CASR 61 introduction: what a muddle!
 

Monday's introduction of CASR 61 in Australia started off with a bang: an exemption had to be issued to allow firefighting pilots to operate this coming season instead of listening to the industry and getting it right before rushing to meet an artificial deadline.

Rob Rich has popped in here on occasions to update us, but the actual release of the regulation has given the industry more questions than answers. It will undoubtedly increase costs within the helicopter industry, restrict operations by many casual pilots unable to afford the increased checks required and put demands on the approved check pilots beyond their capacity to manage.

There are so many instances of what seem to be fixed wing regs badly re-written to cover helicopter ops that it is almost beyond comprehension that CASA believe we can comply and operate legally.

I am flummoxed to understand some of the regs: how are other Australian pilots and operators coping?