CASA EX92/22 – Part 137 and Part 91 of CASR – Supplementary Exemptions and Directions Instrument 2022

CASA EX92/22 – Part 137 and Part 91 of CASR – Supplementary Exemptions and Directions Instrument 2022

as amended

made under regulations 11.160, 11.205 and 11.245 of the Civil Aviation Safety Regulations 1998.

This compilation was prepared on 2 December 2024 taking into account amendments up to CASA EX67/24 – Part 91 of CASR – Supplementary Exemptions and Directions Instrument 2024. It is a compilation of CASA EX92/22 – Part 137 and Part 91 of CASR – Supplementary Exemptions and Directions Instrument 2022, as amended and in force on 2 December 2024.

Prepared by the Legal Services Branch, Legal, International and Regulatory Affairs Division, Civil Aviation Safety Authority, Canberra.

Compilation No. 4.

Contents

Page

Part 1 Preliminary......................................................1

1 Name...........................................................1

2 Duration.........................................................2

3 Definitions.......................................................2

Part 2 Maximum take-off weight — aerial application operations.....................2

4 Exemption.......................................................2

5 Conditions.......................................................3

6 Direction........................................................3

Part 3 Miscellaneous Dropping Operations....................................3

7 Application of Part..................................................3

8 Definitions.......................................................3

9 Exemptions.......................................................4

10 Conditions.......................................................4

Part 4 Minimum height and lateral separation — firefighting operations................4

11 Definitions, etc.....................................................4

12 Application of Part..................................................5

13 Exemption.......................................................5

14 Conditions — the relevant operation......................................5

15 Directions — the relevant operator........................................6

Note to CASA EX92/22 – Part 137 and Part 91 of CASR – Supplementary Exemptions and Directions Instrument 2022......7

Part 1 Preliminary

1 Name

  This instrument is CASA EX92/22 – Part 137 and Part 91 of CASR – Supplementary Exemptions and Directions Instrument 2022.

2 Duration

  This instrument:

(b) is repealed at the end of 30 November 2025.

Note   For regulation 11.250 of CASR, the directions issued in this instrument cease to be in force at the end of 30 November 2025.

3 Definitions

Note   In this instrument, certain terms and expressions have the same meaning as they have in the Civil Aviation Act 1988 and the regulations. These include: certificate of airworthiness, employed in private operations, flight manual, foreign type certificate, gross weight, maximum take-off weight, registered, restricted category and type certificate.

  In this instrument:

aerial application operation has the meaning given by regulation 137.010 of CASR.

CASA EX67/24 means CASA EX67/24 – Part 91 of CASR – Supplementary Exemptions and Directions Instrument 2024.

relevant aeroplane means an aeroplane, other than a relevant single engine aeroplane, that has a permanently installed jettison system to allow the pilot in command of the aeroplane to jettison, in flight, the contents of a hopper or vessel permanently installed in the aeroplane.

relevant single engine aeroplane means a registered single engine aeroplane that:

(a) has a permanently installed jettison system to allow the pilot in command of the aeroplane to jettison, in flight, the contents of a hopper or vessel permanently installed in the aeroplane; and

(b) is employed in private operations; and

(c) has been issued a current certificate of airworthiness in the restricted category.

Part 2 Maximum take-off weight — aerial application operations

4 Exemption

 (1) The pilot in command of a relevant aeroplane, or a relevant single engine aeroplane, that is engaged in an aerial application operation is exempt from compliance with the following provisions of CASR:

(a) subregulation 91.095 (2), to the extent that the subregulation requires the pilot to comply with, during the period mentioned in subregulation 91.095 (1), the aircraft flight manual instructions for the aircraft, or any condition specified in the aircraft’s certificate of airworthiness, about the aeroplane’s maximum take-off weight;

(b) regulation 91.805, to the extent that the regulation applies if the aeroplane’s weight and balance limits are not the highest of the 3 maximum gross weights mentioned in subregulation 137.190 (1) of CASR;

Note   Weight and balance limits, for an aircraft, is defined in Part 1 of the CASR Dictionary as meaning the weight and balance limits set out in the aircraft flight manual instructions for the aircraft.

(c) subregulations 137.190 (1) and (2).

