Location:

Regulatory development project SS 06/06
Classification of Civil Aviation Activities

CASA’s updated policy on classifying aviation activities conducted by civil aircraft in Australian airspace is based on aircraft use and who or what is carried in the aircraft. This provides a risk-based framework for establishing safety outcome-based rules under the Civil Aviation Act.

The details of CASA’s policy on reclassifying aviation activities are set out in Issue 3 of CASA Policy Notice CEO-PN001-2004 (As of 15 June 2009, this notice has been suspended pending further review and reconsideration).

 
How the policy is to be used

The following explanations should be used to help determine and prioritise four types of people who can be carried on an aircraft, for the purposes of:

  • CASA classifying the flight, and
  • the aviation community identifying which new regulations will apply to those who are involved in providing the flight.
The new classification system relies on identifying four types of people who are carried on an aircraft, and then using those people to prioritise the minimum regulated safety levels that will apply.  Other types of people may also be carried on some flights, but the classification system is based primarily on the four types described below:

Passengers

Aircraft occupants who are not expected or assumed to have knowledge of the safety risks to which they are exposed, and who have little or no control over those risks (other than choosing not to fly), will be described as "Passengers".

Task Specialists

Aircraft occupants who have assigned in-flight duties related to a specialised use of the aircraft, and are informed of, understand and accept the associated risks, will be described as "Task Specialists".

Participants

Aircraft occupants who voluntarily engage in an aviation activity and accept, on an informed basis, the risks of their involvement in that activity will be described as "Participants".

Crew

Aircraft occupants who have assigned in-flight duties related to the safe operation of the aircraft during flight time will be described as "Crew".

 
New 3-tier Classification System

Passengers, Task Specialists, Participants, and Crew, as defined above, will be used to classify all future flights into a new 3-tiered classification system. Additional occupants – 'invited' and 'permitted' by the pilot-in-command – will be allowed on some of those flights.

There are three broad classes of aviation activities defined in the policy notice: Passenger Transport, Aerial Work, and General & Cargo Only.

Passenger Transport

The Passenger Transport classification involves Passenger-carrying activities that:

  • are conducted in balloons and in large and small aircraft that are certified in the transport, commuter or normal category; and
  • involve the carriage of Passengers, i.e. occupants who have limited or no knowledge of the risks to which they are exposed, and little or no control over the risks.

The Passenger Transport class includes, but is not limited to, Passenger-carrying operations in scheduled and non-scheduled (on demand) air services that are provided to the public.

Activities classified as Passenger Transport will require an Air Operator’s Certificate (AOC) issued under the new CASR Part 119 (or Part 131 for balloons). Passenger Transport will be an amalgamation of current charter and RPT operations and standards. The suite of regulations governing the carriage of Passengers (as defined above) will be:

Aerial Work

The Aerial Work classification involves activities in which:

  • the aircraft is being used for specialised in-flight purposes; and
  • the activity presents elevated operational and/or organisational risks, or the potential for significant consequences if there is an accident (by virtue of the number of occupants and/or the area of operation).

Aerial Work activities usually involve specially trained and/or qualified Task Specialists who perform duties in relation to the specialised use of the aircraft. In some cases, the aircraft crew may also act as Task Specialists.

The activities in the Aerial Work class are very diverse. Some may require a full AOC or some other kind  of permission, authorisation or appoval from CASA, or be subject to general operational limitations.

The suite of regulations governing the carriage of Task Specialists (as defined above) is expected to be:

  • CASR Part 91 for the general operating and flight rules;
  • CASR Part 131 for Aerial Work activities in balloons;
  • CASR Part 136 for Aerial Work activities (but not aerial applications) in aeroplanes;
  • CASR Part 137 for aerial application activities (but not in rotorcraft); and
  • CASR Part 138 for Aerial Work activities in rotorcraft.

General & Cargo Only Activities

The General & Cargo Only classification comprises:

  • activities involving the carriage of Participants who have, on an informed basis, accepted the risks to which they are exposed;
  • cargo-only activities;
  • other aviation activities (e.g. crew-only) that do not fall into one of the other two classes.
    Note: limits will establish the maximum number of Participants that can be involved before an activity triggers increasesd regulatory oversight. In the case of cargo-only activities, the size of the aircraft and area of operation will trigger increased regulatory oversight.

Some activities in General and Cargo-only may require an AOC, some other kind of permission, authorisation or approval from CASA, or be subject to general or particular operational limitations.

The suite of regulations governing the carriage primarily of Participants or Crew (as defined above) is expected to be:

  • CASR Part 91 for the general operating and flight rules;
  • CASR Part 94 for corporate/business activities in aeroplanes;
  • CASR Part 96 for corporate/business activities in rotorcraft;
  • CASR Part 103 for sport and recreational aviation activities;
  • CASR Part 132 for air experience and joy flights in aeroplanes;
  • CASR Part 134 for air experience and joy flights in rotorcraft.

For cargo-only activities carrying only Crew (as defined above), the following Parts are expected to apply:

  • International cargo-only – CASR Part 121 for all larger aeroplanes, Part 135 for all smaller aeroplanes, Part 133 for all rotorcraft;
  • Domestic cargo-only – CASR Part 121 for larger aeroplanes, Part 91 (or possibly 94) for smaller aeroplanes, Part 133 for larger rotorcraft, Part 91 (or possibly 96) for smaller rotorcraft.