NPRM 1306OS - Regulatory requirements for scenic flights in small aircraft is out for further comment by 19th March 2015.
There hasn't been much input to date but the responses from CASA needs a bit of kicking. While the relaxing of rules and oversight is good in places, there are two points that will hit many of our major scenic operators:
- Maximum weight for helicopters under 119 is proposed to be 3,175kg. A bizarre figure which would bring some Transport Class A machines into a deregulated scenario.
- Maximum number of passengers allowed would be five. This is ridiculous for those who have invested in EC130 or LongRanger/407 size machines with 6-8 pax capability. It also shows a lack of understanding of the scenic flight/joyflight market which has a high proportion of couples wanting to book and fly together, a perennial problem when faced with an odd empty seat or splitting a couple.
The squeaky wheel gets the oil, guys. Unless there is a concerted response by a large number of operators and pilots this will go through and cause grief on those two points alone. the overall concept has much merit, but could be spoiled by restricting passenger numbers.