CASA will exempt aircraft used in the private and airwork categories from being compelled to comply with Cessna Supplemental Inspection Documents (SID), the regulator announced today.
The SIDs program requires inspections of several areas of Cessna airframes, which can prove to be not cost-effective for low-value aircraft. When the program was first released in 2014, CASA controversially made the program mandatory when other national aviation authorities, including the FAA, had made the program optional.
"We said last year we would look at reducing maintenance costs for industry, and to support private and aerial work operators we would consider the mandatory applicability of the Cessna SIDs program," CASA said in a statement.
"We have made progress with the development of our general aviation workplan.
"We are proposing to exempt operators and maintainers of Cessna aircraft in the broader private and aerial work sectors from the requirements to carry out Cessna SIDs.
"This brings forward corresponding outcomes from the proposed general aviation maintenance regulations (Part 43).
"This will bring us into line with global practices and only the specific SIDs elements required by an airworthiness directive will be mandatory."
CASA said they would make an advance copy of the SIDs document available for public comment this week before issuing the instrument in late April.
Submissions to the CASA SIDs instrument can be made on the CASA website.