Commonwealth Numbered Regulations - Explanatory Statements

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CIVIL AVIATION REGULATIONS (AMENDMENT) 1998 NO. 31

STATUTORY RULES 1998 No. 31

Issued by the authority of the Minister for Transport and Regional Development

Civil Aviation Act 1988

Civil Aviation Regulations (Amendment)

Subsection 98 (1) of the Civil Aviation Act 1988 (the Act) provides that the Governor-General may make regulations for the purposes of the Act and in relation to the safety of air navigation. The Civil Aviation Regulations (the Regulations) have been made under that provision.

Under regulation 178 of the Regulations, the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) may, among other things, determine the lowest safe altitude for flight and, in other cases, determine the method for calculating the lowest safe altitude for flight. Subregulations 178 (3) and (4) of the Regulations provide, among other things, that aircraft must not be flown at lower than the lowest height set under, or in accordance with, the height determined under subregulation 178 (1). A determination under subregulation 178 (1) must be published to the industry in an Aeronautical Information Publication (AIP) or Notice to Airmen (NOTAM).

Recently, a number of highly specialised instrument approach procedures have been developed for helicopter operations to off-shore platforms and to the Westmead (NSW) Hospital helicopter pad. As these procedures are applicable to only a few operators and are of no interest to the aviation industry as a whole, CASA considers that the procedures need not be notified in AIP or NOTAM. The amendments make it unnecessary to publish these highly specialised procedures to the industry. The procedures will still have to be served on the relevant operators.

DETAILS OF THE AMENDMENTS

Regulation 1 provides that the Civil Aviation Regulations are amended as set out in the Regulations.

Subregulation 2.1 is a consequential amendment due to the amendment set out in subregulation 2.2.

Subregulation 2.2 amends subregulation 178 (5) of the Regulations by inserting a new paragraph (ba) to provide that subregulation (3) or (4) do not apply to specialised helicopter operations that involve instrument approach and departure procedures that have been determined by CASA and served on the aircraft's operator.

Subregulation 2.3 adds a new subregulation (7) at the end of regulation 178 of the Regulations to include a definition for the interpretation of the amendment set out in subregulation 2.2.

The Regulations commenced on gazettal.