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CASA proposal would reduce safety standards
A recent FOI request and review of the online consultation hub material on FAR Part 43 shows a significant number of reasoned and considered submissions expressing concerns on the danger of the proposal were received by CASA.
Therefore the claim made in Policy Decision Summary SS05/01 – Part 43 of CASR – Maintenance of Aircraft that ‘the initial survey showed a clear and strong preference for CASA to replace the current maintenance regulations for GA/AWK with a set of regulations based on the FARs with minimal change’ is misleading at best.
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Senior CASA management confess they were not aware of anyone expressing concerns, as this data was not shared upwards from the project team. Some material obtained under the FOI substantiates this claim. In addition, not a single air worthiness inspector in CASA supports the current proposal, for the same reasons most experienced LAMEs, CAR30 organisations, the ALAEA, AMROBA and the RAAA are espousing.
No one is arguing that the FAR 43 is not successful in the USA, as there are decades of data to support that.
Therefore a wholesale adoption of the FAA Part 43, one that includes all the attending mitigators provided by the relevant FAA regulatory parts, would probably provide a safe operating environment in Australia.
However, what we are saying is that as we further unpack the current CASA proposal it is clearly not set to adopt ‘the FAR43 with minimal changes’ (along with the other intrinsic parts that provide additional safeguards).
In fact we learn that the proposal is to replace the current maintenance regulations for GA/AWK with a set of regulations that is about as far removed from the FARs as you can get.
The lowering of standards to this degree would put in place the lowest standards in the world. All regulatory change needs to pass certain criteria.
One of these is that the proposal should provide an equivalent level of safety or ELOS. There is no evidence that this has been conducted by the regulator.
Perhaps CASA could reset the project and include a safety case to permit GA/AWK maintenance to be performed outside the CAR30 environment. The safety case should necessarily include hazards and mitigators. And also include an option to permit GA/AWK maintenance to be performed under the whole FAR43 system (including the other intrinsic FAR Parts that provide the additional safeguards). This would include an option to allow for independent LAMEs with certain safeguards.
Closer examination of the detail of the FAR shows that it is similar to the current CAR 30 system – so much so that the change exercise would benefit no-one. There is also significant doubt that any government or any CASA board would accept the current version of the proposal.
‘They were not aware of anyone expressing concerns’
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