Rubbery rules?
The Coroner has commented on CASA's interpretation of the act in such a way that they ruled flights for tandem jumping wre private operations.
Charter operators have been shut down for operating in the same way as most tandem jump aircraft operators do, because CASA said it was RPT.
1. They advertise their services, and particular flights and places in the media.
2. The flights are scheduled for a particular time.
3. Passengers (the coroner has said they are passengers) pay only for their own transport. They do not charter the whole aircraft.
4.The flights are from fixed places to fixed places.(terminals?)
This makes the operation RPT.
For a long time there has been doubt about the way CASA categorises operations but no one has had the legal muscle to challenge this. The ambiguity about this has caused operators to go out of business, or have their AOC withdrawn. What are "fixed terminals??
What are "scheduled flights" ( a court decided that a "scheduled flight" is any flight that is arranged to depart at a particular time.) Looks like they are all scheduled flights.
The whole thing should be re written to eliminate the ambiguity and get some consistency in it's interpretation. It should be simplified and made more precise and definite.
We should all re read the Phelan papers.