New Fatigue Rules to Apply to All Operators from October 2018

Operators currently have until 31 October to comply with new fatigue rules passed by CASA in 2013, the  Civil Aviation Order (CAO) 48.1 Instrument 2013. This is particularly important for:

• New operators who applied for and obtained an Air Operators Certificate (AOC) after 30 April 2013;

• New operators who became a Part 141 training operator after 30 April 2013;

• AOC holders; and

• All Part 141 Certificate holders.

The new rules applied automatically for new operators. But pre-April 2013 air operator certificate holders and Part 141 operators can only continue operating on the old rules until 31 October 2018. You can view an overview of the new rules here.

CASA has advised that operators also can transition to the new rules before this deadline.

Note that those rules were amended in July 2016. Those amendments covered ballooning, medical transport, emergency services, and daylight only aerial work operations. This includes helicopter mustering.

On 21 March 2018, CASA released its Final Report after an independent review of the rules. The Report confirmed the need to modernise Australia’s fatigue rules for pilots and air operators.

Twenty-four recommendations were made, some of which included:

• Revising flight duty period (FDP) limitations;

• Increasing the flexibility of the Fatigue Risk Management System (FRMS) option; and

• Introducing a standardised approval process (which is not FRMS) to offer flexibility for operators to operate beyond the limits with certain fatigue risk mitigation measures.

For more information on CASA’s new fatigue rules, please do not hesitate to contact us at Avlaw Aviation Consulting.