![Keith Manch](https://mcusercontent.com/f87e4df3e4e99e9d7eb7b4c7e/images/02e37ca7-40f9-4b8d-b551-00d1b8861773.jpg)
From the Director of Civil Aviation, Keith Manch
I recently attended the ICAO Assembly in Montreal and looking back at the first quarter of this year with the Omicron outbreak I would never have picked that I’d be able to attend these ICAO meetings in person. It really does show how quickly things can change.
Within New Zealand I have been very pleased to have the opportunity to get out and about and visit aviation participants in their hangars and workshops to hear directly about current aviation activity and engagement with the CAA.
As we rapidly head into summer and Christmas, we are having many conversations across the industry on how we can all manage the surge in aviation activity as we recover from COVID, especially at this time of year.
I am very aware of the pressure our aviation system is under as it grapples with increased demand and more passenger, tourism, and agricultural aviation underway now and in the months ahead.
There is a chronic shortage of skilled staff across the board in the airport environment – including airlines, air crew, airport operations and aviation security staff. Recent job fairs at New Zealand’s three biggest airport campuses highlighted the need for several thousand more staff. More generally at the CAA, and like other organisations, it is proving challenging to recruit experienced people due the shortage of skilled people and the number of opportunities associated with the recovery from COVID.
So, we are all stretched, but we must all maintain our focus on the work we do that keeps aviation safe and secure – even if it takes a little longer than normal to do it.
Please keep this in mind when patience is at a low ebb, when there are delays outside your control or queues are longer than normal at the airport, or a CAA inspector doesn’t get back to you as fast as you would like – we are in this together, and together we will work through it.
We can’t take any shortcuts if we want to maintain a safe and secure aviation system.
My best wishes to you, your staff, and families for a happy and safe summer.
Keith Manch
Director of Civil Aviation
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New Zealand’s ICAO audit
ICAO undertook a planned audit of New Zealand’s aviation security system between 29 August and 9 September 2022. ICAO auditors visited in-person CAA National Office, Auckland International Airport, Wellington International Airport, and they also spoke to several aviation and government agency stakeholders. The last audit was in 2011. The purpose of the audit is to improve global aviation security through auditing and continuous monitoring of our aviation security performance.
The final report was received on 22 November 2022. Overall, our security system rated highly with several areas of strength and showed we are employing and meeting security standards to a high level.
However, areas of improvement were identified in a preliminary report, and we have worked quickly to make changes and provide ICAO with a remedial plan. The final report outlines further findings and recommendations for us to consider. We will work with industry where necessary as we design our corrective action plans in line with the final report.
One area where we have made immediate changes at international airports is the area of Non-Passenger Screening (NPS). AvSec, working with the on-airport community, has implemented improved NPS at the four airports currently operating international flights and the CAA has communicated the process changes to the relevant stakeholders. We continue to maintain communication with these stakeholders as the changes and improvements become business as usual.
We have appreciated the cooperation we have had from the aviation community – both during the audits and during our implementation work. Due to the security sensitive nature of the audit, there will be elements of the final ICAO report that we won’t be able to share too widely. Our focus remains on reducing the chances of an act of unlawful interference of an aircraft and we must guard against public discussions which might be exploited by the threat actor.
The ICAO audit is a good reminder about the importance of having a strong security culture in aviation generally. As Kiwis, we value our freedom to connect with others, both internationally and within our little 'slice of paradise'. While we're fortunate to live in a relatively peaceful corner of the world, our people and country aren’t immune to acts of terrorism.
If you work in the aviation environment, you are probably familiar with ‘the big six’ simple security measures.
https://www.aviation.govt.nz/assets/safety/security-culture/security-culture-november-2021-newsletter.pdf
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New Zealand and Singapore sign technical arrangement on aviation maintenance
The Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) and the Civil Aviation Authority of New Zealand (CAA NZ) have concluded a Technical Arrangement on Aviation Maintenance.
