Private operators running Class A aircraft have been in limbo since the exemption that allowed them to operate without an Air Operator’s Certificate expired at the end of June.
Class A aircraft are defined as any aircraft that is certified in the transport category, for example, Cessna Citations, Agustas or Bell 412s.
CASA instrument 53/10 provided an exemption for these aircraft, but as yet has not been extended or replaced. In theory, private operators of these aircraft are flying outside the law, although CASA’s Airthworthiness section is believed to have given one operator an undertaking not to take action until the Standards division has the matter sorted out.
A CASA spokesperson said the matter was being looked at but no course of action had been decided upon.