Top post Kharon, although given in obvious angst, you nail the complete and utter bulldust that constantly emanated from this horrible excuse for a DAS that was inflicted on the industry by that grub Albo...
Much like the PMO embuggerance of CVD pilots the REX/KENDALL Cooper Pedy RPT run had a significant empirical safety case to espouse; from REX ASRR submission:
The new CAR 235A will require operators using runways narrower than the arbitrary
default standards set by ICAO to have procedures for the use of narrow runways set
out in both the aircraft’s Aeroplane Flight Manual (AFM) and the operator’s
Operations Manual. If the manufacturer does not supply the necessary narrow
runway certification then the operation is prohibited. For the Rex operation, SAAB
has indicated they will not engage in further flight testing to gain narrow runway
operation certification to comply with the ICAO aircraft reference codes (ARC). The
SAAB AFM does currently make provision for narrow runway operations, however
they are not in accordance with the mandated requirements of the CAAP and
therefore not acceptable under the proposed new CAR 235A. The new rule will
prohibit Regional Express Airlines, Pel-Air Aviation and Air Link from operating into
airports with narrow runways thus denying essential air services to some remote
regional communities.
For Rex, this will prevent operations to Coober Pedy where it and Kendell Airlines
have operated continuously since 23 August 1986. Coober Pedy Airport has a 30
metre wide runway with a homogenous 18 metre sealed centre section and to date
CASA has seen fit to issue Regional Express with an exemption (CASA Instrument
EX37/12) from the requirements of the current CAR 235A. The new prescriptive CAR
235A will remove CASA’s ability to issue such exemptions in the future and will
prevent Rex from operating to Coober Pedy after the exemption instrument expires
on 28 February 2015. This is despite more than 27 years of demonstrated safe operations.
The Skull 'olive branch' parting missive is indeed passing strange and smacks of a higher authority directive to get it sorted before his departure. However in true Skull style the weasel words are laced with typical malice & aforethought; perhaps a true depiction of what will be described as the McComic years. Six years of truly diabolical embuggerance that the industry may well not ever recover from...
MTF...
