Air Law (General Question)

[TiltedTomato]

Hi,

I am starting the FI course in May at Oxford. I am going through Standards Document 10 which is the CAA guidance document for instructors, examiners, etc and also a good preparation document for the theoretical part of the exam.

I am trying to answer the sample questions but I realise, as I'm going through Air Law section that I have a hard time figuring out what the various "layers" of laws are in the UK, or what regulates what: ANO, Part-FCL, AMCs, GM, etc... also, from when?

I would really like to have a clear understanding of this mess. I'm not expecting an explanation right here but are there documents or books that explain all this, and if possible up-to-date given the recent "introduction" of EASA?

Thank you

[RedBullGaveMeWings]

EASA Pilot Studies by Phil Croucher -- many of my friends that completed their flight training course replaced their ATPL manuals with this book and use it to brush up and prepare for interviews. Maybe it could be of your use?

[TiltedTomato]

I will look into it. Thanks

[paco]

Governments often have to make laws about subjects they know nothing about, or cannot keep up with, or which are strictly for a local area (i.e. bye-laws), so a suitably qualified person or authority (e.g. the CAA) may be granted the power to make laws on their behalf, which saves a lot of time. This is known as subordinate legislation (or more commonly, and wrongly, as delegated legislation). The Canadians call it Administrative Law. In the UK, it is mostly brought to the notice of the public by statutory instruments, which is how the Air Navigation Order, and many other laws that affect your professional life, have been made (the ANO is a Statutory Instrument and an Order in Council).

ICAO comes up with standards and recommended practices, which may or may not be incorporated into the ANO - this is where all the right of way stuff came in. JAA also made recommendations and were treated the same way but EASA makes European Law and arguably makes the ANO unenforceable in many cases, a point which seems to have bypassed some of the aforesaid bureaucrats. This is where Part FCL, etc. comes from, as guidance documents issued by EASA.

JAR/EU OPS documents are actually in two parts. First of all, there is the EU OPS document itself, No 1 (for aeroplanes) and No 3 (for helicopters). To amplify them, additional material in the form of Advisory Circulars Joint (ACJ), Advisory Material Joint (AMJ), Acceptable Means of Compliance (AMC) and Interpretative/Explanatory Material (IEM) comes in a second one, which costs an arm and a leg to gain access to, from a company called IHS. If a EU OPS paragraph does not have a corresponding AMC or IMC, supplementary material is not required.

Their relationship is as follows: EU OPS tells you what is to be done (or gives you permission to do it), whereas an AMC tells you how it is to be done, that is, what you need to do in order to comply. In other words, AMCs illustrate one way, or several alternative ways, but not necessarily the only ways, by which requirements can be met. IEMs help to illustrate JAR meanings. A Temporary Guidance Leaflet (TGL) is AMC or IEM stuff made available in a hurry.

[RedBullGaveMeWings]

And who wrote you now is the author of the book I told you about!:p

[paco]

aw shucks <blush> :)