Originally Posted by
MechEngr
I did not find the word "belief" in that TSI regulation. <snip>
Good and valid point.
Originally Posted by
MechEngr
The regulation certainly implies the responsibility is on having direct and certain knowledge of the event's occurrence, which your hypothetical owner doesn't have. <snip>
I did not find the words “direct and certain” in that regulation. It seems you “implied” them into the regulation. Adding words to legislation is a bit of a ‘no no’ in statutory interpretation in Australia (based on my BLK).
Your interpretation would have some ostensibly odd consequences. A pilot can’t be “certain” s/he exceeded VNE (or VLE or VFE) because the IAS gauge has a margin of error and might have been temporarily malfunctioning. No reporting obligation to ATSB. And the COR holder/operator can throw the pilot under the prosecutorial bus for exceeding VNE (we were watching on Flightradar24 and we saw the aircraft groundspeed at 72 knots in excess of VNE, lock him up!) but not be under any airworthiness management or safety investigation reporting obligation because the COR holder/operator says it can’t be “certain”, on the basis of “direct” knowledge, that the exceedance ever happened. Those don’t seem to me to be outcomes that contribute positively to aviation safety.
I agree with your point that it’s ultimately up to courts to sort these questions out. And they will.
I’ll revise the questions.
Assume that one of the passengers in a nine seat aircraft is coincidentally qualified to be the PIC of the aircraft. On descent for landing, that passenger watches, with increasing alarm, as the ASI indication swings past VNE and settles at an indication 15 knots in excess of the VNE marking. The aircraft encounters turbulence on the descent. The passenger screams in the pilots ear: “Mate, you’re exceeding VNE and you’re gonna rip our wings off in this turbulence. Slow to VNO, now!” The pilot responds: “She’ll be right mate. I always fly her this way.” Fortunately, the aircraft makes an uneventful landing. The passenger is so concerned that she immediately writes down what she saw and said and heard, summarises her aeronautical qualifications and experience and gives a copy of that statement to the COR holder/operator and the aviation safety regulator.
What regulatory obligations (if any) are imposed on the COR holder/operator of the aircraft in relation to the airworthiness of the aircraft, as soon as it becomes aware of the contents of that statement?
What reporting obligation (if any) is imposed on the COR holder/operator by section 19 of the Transport Safety Investigation Act 2003, as soon as the COR holder/operator becomes aware of the contents of that statement?
What (if anything) should the aviation safety regulator do about the aircraft (assume the aviation safety regulator will refer a brief of evidence for prosecution of the pilot).