SE IFR with Commercial Passengers

[67Wing]

I know this is an old question but does anyone know the CAA's latest stance on Single Turboprop IFR/Night with commercial passengers? I'm aware of JAR-OPS 1.542, 1.525 and 1.240(a)(6) but I also know that some countries (for example Oz and Canada) permit commercial IFR for aircraft such as the Pilatus PC-12 NG with well proven engine reliability. Having stumbled around in underpowered twins with no anti-ice or radar, I know which I would prefer!

I have trawled the almost impenetrable CAA and JAR web sites to no avail. There is also some poorly informed debate on SE IFR on various fora. But what is the CAA's position? Sorry if this has been covered before.

[172_driver]

Sweden and Norway both has some cargo operators flying Caravans. Thinking BenAir, Nord Flyg.

[kenparry]

Some years ago, the UK CAA stance was that single-engine IFR was not supported by them because of the high poulation density in the UK, and the perceived risk to people on the ground in the event of engine failure. I'm not aware of any change of outlook.

Worth noting that the countiries quoted above that do approve it are fairly sparsely populated.

[67Wing]

Thanks, for the reply. That will save me a lot of nugatory searching. I'd forgotten how impenetrable JAR/CAA documentation had become!

[Tinstaafl]

The US allows SE IFR public transport and many parts of the US are decidedly not sparsely populated.

[OzExpat]

That's certainly true Tinny but you'd have to admit that there's a bunch of aerodromes all over the country - many are often within 5-10 miles of just about any IFR route. On that basis, the risk to public safety on the ground is fairly minimal - in fact, the biggest problem is the bloke who runs out of fuel or VFR conditions, or both, and ends up on a freeway...