Representatives of light aircraft type clubs met at Walla Walla near Albury, NSW, on May 26 to discuss the issue of over-prescriptive maintenance requirements coming from CASA.
The groups are concerned about recent airworthiness initiatives, which they say were implemented without proper cost/benefit analysis or adequate consultation with aircraft manufacturers, other national airworthiness authorities or local type clubs.
According to the group, recent CASA directives, such as mandatory control cable inspections on Beech aircraft, have mandated substantial additional and unnecessary maintenance on an entire fleet of aircraft for little demonstrated safety benefit.
John Hillard, President of the Australian Mooney Pilots Association Ltd, said: “While CASA is rightly encouraging aircraft owners to be conscious of the need for more careful inspection of older aircraft, they are understood to be considering a requirement to replace certain aircraft systems after a period of years (such as overhaul of engines after 12 years, replacement of control cables after 15 years) without regard to how the particular aircraft has been operated, stored and maintained. However the specific examples CASA has used to justify these moves are aircraft with faults that appear to result from insufficient and/or inadequate maintenance rather than age alone.
“CASA has not produced any evidence that airworthiness issues in ageing aircraft are a common cause of serious accidents. In their own analysis, CASA concluded that the main contributing factor in the vast majority of fatal general aviation accidents in Australia was pilot error, rather than aircraft structure or powerplant issues.”
The type clubs believe that CASA should:
- be challenged to provide solid evidence and proper cost/benefit analysis in their justification of future proposed regulatory changes
- consult more with the airworthiness authorities in the country of manufacture (primarily the USA FAA) and be less inclined to take unilateral action to address perceived issues regarding the small proportion of the worldwide fleet that happen to be Australian registered
- focus more on enforcing existing maintenance regulations for the minority of aircraft that are poorly maintained rather than requiring additional work on the majority of aircraft that are already well maintained
- and adjust their regulatory focus to recognise that, in order for private owners to maintain their aircraft at reasonable cost, it is essential that maintenance spending be focussed on things that are critical to air safety and not just “nice to have”.
The type clubs also agreed to investigate other areas of possible co-operation, such as:
- Promoting the fact that the vast majority of private owners maintain their aircraft in good condition whether their aircraft are young or old. Attendees were concerned that recent CASA publicity gives the flawed impression that older aircraft are potentially unsafe
- Working with AOPA to improve the flow of information to pilots on regulatory matters and to better represent their interests
- Development of type-specific maintenance schedules that are reasonable and practical and include condition monitoring to ensure the ongoing integrity of aircraft systems
- Combining the insurance schemes operated by some type clubs to reduce premiums and provide discounts for members who complete pilot safety programs, and
- Sharing ideas and teaching materials to further improve the pilot proficiency and maintenance programs run by the type clubs.
The meeting was the first of a series in which the type clubs will discuss how to join forces to improve services to their members and better represent the views of their members to the government and aviation regulators. Many type club members are private owners who use their aircraft for private and business travel; professionals such as medical specialists, GPs, dentists, mining engineers and IT specialists, who use their aircraft to reach their patients and customers in far flung parts of outback Australia. The clubs also keep their members up to date on flying safety and maintenance issues related to their aircraft types.
Type clubs represented at the meeting were the Australian Bonanza Society, Cessna Pilots Association of Australia, International Comanche Society, Australian Mooney Pilots Association Ltd, Australian Piper Society Inc. Other type clubs (Cessna 182, Pilatus and Business Aircraft Owners Association) have sought to become involved and will be invited to attend future meetings.