WA air operator sues CASA and officials
Reported today in
AviationAdvertiser
Paul Phelan , 3 May 2010 – 10:20 am
Western Australian charter and flying school operator Polar Aviation and its managing director Clark Butson have lodged a Statement of Claim in the Federal Court in Melbourne seeking damages from the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) and six of its officials and former officials.
In a Statement filed on April 30, the applicants detail a range of alleged breaches of CASA’s and its officials’ obligations under the Commonwealth Authorities and Companies Act 1997 (the CAC Act) and other legislation.
They say the adverse actions began after a heated technical argument between Butson and a CASA official during a routine audit, over operational issues including CASA requirements as to asymmetric flying training procedures. They claim that the subsequent alleged harassment took many forms including officials’ failure to exercise their powers and functions in accordance with the provisions if the Civil Aviation Act, the Civil Aviation Regulations and Orders, the Civil Aviation Safety Regulations and the CAC Act.
Officials named as respondents are Terence Farquharson, now Deputy Director of Aviation Safety, Garry Presneill, formerly a Flying Operations Inspector at the CASA West Office; Robert Collins (now retired), who was then CASA Group General manager of General Aviation Operations; Jim Marcolin, now with CASA Operations in Sydney; Peter John, CASA operations – Eastern; and Alan Cook, former Operations Manager of CASA’s General Aviation Group, who has since left CASA.
Polar Aviation complains that it was flooded with “requests for corrective action” and “show cause notices” from various of the named officials, to all of which it responded, although many of the notices reiterated matters from previous notices that had already been acquitted.
The issue was escalated by a seventh notice on January 14 which cancelled the company’s flying school Air Operator Certificate (AOC) and Butson’s Chief Flying Instructor approval, and revoked his Chief Pilot and approved testing officer (ATO) approvals.
The Statement says: “The Cancellation of Butson’s Chief Pilot Approval and the revocation of Butson’s Chief Flying Instructor Approval immediately prevented Polar Aviation from carrying out any commercial flying operations; immediately prevented the Polar Aviation Flying School from operating; caused the immediate shut down of Polar Aviation’s business; and constituted a breach of the duties set out [elsewhere in the complaint.]
The Statement claims the actions of the respondents:
- “constitute a persistent attack on Polar Aviation’s capacity to carry out its flying operations;
- evidence a discriminatory approach to Polar Aviation and Butson;
- evidence a willingness and intent by the respondents to act outside their authority;
- evidence a willingness and intent by the respondents to act contrary to the provisions of the Act, and their obligations and duties under the provisions of the CAC Act;
- evidence an intent by the respondents, acting outside their authority, to injure the applicants or, alternatively, evidence a reckless indifference as to whether such acts outside their authority would or would not injure the applicants.”
The applicants say that Polar’s flying school was out of operation for a two and a half years which adversely affected the business, morale, goodwill and reputation of Polar Air and Butson, resulted in the loss of profitable contracts, and caused lost income to Butson. It also details various actions of the six officials which it asserts comprise misfeasance in public office.
A similar statement has been filed in the Federal Court in Perth by WA pilot Gerald Repacholi and his company Repacholi Aviation, involving some of the Polar Air respondents. At least three other aggrieved aviation businesses are understood to be preparing similar claims.