The agreement was signed by Mr Han Kok Juan, Director-General of CAAS and Mr Keith Manch, the Director and Chief Executive of CAA NZ on 30 September 2022, on the side-lines of the 41st International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Assembly.
Under the agreement, for those maintenance organisations approved under the T-AM, CAAS and CAA NZ will mutually recognise and reciprocally accept the maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) of aircraft and aircraft components.
This will enhance cooperation between MRO organisations in Singapore and New Zealand. It will also facilitate closer collaboration between CAAS and CAA NZ to support the development of the aviation industries of both countries as the aviation sector recovers from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. CAA NZ is drafting a new Advisory Circular to provide guidance for New Zealand Certificated Organisations on how they utilise the TA-M and how to apply for approval.
![Keith Manch and Han Kok Juan](https://mcusercontent.com/f87e4df3e4e99e9d7eb7b4c7e/images/221a1892-913a-2a39-6ccb-34d145a4f1a7.png)
The agreement was concluded under the ambit of the CAAS-CAA NZ Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed in 2019 to strengthen cooperation in enhancing aviation safety.
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Creating the CAA’s Emerging Technologies Unit
At the inaugural Aerospace Summit held in Christchurch on 05 September 2022, the government announced up to $3.7m additional funding to CAA to establish an Emerging Technologies Programme (ETP). The Programme will be coordinated by the Emerging Technologies Unit (ETU).
The ETU will act as a coordinating bridge between CAA regulatory functions and our emerging technologies aerospace and aviation stakeholders, to provide the most effective ongoing interface possible. In addition, ETU will research and develop new and improved processes for the CAA to use internally, all with the aim of enabling the safe and effective integration of emerging technologies into the civil aviation system.
The spectrum of emerging aviation technologies spans a huge range of systems and capabilities, including new types of low/zero emission propulsion systems, uncrewed aircraft, new systems for traffic management, cyber and physical security, radically new training capabilities, system-wide infrastructure, digitally driven ecosystems and novel flying platforms.
The ETU foundational capability is planned for early 2023. The team of six will be the initial touchpoint for novel aviation system entrants and will conduct pre-certification collaboration to facilitate mature applications that can be progressed.
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Updated certification forms online now
Recently the CAA reviewed and reworked a significant number of our certification forms to make them easier to understand and easier for participants to meet compliance requirements in support of safety outcomes.
While these forms will never be ‘short’, making them simpler is a key step in reducing the number of queries and mistakes the team gets from participants misunderstanding the forms.
This is part of our focus on regulatory stewardship, ensuring that regulatory systems we operate in are fit for purpose.
https://www.aviation.govt.nz/about-us/forms/
The updated forms and checklists are:
Application forms
Part 119 air operator (now three forms)
24119-01ISSUE Part 119 air operator certificate application for issue
24119-01RENEWAL Part 119 air operator certificate application for renewal
24119-01AMENDMENT Part 119 air operator certificate application for amendment
240119-12 Part 119 exposition amendment summary sheet
Part 137 agricultural aircraft operator (now three forms)
24137-01AMENDMENT Part 137 agricultural aircraft operator certificate application for amendment
24137-01ISSUE Part 137 agricultural aircraft operator certificate application for issue
24137-01RENEWAL Part 137 agricultural aircraft operator certificate application for renewal
24137-02 Part 137 nomination of agricultural chief pilot
24137-04 Part 137 aeroplane – issue of agricultural rating or annual continued competency demonstration
24137-0 Part 137 helicopter – issue of agricultural rating or annual continued competency demonstration
Other application forms
Part 91 general operating and flight rules
24091-02 Part 91 application for approval or amendment of maintenance programme (hire or reward aircraft)
24091-02P Part 91 application for approval or amendment of maintenance programme (private operator or non-hire or reward aircraft)
