AHIA IOS membership paid up!
From today's Australian:
Red tape has chopper schools flying blind FOLLOWING the demise of the Helicopter Association of Australasia in 2008, there has been little collective effort from industry in reviewing draft legislation.
Proposed changes have been steadily flowing out from CASA for industry comment. As a result, the helicopter industry "has dropped the ball" by not providing CASA with meaningful feedback during the past notice of proposed rule making processes. Some of these draft NPRM papers are now law; to change the legislation now requires parliament's approval - a slow process.
The industry having no collective representation to provide feedback on the new European Aviation Safety Agency rules provided the catalyst to form the Australian Helicopter Industry Association in November last year.
AHIA president Peter Crook quickly noted the concerns of key players in the industry about proposed regulatory changes. Some had given up and said the changes to new EASA legislation were overwhelming due to the verbose and legal nature of the documentation.
AHIA's greatest concern is civil aviation safety regulation part 61 (flight crew licensing) and the relevant manuals of standards (MOS). CASR 61 is 511 pages long, supporting MOS is 707 pages and explanatory notes bring the total to 1299 pages about training - not the usual after-hours review project.
Mr Crook was told the 33 active flying schools would have trouble transiting to the new system, which starts on December 4.
It has been suggested the country may lose one third of its schools; not a good situation as a shortage of pilots and instructors is looming.
To complicate matters, the training legislation overlaps with pending changes to commercial operations, in particular passenger-carrying flights.
Further, CASR part 141 and 142 rules governing the structure of flying schools will require an overhaul of training (course design); the need for more advanced training aircraft; and the complex re-qualifying of flight instructors, testing officers and examiners.
Some schools operating under CASR 141 legislation will not need an AOC; which means minimum supervision by the regulator, despite having to provide an "exposition" for CASA's approval.
The main concern is the need to provide 10 hours of basic instrument training in the commercial helicopter pilot course.
This new standard requires industry to requalify staff and obtain new aircraft and approved simulators. To quickly meet CASA deadlines for comment on the MOS for CASR part 61, Mr Crook asked AHIA vice-president Mark Scrymgeour to form a working group to collect industry's comments for CASA. Mr Scrymgeour enlisted help from leading chief flying instructors and started a series of conference calls and use of a web-based facility to avoid duplication of effort as each member of his team could see what the others were doing.
Mr Crook recently remarked on the enormous effort made by the volunteer working group and commended Mr Scrymgeour for leading the team consisting of Ray Cronin, Kestrel Aviation Mangalore, Colin Clarke, Heliwest Toowoomba; Graeme Gillies, Blue Tongue Helicopters; Brett Newman, Professional Helicopter Services, Michael van der Zypp and The Helicopter Group.
In my opinion, CASA legislators have put the cart before the horse. Normally MOS are sorted out before the overarching legislation is made law.
The working group is struggling with the mismatch between CASR 61 and the MOS. Further confusion exists due to problems with regulations for integrated and non-integrated flying schools, which now have vast differences in training requirements.
Mr Scrymgeour said the review was raising more questions than answers; and CASA regional offices differed with the interpretation of the difficult-to-read legislation.
This makes the work of the AHIA Australia-wide team difficult as the members are also being confused by well-meaning local regulators, who are also having problems with understanding the intent of the new rules.
Most schools are unable to calculate the costs of compliance.
The promised time-based transition process is flawed and unworkable in its present form. The extra costs will be substantial and may push the helicopter industry into a situation where the present 10 per cent annual growth reverts to a depression. Many ask what is the case for safety versus cost?
Rob Rich is secretary of the Australian Helicopter Industry Association.
Rotorheads join the ranks of the IOS!
