Does CASA take CAR 206 compliance seriously?

[Horatio Leafblower]

Not compared to the NSW Department of Transport, it seems...

From today's Newcastle Herald (http://www.theherald.com.au/news/local/news/general/weston-club-bus-fine-may-hit-16m/2213625.aspx):



Weston club bus fine may hit $16m
BY STEPHEN RYAN
02 Jul, 2011 04:00 AM

A BUS company and its director who provided a minibus service for the patrons of a Hunter Valley workers club are facing fines of more than $16 million because they were not accredited.

Shadows Mini Bus Service at Kearsley provided a driver and a 21-seat minibus to transport the members and guests of the Weston District Workers Club to and from the club between December 31, 2009, and October 31, 2010, a statement of facts tendered to Newcastle Local Court stated.

The service was free for the patrons, with the club paying Shadow Mini Bus Service.

An invoice previously tendered to the court stated that the company charged $3516 for services provided between December 31, 2009, and March 21, 2010.

Shadows Mini Bus Service and its director and shareholder Mark McTiernan were prosecuted by the Ministry of Transport for 150 counts each of providing the service without the proper accreditation.

They pleaded not guilty, but all offences were proven following a hearing last month.

Solicitor Andrew Wozniak, on behalf of the Ministry of Transport, told magistrate Mark Buscombe yesterday that the maximum penalty for each offence was $55,000, meaning Mr McTiernan and his company were facing fines totalling more than $16 million.

Mr Wozniak and defence lawyers were still discussing costs, which were already over $30,000, the court heard.

The sentencing hearing was adjourned to November.

A company driver, Warren Richard Fletcher, 51, previously pleaded not guilty to seven counts of driving the bus when he was not authorised to do so.

All of those offences were proven, as were 48 offences against John Fisher, who was involved in the management of the company and who allowed the service to run.

He previously pleaded not guilty.

Mr McTiernan was fined $25,000 and ordered to pay costs of $10,000 in February for 50 counts of providing a bus passenger service without being accredited, a tendered statement said.

[The Green Goblin]

How does this fit in with the courtesy bus provided by many scenic flight operators.

I doubt they have accreditation :rolleyes:

[Horatio Leafblower]

Well let me spell it out to you:

The bus operator has been prosecuted for providing a bus service of a type they aren't licenced for. It's analogous to a private pilot or AWK operator doing charter flights or a charter operator selling seats.

When was the last time CASA had any success in a prosecution like this? :=

[thorn bird]

Well DUHH!! guys...purlease!! what they Guvmint is pissed about is all the DUI fines their missing out on

[The Green Goblin]

That's not spelling it out.


I asked a question.

How does this affect scenic flight operators who do the same thing I.e offer a courtesy bus, have a pilot drive it, and dont have accreditation.

[Lancair70]

Good question.
My guess is going to come down to the number of pax able to be carried ?
OR more likely,
Is there is revenue generated directly for the service ? In this case party A, provided a courtesy bus service, for party B, for which A was paid by B. As it turns out, A was supposed to be accredited as a licenced pax carrying business, land based version of an AOC ?
As opposed to a joyflight operator providing a service for which there is no direct fee or payment made. The pilot does it if he wants to get paid for flying the pax and whether the pax self drive or use the free service, the Joyflight cost to them is the same and the pilots pay is the same.

[onetrack]

Perhaps the main thing you have to worry about... as pilots... is if NSW Transport decides that planes are really only airborne passenger-carrying buses?... and as such, fall under the NSW Transport laws? :rolleyes:

After all, you do refer to yourselves regularly as "drivers", don't you?... after that famous comment, by a certain, highly-forgettable, and now irrelevant (Ex-) PM??... :rolleyes:

The application of NSW Transport, passenger-carrying rules and regulations, to your airborne operations, would appear to make CASA regulations look positively benevolent, IMO... :rolleyes:

Bus and Coach Operator Accreditation - NSW Department of Transport (http://www.transport.nsw.gov.au/bus/operator-accreditation.html)

Incidentally, it appears that the NSW Transport passenger-carrying legislation is all-encompassing... and covers Long Distance, Regular Passenger Services, Long Distance passenger services, Charter, and Tourist operations...

http://www.transport.nsw.gov.au/sites/default/file/bus/bus-operator-training-stds-simplified.pdf

[tail wheel]

Each State Government has the power to regulate or license intrastate air services. Western Australia licenses certain RPT routes and Queensland licences and subsidises certain rural RPT routes.