24091-07 Part 91 application for operational approval
Section 37 exemptions
24011-02 Section 37 petition for exemption
Rule checklists (renamed from ‘compliance matrix’)
Part 121 large aeroplanes and Part 125 medium aeroplanes
24119-08 Part 119 air operator – Part 121 large aeroplanes – operations rule checklist
24119-08M Part 119 air operator – Part 121 large aeroplanes and Part 125 medium aeroplanes – maintenance rule checklist
24119-09 Part 119 air operator – Part 125 medium aeroplanes – operations rule checklist
Part 135 helicopters and small aeroplanes
24135-01AO Part 119 air operator – Part 135 airline - helicopters and small aeroplanes – operations rule checklist
24135-02AM Part 119 air operator – Part 135 airline – helicopters and small aeroplanes – maintenance rule checklist
24135-03GAM Part 119 air operator – Part 135 general aviation – helicopters and small aeroplanes – maintenance rule checklist
24135-04GAHO Part 119 air operator – Part 135 general aviation – helicopters – operations rule checklist
24135-05GAAVFR Part 119 air operator – Part 135 general aviation – small aeroplanes VFR – operations rule checklist
24135-06GAAIFR Part 119 air operator - Part 135 general aviation – small aeroplanes IFR – operations rule checklist
24135-07GAAITC Part 119 air operator - Part 135 general aviation – small aeroplanes – internal training and competence rule checklist
24135-08GAAETC Part 119 air operator - Part 135 general aviation – small aeroplanes – external training and competency rule checklist
Other rule checklists
Part 137 agricultural aircraft operator
24137-06 Part 137 safety management rule checklist
Part 92 carriage of dangerous goods
24092-09DG Part 92 carriage of dangerous goods rule checklist
Part 108 air operator security programme
24108-02 Part 108 air operator & foreign air transport operator – security programme rule checklist
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“Feel safe” passenger survey results
The CAA conducted it’s “Feel safe” passenger survey via Kantar Public between 09-19 September 2022. 1,001 domestic pax completed an online survey and 314 international pax were interviewed at airports.
96% of international pax feel satisfied with security procedures at NZ airports (the highest score since 2011)
86% of international pax felt safe and secure (very/extremely) at NZ airports (stable - same level since 2017)
78% of domestic pax feel satisfied with security procedures at NZ airports (the lowest score since 2011 which was 81%)
72% of domestic pax felt safe and secure (very/extremely) at NZ airports (same level as 2017, 2019 was 77%)
The researchers consider the reasons for the downturn at domestic level are:
- Concern about Covid precautions at the airport. Those who were happy with Covid precautions felt just as safe and secure as in 2019. The small proportion of people who thought Covid precautions at the airport were inadequate felt much less safe and secure, dragging down the overall result.
- There has been a general decline in sentiment towards government agencies this year. The decline has affected trust and confidence type measures rather than service interaction measures and Kantar attribute it to a general Covid weariness.
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Prosecutions focus on safety failings and fixes
Prosecutions for serious offences are not undertaken lightly, and the Director considers a variety of factors to ensure such action is in the public interest including to show or highlight safety failings. Two recent prosecution results reinforce that safety needs must always be in the forefront at workplaces, and not trivialised or overlooked.
CAA v The Alpine Group Limited
The Alpine Group was sentenced to pay a fine of $315,000 in the Queenstown District Court in October, following the death of three people in a helicopter crash near Wanaka in 2018.
The crash occurred as the helicopter was on its way to a Tahr culling operation. The charges related to events that led up to the crash. Crash analysis showed the rear left-hand door opened during the flight. A pair of overalls flew out of the cabin and were sucked into the tail rotor, with the helicopter crashing soon after.
An investigation by the CAA showed that door opening events were common and underreported and treated with a “casual attitude”. This meant no corrective actions were taken by the Alpine Group to identify, mitigate or remove the risk caused by those door openings, although it would have been easy to do so.
Judge Walker said this standard to be met was not what others were doing but what they should have been doing.
