Peter Crook (President) hosted a catch up teleconference of the original Part 61 working group to share information and pass on his observations from the CASA meeting about Medical Transport changes to be incorporated into the pending draft of the Part 133 (Air Transport) and Part 138 (Aerial Work) rules.
The AHIA will send more information to their members - need a copy - just ask.
As the MC of the Skype link up (and past ones also) I noted that Part 61 was not running too well; the CASA
PR saying the opposite was condemned as it was recognised as politically motivated misinformation. As most of the overarching Board and DAS's office have new players without significant or workable GA knowledge; especially helicopters.
The sombre mood was broken by stories of CASA/industry stuff-ups. Fortunately, common sense prevailed and President Peter asked that significant hiccups be collected and presented to CASA to illustrate to all that the real situation and media campaign telling all is well are at odds.
One odd issue noted was that many the new standards will preclude CASA FOI/Examines being able to carry out their duties as they may not meet proficiency or currency needs. Apparently CASA may not fund their staff to clear this problem. Operators are saying they may have to refuse the CASA testing officers as their insurance would not cover the testing officer flying outside the law?
More later. Regulation fatigue is very obvious. 2015 will be a bad year if current trends are to be evaluated.
AHIA