 (2) The exemption is subject to the conditions in section 5.

5 Conditions

 (1) The pilot in command must not commence a take-off of the aeroplane if the aeroplane’s gross weight exceeds the highest of the following:

(a) the maximum gross weight shown in the aeroplane’s flight manual, as it exists from time to time;

(b) any maximum gross weight that:

 (i) has been established for that type of aeroplane by a flight test supervised by CASA; and

 (ii) is shown on a placard, as it exists from time to time, which is approved in writing by CASA and displayed in the aeroplane’s cockpit;

(c) the maximum gross weight shown on the type certificate, or foreign type certificate, for the aeroplane, as it exists from time to time.

 (2) For subsection (1), the pilot in command of the aeroplane must calculate its take‑off weight by a method that involves calculating the total of the following:

(a) the weight of the crew and any equipment carried on the aeroplane;

(b) the weight of the aeroplane’s fuel and load;

(c) the empty weight of the aeroplane, as determined under Civil Aviation Order 100.7, as in force from time to time.

6 Direction

  The direction in section 5 of CASA EX67/24 does not apply to a pilot in command mentioned in subsection 4 (1) in relation to ensuring that any activity in relation to the flight or operation, if occurring before or after the flight, is conducted in a way that meets any requirement or limitation for an activity that:

(a) is mentioned in the aircraft flight manual instructions for the aircraft; and

(b) relates to compliance with the aeroplane’s maximum take-off weight mentioned in the aircraft flight manual instructions.

Note   This direction is required because regulation 91.095 of CASR in effect only applies in relation to the operation of an aircraft during flight, and the direction in section 5 of CASA EX67/24 in effect expands the scope of regulation 91.095 to ensure compliance with requirements mentioned in the aircraft flight manual instructions that relate to activities occurring before or after the flight.

Part 3 Miscellaneous Dropping Operations

7 Application of Part

  This Part applies to an operator for a miscellaneous dropping operation.

8 Definitions

 (1) In this Part:

CASA EX32/24 means CASA EX32/24 — Flight Crew Licensing and Other Matters (Miscellaneous Exemptions) Instrument 2024.

CASR means the Civil Aviation Safety Regulations 1998.

miscellaneous dropping operation means an operation that involves, or involves training for, dropping relevant articles from an aircraft in flight below 500 ft, but does not include any operation that involves spraying or broadcasting any substance.

pilot in command mean the person mentioned in paragraph 9 (a).

relevant articles means any of the following:

(a) incendiaries to initiate controlled burning;

(b) baits for the capture or eradication of feral animals;

(c) search and rescue equipment;

(d) fodder for livestock;

(e) items for disaster relief;

(f) other articles of a nature, or articles dropped for a purpose, that is closely similar to the nature or purpose of the articles mentioned in paragraphs (a) to (e).

Note   A relevant article does not include any substance that may be sprayed or broadcast: see the definition of miscellaneous dropping operation.

 (2) Unless the contrary intention appears, in this Part, other words and phrases have the same meaning as they have under Part 137 of CASR.

9 Exemptions

  The operator of an aeroplane in a miscellaneous dropping operation that is an aerial application operation under Part 137 of CASR (the operator) is exempted from compliance with regulation 137.235 of CASR but:

(a) only in relation to the operator’s pilot in command who is entitled to, and who takes, the benefit of the exemptions under Part 16 of CASA EX32/24; and

(b) only to the extent of those exemptions as they apply to the pilot in command.

10 Conditions

 (1) For a miscellaneous dropping operation, the operator must:

(a) have procedures in their operations manual, as in force from time to time, for the particular kind of miscellaneous dropping operation conducted by the pilot in command; and

(b) ensure that the pilot in command is compliant with the conditions imposed on the pilot in command under Part 16 of CASA EX32/24.

 (2) To the extent that the operator took advantage of CASA EX136/20 — Incendiary Dropping Operations (Aerial Application Rating) Instrument 2020 (CASA EX136/20) before it was repealed, the operator must continue to preserve for 3 years from their creation, and make available to CASA for inspection on request, any records of risk management processes that were required under subsection 11 (4) of CASA EX136/20 to be so preserved and made available.

