[Peetwo]

Dear Miniscule - We sent you the lifejackets?? - 

To continue on with the TONAD, I refer back to the seemingly disconnected from all REALITY and proper MEDIA and INDUSTRY scrutiny the BOLLOCKS CASA 'Stating the Facts' media releases in regards to this matter (Su_Spence timeline of negligence and duplicity on Top End Robbo and Tourism Ops!!):

Type Stating the facts
Date 25 September 2023

Australia's aviation safety regulations are designed to keep you safe every time you fly but you need to be aware that the rules can vary according to the classification of the activity, an aircraft and its pilot.

Our rules cover how pilots are licensed, who can maintain the aircraft, who the operator is and what permissions they need. The rules also include requirements for aircraft to be registered, as well as certification and airworthiness standards.

Airlines and other commercial operators face more stringent requirements than private pilots, although there are safety obligations both must meet.

When you get into a car with a neighbour or friend there are different rules than if you are getting into a taxi or bus. These include different types of licences, maintenance requirements and who is responsible in the event of an accident and how they are 'checked'.

This is the same for aviation. When you fly with a friend or family member, you are probably flying privately. The pilot must be appropriately licenced, the aircraft must be airworthy, and it's the pilot's responsibility to ensure these requirements have been met.

However, the safety standard applied to private flights is not as stringent as the standards applied to commercial flights.

On the other hand, commercial flights can include everything from flying with a major airline, scenic flights and what are commonly referred to as 'charter' flights.

Charter flights are where you hire a company with a plane to fly you somewhere. Examples of this might be fly-in, fly-out flights or they could be flights put on for a specific event or reason. In some ways, these are like hiring a bus company or a limousine to drive your guests somewhere.

Commercial operators need to be approved to operate by the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) and are subject to regular and routine oversight activities to make sure that they continue to operate safely.

Here is some further information on each.

Commercial operators

All commercial aviation operations in Australia are subject to strict approval requirements and oversight by CASA.

Any operator transporting passengers, including activities such as a scenic flight, must hold an approval from CASA called an Air Operator's Certificate (AOC).

This requires the operator to meet certain safety standards and have the correct licences, personnel and insurance. The operator is responsible for making sure that anyone who flies for them, or works on their planes, is appropriately licenced by CASA.

Commercial or air transport pilots must have a specific pilot licence that allows them to fly commercially and must meet higher medical standards. They have to carry their licence at all times and are subject to random drug and alcohol testing.

Undertaking commercial aviation activities without an AOC is illegal and can result in significant penalties.

An AOC is only granted following a comprehensive assessment process. This includes the assessment and approval of 'key personnel' who remain accountable for the safety of the operation and compliance with regulations. Key personnel include the:

• Chief Executive Officer (or equivalent)
  
• Head of flying operations (or Chief Pilot), who has the primary responsibility for, and must manage, the safety and compliance of the flying operations
  
• A person responsible for continuing airworthiness, such as a Head of Airworthiness and Maintenance Controller (HAAMC).
  

Following initial approvals, an AOC holder must apply to CASA for any significant changes to their operations. This includes matters such as adding new aircraft to their fleet, adding another base of operations or seeking to appoint a new person into regulated (key personnel) role.

CASA's role in overseeing passenger-carrying commercial operations is extensive. Routine surveillance is conducted by way of periodic site visits which are informed by CASA's assessment of the risks associated with a particular operator. Surveillance assesses an AOC holder's ability to manage its safety risks and compliance with safety regulations. It can include operational checks, testing of systems and gathering evidence and data.

CASA also conducts unscheduled surveillance when an operator comes to CASA's attention as a result of credible reports about alleged unsafe conduct involving or information provided by other aviation agencies. This can include random audits or 'ramp checks' conducted on any flight.

CASA publishes the details of AOC approvals and also the outcomes of enforcement action resulting from serious non-compliance relating to AOC holders on our website.

In some cases, the company you buy the ticket from might not be the company who is legally responsible for operating the flight – for example, it might be a tour operator or travel agent. If you are not sure who is operating the flight, you can ask for more information about who the approved aviation operator (AOC holder) is and check those details on our website.

CASA encourages reporting of any suspected unsafe behaviour or commercial operations without our approval.

Private pilots

A private operation is a trip flown by a person with private or recreational pilot's licence. You cannot 'buy' a ticket, or in most cases, otherwise 'pay' for a private flight. These are flights usually organised between friends or family and the pilot directly.

Private flights do not have to meet the same safety standards as commercial flights.
Private pilots have sole responsibility for the conduct of the flight and must operate strictly in accordance with the aviation safety rules and in the interest of ensuring air safety.

