The Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) will soon introduce legislation to mandate fuel reserves and actions to be taken once the reserve limit is reached.
According to CASA, the amendments will bring Australia into line with ICAO countries.
"The way the current regulations were drafted is now out of date and the fuel regulations themselves need to be in line with international best practice," a CASA spokesperson said.
"For private operations the Federal Aviation Administration require 30 minutes for day VFR and 45 minutes for night VFR and IFR. The New Zealand Civil Aviation Authority requirements are the same. ICAO has the same reserves in its standards and recommended practices.
After comments on the proposed CAAP 234-1(2) closed, CASA said that many submissions opposed mandatory reserves for simple operations, whilst others supported the move. Very few suggested that no reserve fuel requirement should be imposed. CASA is yet to decide which path it is going to take.
"It should be stressed CASA has not yet made a decision on what new requirements will be adopted. The quantity of the fixed reserve–30 or 45 minutes–for day VFR private and aerial work operations is still under consideration by CASA.
"The proposed new requirements set out the factors that must be considered in fuel planning and the amounts that must be on-board to commence and then continue flights in safety," CASA told Australian Flying.
"This incorporates the in-flight fuel planning requirements from ICAO and coupled with the updated and enhanced CAAP 234-1(2) would provide a significant increase in the guidance material on the subject. The CAR 234 legislative instrument will mandate fixed reserve values."
Still unclear is whether or not pilots will infringe the regulations should they have to use part of the reserve in flight, but there have been hints coming from the regulator that pilots will need to take specific actions once the reserve level is reached.
"It’s about ensuring that flights are planned considering the appropriate fuel issues and then conducted using appropriate in-flight fuel management procedures, which include defined procedures to be followed when fuel quantity falls below certain levels."
Some industry people have expressed concern that the new legislation will demand the reserve fuel limits be preserved under all circumstances, which will likely mean having to land and refuel immediately, or carrying a extra reserve of fuel to make sure the mandatory fuel is still in the tanks on landing.
Industry practice for many years has been 45 minutes of reserve fuel that a pilot could consume in flight, but could not plan to consume at the outset. Some flying schools increased this to one hour.
CAAP 234-1(2) is available from the CASA website.