Note   Section 3 of CASA EX65/23 — Amendment of CASA EX66/21 (for Pilots in Command in Miscellaneous Dropping Operations) Instrument 2023 repealed CASA EX136/20.

Part 4 Minimum height and lateral separation — firefighting operations

11 Definitions, etc.

  In this Part:

Authority means the authority of the Commonwealth, a State, or a Territory with whom the relevant operator is under an arrangement or agreement.

authority of the Commonwealth, a State, or a Territory means an authority prescribed by the Part 138 Manual of Standards for the purposes of paragraph (b) of the definition of emergency service operation in the CASR Dictionary.

emergency service firefighting operation means an operation that is conducted:

(a) under the authority of an AOC that authorises aerial application operations; and

(b) under an arrangement or agreement between the AOC holder and the Authority; and

(c) at the direction of the Authority, for the purpose of dropping water or a retardant over either or both of the following:

 (i) an occupied building;

 (ii) an area that is closer than 100 metres, measured horizontally, from an occupied building.

relevant aeroplane means a relevant operator’s aeroplane.

relevant operation means an aerial application operation that is an emergency service firefighting operation.

relevant operator means an operator who conducts a relevant operation.

relevant pilot means the pilot in command of a relevant aeroplane.

12 Application of Part

  This Part applies to a relevant pilot and a relevant operator for a relevant operation, according to its terms.

Note   This instrument has no application in relation to dropping water or a retardant outside 100 metres, measured horizontally, from an occupied building in an area that is not a populous area as this is already permitted by subregulation 137.140(3) of CASR.

13 Exemption

  A relevant pilot is exempted from compliance with subregulation 137.140(3) of CASR.

Note   Under subregulation 137.140(3) of CASR, it is an offence if the pilot in command of an aeroplane engaged in an aerial application operation, in an area that is not a populous area, flies lower than 350 feet AGL, while closer than 100 metres horizontally, from an occupied building. Under subregulation 137.140(4), the aeroplane may fly closer than so provided for if a prescribed written or verbal notice was given to the occupier and the occupier did not object to the operation. However, fires often require an immediate response. Delays through adherence to notice and consent procedures can endanger life and property, both on the ground and in the air. Conditions and directions, specified below, are designed to address these issues.

14 Conditions — the relevant operation

  The exemption under section 13 is subject to the following conditions:

1.       the relevant operation must be conducted without:

 (i) adverse effects on the safety of air navigation; or

 (ii) unacceptable risks to the safety of any person in the relevant aeroplane; or

 (iii) unacceptable risks to the safety of any person on the ground;

1.       the relevant operation may only be targeted on or at a specific occupied building, if:

 (i) the Authority has given express instructions to that effect; or

Note   It is for the Authority, in the exigencies of an emergency service firefighting operation, to determine the appropriate means of providing such instructions.

 (ii) in the absence of such instructions — the relevant pilot, on the scene, reasonably considers that such targeting is necessary to prevent the spread of fire; or

 (iii) the relevant pilot reasonably believes that the building is not, or is no longer, an occupied building, and such targeting may prevent the spread of fire.

15 Directions — the relevant operator

  A relevant operator is directed to ensure that:

(a) their relevant pilot complies with the conditions in this instrument; and

(b) on and from 31 March 2025 — their operations manual contains appropriate procedures for the purposes of paragraph (a).

Note   The 4-month grace period is designed to give relevant operators time to draft procedures, submit them to CASA for approval, and receive approval while continuing to use their existing or adapted procedures for relevant operations. The conditions under section 14, and the direction under paragraph 15(a), apply immediately on and from 1 December 2024.

Note to CASA EX92/22 – Part 137 and Part 91 of CASR – Supplementary Exemptions and Directions Instrument 2022

CASA EX92/22 – Part 137 and Part 91 of CASR – Supplementary Exemptions and Directions Instrument 2022 (in force under regulations 11.160, 11.205 and 11.245 of the Civil Aviation Safety Regulations 1998) as shown in this compilation comprises CASA EX92/22 – Part 137 and Part 91 of CASR – Supplementary Exemptions and Directions Instrument 2022 amended as indicated in the tables below.

Table of instruments

Table of amendments