[Peetwo]

Hot off the press??

1st from Oz Aviation some more weasel words from the bench warmer Oliver Skidmore-Twist:

CASA boss announces significant change program

August 25, 2015 by
Civil Aviation Safety Authority’s (CASA) director of aviation safety (DAS) Mark Skidmore is embarking on a “significant change program” as part of improving the regulator’s efforts to improve service delivery.

The nation’s aviation safety regulator needed to “do better at delivering regulatory services to the aviation community”, Skidmore said in the August CASA Briefing.
“As part of our efforts to strengthen the contribution CASA makes to the Australian aviation safety system I have embarked on an internal change program,” Skidmore said.

“It is clear to me from both internal and external feedback, as well as my evaluation of the Federal Government’s response to the Aviation Safety Regulation Review, that a range of changes are required. From talking with many people I understand our service delivery can be inconsistent and applications can sometimes get passed unnecessarily between different areas of CASA, slowing down our response times.”

Skidmore said he was committed to the significant change program, adding reforms to the organisation would be undertaken progressively to minimise disruption to CASA’s operations.

All CASA’s processes would be under review in efforts to determine where and how the most effective improvements could be made to “deliver consistent, effective, efficient and timely regulatory services to the aviation community”.

“The plan is to have key changes in place by the middle of 2016, with a number of steps being taken between now and then,” Skidmore said.

“This approach allows us to build on the positive things CASA does and to ensure important safety outcomes continue to be delivered. The overarching aim of the change program will be to develop a more constructive engagement between CASA and all sectors of the aviation community.”

Skidmore said CASA would soon set out its regulatory philosophy, outlining how the organisation would be a “strong, fair and responsive safety regulator that works with the aviation community to achieve optimal safety results”.

CASA announced a new directive in June, which said, among other things, that aviation safety regulations must be shown to be necessary and developed with a view to addressing known or likely safety risks that cannot be addressed effectively by non-regulatory means alone.

Further, the directive said: “If a regulation can be justified on safety-risk grounds, it must be made in a form that provides for the most efficient allocation of industry and CASA resources. Regulations must not impose unnecessary costs or unnecessarily hinder levels of participation in aviation and its capacity for growth.”

Regional Aviation Association of Australia (RAAA) chairman Jim Davis described the directive as a “landmark document”, adding that the RAAA stood “ready to assist” in meeting its stated objectives.

Hmm..timing is interesting?? However words are still cheap and while you've got numb-nuts like PB strolling around the halls of Fort Fumble and putting out garbage correspondence like this here addressed to Dick Smith well??- need I say more??!! FFS  
Next there was this from Hitch off the Yaffa:

CASA has had a presence at Ausfly since the event was first staged in 2012. (Steve Hitchen)

CASA coy about Ramp Checks at Ausfly
25 Aug 2015

CASA has neither confirmed or denied that it plans to ramp-check general aviation pilots arriving at Narromine for Ausfly.

In a statement released to Australian Flying today, a CASA spokesperson hinted that ramp checks could be part of their involvement with the event.

"A number of CASA people will be attending Ausfly 2015," the statement says. "We will be assisting the event organisers, conducting safety education forums, oversighting the air-display and may conduct ramp checks.

"The main focus of CASA’s activities, including any ramp checks, will be educational. Ramp checks give CASA personnel an opportunity to talk with pilots while reviewing documentation, asking about preparation for flight and looking at aircraft. CASA personnel can and do provide advice where appropriate.

"It is also a chance for pilots to ask questions of CASA and discuss any current issues. Ramp checks are a great opportunity for CASA personnel to meet private and recreational pilots who otherwise have little interaction with CASA."

Pilots planning to fly into Ausfly from 4-6 September might do well to prepare for possible ramp checks. Details of what needs to be checked are available on the CASA website.

Which is also interesting given the following concern from a certain vocal PAIN associate:

...Many of you will be aware of the trouble several operators are having getting “CASA Approved Check Systems” approved by CASA micro-management.
 

By and large, what CASA micro-management will accept is a threat to air safety, the “approved systems” are so complex and extensive, and generally so contrary to manufacturer’s Airplane Flight Manual (AFM) recommended procedures, that they seriously impinge on the safe operation of the aircraft.
 
Note that what is in the AFM, despite CAR 138, is not acceptable to at least two CASA regional offices.
 
Well, some bright spark in CASA has decided that, in the new Skidmore spirit of cooperation with industry, that CAR 232 should be rigorously enforced, after all it is “the law”, every aircraft has a “registered operator”, and CAR 232 rates a stand-alone mention in the CASA Ramp Check checklist, so it must be really, really important.
 
It applies to all “Australian aircraft”.
 
As you all understand, it is just a simple matter of air safety, not just another opportunity to make life a very expensive misery for anybody who “commits aviation”.
 
This is going to be a “nice little earner” as the total penalty points in CAR 232 is 85, and it you fail one section you will almost certainly fail them all, because virtually zero % of privately operated or only a small % of flying school operated aircraft would have a check system approved by CASA and complying with CAR 232.
 
85 penalty points at AUD$180 per point, so the maximum penalty is $15,300, making the administrative penalty $3060. That should pay for a few ramp checks.
 
I wonder will the Airstapo be out in force at Ausfly to unveil their “new” gotcha.
 
For your edification, the CASA Ramp Check checklist is at: https://www.casa.gov.au/sites/g/files/net351/f/_assets/main/lib100209/ramp-checks-ga.pdf
 
CAR 232 rates a mention as a stand-alone “checklist” item under “Aircraft”.
 
This is the sort of stuff that has contributed to the steady deterioration in our air safety outcomes, compared to the USA...

Again..need I say more??

MTF..P2