They must have a current medical certificate, a valid licence and the appropriate endorsements to fly certain aircraft in particular conditions. They must also have had a recent flight review – which is another routine check to keep their skills current.

They are required to carry their licence and medical certificate with them when acting as pilot in command of an aircraft.

Private pilots are also subject to CASA surveillance but not to the same extent as commercial operators.

We oversee private pilots though our licensing system, reports from the aviation industry or passengers and random spot checks at airports and aerodromes.

We conduct surveillance on private pilots if it comes to our attention that a pilot is not compliant. Information may be obtained from a number of sources, including industry intelligence or by information from passengers and other witnesses. We can also conduct ramp checks as part of our general surveillance process. These can be part of planned surveillance of a particular area, aerodrome or airfield, or as a one-off. CASA can conduct ramp checks at aerodromes or airfields.

Flying on a private plane is similar to travelling in a private car or boat  – passengers need to know who's at the helm or driving the car to make a decision as to whether they are comfortable flying with them.
CASA encourages reporting of any suspected unsafe behaviour.

  
Not too hard to work what prompted that load of bollocks...

Wonder why that public message wasn't disseminated across MSM and social media??

Next rewind to the 22 August 2023:

Type Stating the facts
Date 22 August 2023

• Allegations published by The Australian which suggest CASA does not take action against instances of unsafe flying are completely false.
  
• CASA has zero tolerance for serious, wilful or repeated disregard of the aviation rules and takes all reports of illegal aviation behaviour seriously.
  
• CASA does not normally investigate the owners of aircraft involved in incidents – many are owned under complex financial and shareholding arrangements.
  

Troy Robert Thomas was a private pilot that had business interests in some aviation tourism companies. He had ownership interest in companies that owned aircraft that were being operated under another Air Operators’ Certificate.

Mr Thomas has never held any regulatory approvals other than a private pilot licence and was never authorised to make any safety decisions or fly on behalf of Horizontal Falls Seaplane Adventures or any other company.

CASA refutes the allegations published in The Australian on 22 August 2023. Each of the 2018 incidents was investigated and acted on by CASA.

CASA does not normally investigate the owners of aircraft involved in accidents or incidents – as many are owned under complex financial and shareholding arrangements.

CASA has identified only one significant incident that Mr Thomas was involved in prior to his fatal accident. That incident resulted in compliance action being taken against Mr Thomas.

A comprehensive search of CASA records has also identified some events involving Mr Thomas which did not have a bearing on safety. We also became aware of 6 additional unreported incidents during the Australian Transport Safety Bureau investigation following the 2020 fatal accident.

In the 2022-23 financial year, CASA cancelled 6 civil aviation authorisations and suspended 4, and issued 106 infringement notices and 68 other notices. Many more incidents were also investigated under our coordinated enforcement process. We include these figures in our annual reports each year.

Note that this statement was updated on 29 September.

Not sure if this was disseminated through 'The Australian' editorial comments at the time but as far as I can tell this MR wasn't disseminated anywhere else, except possibly within the Miniscule's office staff...

Next rewind to 21 July 2023: https://www.casa.gov.au/enforcement-safety-rules

Everything we do is driven by safety and we understand most people in the aviation industry do the right thing and act in good faith in accordance with the rules.



The professionalism and integrity of the majority of aviation industry participants underpins Australia’s strong safety record but we understand people sometimes make mistakes.

When that happens, we work with them using just culture principles to help them understand how they may have inadvertently erred and what they need to do to avoid making the same mistake again.

We may decide to provide education or formal counselling to ensure that in future they have adequate knowledge and will operate safely and in compliance with the rules.

It is a way of achieving a good safety outcome without the need to limit a person’s aviation privileges unless necessary in the interests of aviation safety.

Where we have zero tolerance is for serious, wilful or repeated disregard of the aviation rules.

We take all reports of illegal aviation behaviour seriously and we employ a range of responses determined by the available evidence.

Information about potential breaches can come from a variety of sources, including the public, other members of the aviation industry, CASA surveillance or oversight operations and anonymous or self-reporting.

All reports are important and even if a single report does not result in regulatory action, it may be used to build a case in the longer term.

We carefully consider all information and concerns raised with us, assessing how we should respond and the sort of action we should take.

We use proportionality and discretion in regulatory decision making and we always act according to the law. 

This means exercising our powers in accordance with the principles of procedural fairness and natural justice, which require us to rely on evidence rather than hunches, rumour or speculation.

Our decisions need to be lawful and defensible and they are governed by our documented procedures, including those set out in the Enforcement Manual.

