The Civil Aviation Safety Authority did not have a system to differentiate between community service flights and other private operations, which limited its ability to identify risks. This hindered the Civil Aviation Safety Authority's ability to manage risks associated with community service flights.
The ATSB notes that through the legislative instrument that came into force in March 2019, CASA now has a system to differentiate between community service flights and other private operations. This will allow CASA to conduct ongoing identification and monitoring of risks associated with community service flights to be able to manage and control those risks.
Safety action taken: A legislative instrument imposing conditions on pilots conducting certain non-emergency medical community service flights arranged by third party organisations (CASA 09/19 — Civil Aviation (Community Service Flights — Conditions on Flight Crew Licences) Instrument 2019) was made on 12 February 2019 and came into force on 19 March 2019.
The instrument sets out new minimum licence, experience and recency standards for pilots operating community service flights that are conducted by volunteer pilots free of charge and coordinated by a charity or for a charitable or community service.
The instrument includes, among other things, the following requirements for pilots conducting community service flights:
