
Exemption — operations by RAA aircraft in Avalon aerodrome temporary restricted area
Legislation
Section 98 of the Civil Aviation Act 1988 (the Act) empowers the Governor-General to make regulations for the Act and in the interests of the safety of air navigation.
Subregulation 308 (1) of the Civil Aviation Regulations 1988 (CAR 1988) provides that 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 (2) provides that before making an exemption, CASA must take into account any relevant considerations relating to the interests of safety. Subregulation 308 (3) provides that CASA may make an exemption subject to any condition specified in the exemption as being necessary in the interests of safety.
This exemption is required because of the decision to declare an area in the vicinity of Avalon Airport to be a temporary restricted area under regulation 6 of the Airspace Regulations 2007. The purpose of this declaration is to require the carriage and use of radio and transponder in the vicinity of Avalon aerodrome until air traffic control can be implemented.
Sport and recreational aircraft operate at, and in the vicinity of, Avalon aerodrome and have done so for a long time. This exemption operates to allow some of those aircraft to continue to operate in the temporary restricted area, subject to their meeting the conditions specified in Schedule 1. The aircraft to which the exemption applies are operated in accordance with Civil Aviation Order (CAO) 95.32 and CAO 95.55. These CAOs are in fact exemptions from various provisions of CAR 1988 that apply to the aircraft mentioned in them, recognising that because of their construction and performance they could not meet all the requirements of CAR 1988. CAO 95.32 applies to weight shift controlled aeroplanes and powered parachutes. CAO 95.55 applies to a variety of aircraft that have to meet one of the different sets of criteria set out in section 1 of that CAO.
Both CAOs provide their exemptions subject to compliance with sets of conditions relating to a variety of matters. In both the CAOs, one of the conditions, subparagraph 5.1 (e), prohibits flights in active restricted or prohibited areas.
This exemption allows the relevant aircraft to operate in the temporary restricted area in the vicinity of Avalon aerodrome subject to compliance with all the other conditions in the CAOs. There are also additional conditions in Schedule 1 that have to be met by the aircraft and are conditions for all other aircraft operations in the restricted area. All CAO 95.32 and CAO 95.55 aircraft have to be fitted with a radio capable of two-way communication with Air Traffic Control and Certified Air/Ground Radio Service and a transponder capable of mode A and C operation maintained by an approved aircraft maintenance organisation in accordance with CASA AD/RAD/47 as current at the time of this instrument.
The pilots will have to hold at least a valid pilot certificate issued by Recreation Aviation Australia Inc (RAA) or the Hang Gliding Federation of Australia (HGFA). They will also have to operate in accordance with the RAA operations manual. Incidents and accidents within the restricted area will have to be reported to the Australian Transport Safety Bureau.
The exemption applies only to aircraft registered with the RAA or HGFA that are CAO 95.32 or CAO 95.55 aircraft.
Legislative Instruments Act
Subregulation 308 (4) of CAR 1988 declares an exemption to be a disallowable instrument. 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 exemption is, therefore, a legislative instrument and it is subject to tabling and disallowance in the Parliament under sections 38 and 42 of the LIA.
Consultation
CASA has consulted with RAA and HGFA and the provider of Air Traffic Control services at Avalon aerodrome. The terms of the exemption have been agreed to.
The instrument commences on the day after it is registered and stops having effect at the end of March 2010.
The instrument has been made by a delegate of CASA in accordance with subregulation 7 (1) of CAR 1988.
[Instrument number CASA EX29/09]