Different pathways that are available, depending on the issue, include:

• assisting people with education and guidance material
  
• encouraging people through audit safety findings and counselling notices
  
• taking administrative action such as varying suspending, suspending or cancelling an authorisation
  
• issuing an aviation infringement notice (AIN)
  
• referring the matter for criminal prosecution.
  

We use enforcement action where necessary to compel a person to comply with legislative requirements or limit, constrain or prevent someone who is demonstrably unable or unwilling to follow the rules from exercising their aviation privileges.

Administrative action can include entering an enforceable voluntary undertaking, issuing directions or delivering a 'show cause' notice to vary, suspend or cancel and authorisation. An aviation infringement notice can involve fines of up to $1565 but the penalty a court can impose for the same offence can be up to $15,650. Demerit points may also be incurred and lead to the automatic suspension or cancellation of a licence.

A 'show cause notice' tells the holder of a civil aviation authorisation – such as a flight crew, remote pilot, aircraft engineer or air operator – why we believe there are reasons to vary, suspend or cancel their authorisation and invites them to tell CASA why they believe we should not do so.

If we consider there is an imminent and serious risk to safety, we can move to immediately suspend an authorisation while we complete an investigation into the facts and circumstances giving rise to our concerns. Such action requires CASA to make an application to the Federal Court, which must agree to maintain the suspension pending the completion of CASA’s investigation.

We also refer serious cases to the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions (CDPP), who determines whether to start a prosecution.

Matters are usually referred to the CDPP when breaches are deliberate, show a reckless disregard for the rules or a pattern of disregarding rules, and/or cause a significant safety risk that can include putting other people in danger.

Whichever way we proceed, the chain of events begins with the accumulation of sound evidence supporting the belief that the safety rules have been breached.

We can’t be everywhere and see everything but credible reports from the public and industry can alert us to people doing the wrong thing, help preserve aviation’s well-deserved reputation and improve safety.

This is why we encourage people to report any safety concerns to us through our safety reporting mechanism. They should provide us with as much information as they can to support the concerns they have raised.

Now rewind to May 2023:

Type Stating the facts
Date 31 May 2023

The following statement was provided to The Australian newspaper on 30 May 2023 in relation to questions about our Board’s engagement with industry in Darwin in 2021.

CASA has robust conflict of interest processes in place for staff and Board members which ensure that any perceived or actual conflict is appropriately managed.

The applications allowing collection of crocodile eggs were not exemptions but renewals of long-standing approvals held by a number of operators. They were handled as a routine matter by a CASA staff member.

CASA issues more than 200 approvals and authorisations each year to operators. We also issue around 100 exemptions to operators.

CASA’s Conflict of Interest (COI) Policy applies to all Board members and our staff. It outlines what is required to ensure actual or perceived conflict of interest are managed appropriately. The policy is published on our website.

Conflicts of interest by staff are regularly reviewed and where something is declared, this is reviewed by the manager as well as CASA’s legal team to see whether the conflict can be appropriately managed. This includes requirements for staff to declare COIs at the time of employment as well as other key touchpoints.

Board members are required to declare specific conflicts of interest at each Board meeting with respect to any matters that the Board will consider or make decisions on.

Board members have no role in CASA’s decision-making processes relating to applications or approvals.

The gifts and benefits register which CASA publishes includes detail about gifts or benefits received where the estimated value is greater than $100.

The CASA CEO and Board member who flew to Bathurst Island on a scheduled airline service on 21 June 2021 to better understand the types of aircraft used for remote air services did not leave the airport before they flew back to Darwin. These flights were paid for by CASA.

---

&..

Type Stating the facts
Date 9 May 2023

The article in The Australian newspaper (CASA gave Matt Wright exemption before Chris Wilson’s fatal chopper crash, 6 May 2023) makes several statements that are incorrect and potentially misleading.

CASA routinely assesses applications for activities which are unusual or not specifically addressed in the Civil Aviation Safety Regulations. Collecting crocodile eggs in remote areas is a good example and this type of activity has been approved, with safety conditions, for more than 10 years.

CASA’s Board regularly meets in different locations around Australia as part of an ongoing program to engage with communities, local operators and CASA staff. Visiting aviation businesses to gain a deeper understanding of aviation operations is often arranged around Board meetings.

The CASA CEO and Board were not flown to the Tiwi Islands on a helicopter. As part of a familiarisation of remote air services, two members flew to Bathurst Island and return on the same afternoon on scheduled airline flights from Darwin. The tickets were purchased by CASA.

Hmm...join the dots on that lot?? - 

MTF...P2