“TAG’s failings carried serious and obvious risk of death or harm. It involved a marked departure from industry standards, but not industry practice, and its own internal standards. These failures could have been easily remedied.”
Not only did the accident expose the critical difference between industry norms and industry standards, but it underscored the importance of reporting.
“This is a situation where there was a culture of not following the Exposition and manuals that were developed to keep workers and the public safe. Policies cannot develop where adequate reporting is not occurring.”
The Alpine Group had already pleaded guilty to two charges under section 48 of the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 (HSWA). The maximum penalty for each charge was $1.5 million, and along with the fine it had to pay $64,000 in costs.
CAA Deputy Chief Executive David Harrison says the prosecution outcome shows the importance of objectively considering risks, and not being blinded by how common they are.
“Prior to this prosecution there was a low reporting rate of door opening incidents despite that being a common problem. The CAA was told that if this was raised as a safety issue the people just rolled their eyes. It was brushed off as unimportant and never addressed. Since the prosecution began, we have been told these are recognised as a real risk and reports of these have increased 26-fold. Because these are now taken seriously, the issues that they can cause are clearly evaluated and considered, and no longer brushed off.
This prosecution reminds aviators of comparing what everyone is doing (the industry norm), with what everyone should be doing (the industry standard). If these are confused, it can lead to a complacent attitude to safety, and to missing valuable opportunities to understand ongoing problems that may seem small in isolation, but when taken together, point to a bigger issue. It’s always important to follow the safety processes, even with incidents that seems low level and trivial or constantly reoccurring, in order to address the heart of the issue."
CAA v McCann
In the Nelson District Court on 26 October, Lawrence McCann was sentenced to a $2000 fine for climbing onto a plane wing at Nelson aerodrome while the plane’s engines were running, reaching through the cockpit window, and punching the pilot. This action resulted in injuries to the pilot and damage to the aircraft.
The assault occurred on 4 May 2021. Mr McCann pled guilty to the charge under s44(1)(b) of the Civil Aviation Act, which is causing unnecessary danger to any other person or property and is the most serious charge in the Act. It carries a maximum fine of $10,000- or 12-months imprisonment. In the October sentencing, Judge Zohrab said Mr McCann’s actions were reckless and “as a senior aviation engineer you may have appreciated the risk of what might go wrong and did it anyway.”
David Harrison, Deputy Chief Executive of Aviation Safety says creating more danger won’t resolve safety problems:
“This was a serious incident that could have had severe consequences if the assault had caused the plane to be out of control and moving.
Workplaces must undertake thorough evaluations of safety issues, including evaluating the effects of other operators who are in a shared area. They must consult with other operators in that shared area to ensure that they know and understand how their work will affect each other, and plan to avoid any harm. Making sure they know how to communicate effectively and quickly if safety issues arise in a shared operating space is key to ensuring safety is maintained.
Ironically, this would have been a far worse safety risk then the issue of concerns over where the plane was parked.”
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New and revised safety education publications
Our safety education team have been busy updating and producing new educational material. Download digital copies or order printed copies here.
New or revised Good Aviation Practice (GAP) booklets:
How to be a pilot
How to report occurrences![](https://mcusercontent.com/f87e4df3e4e99e9d7eb7b4c7e/images/a111ffa5-54aa-c24c-2796-72a3f679440c.png)
Medical matters
New or revised posters:
Aircraft operator requirements
Check NOTAMs and AIP Supplements
I’M SAFE (Am I fit to fly?)
I’M SAFE (Am I fit to work?)
New Zealand cloud types
Safety around helicopters
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Vector summer issue 2022
The sum mer 2022-23 edition of Vector, out in the first week of December, celebrates the 50th birthday of the magazine.
In November 1972, ‘Vol.1. No.1.’ of what was called Flight Safety was published by the Civil Aviation Division of the Ministry of Transport.
So, what were the risks to aviation safety that it wrote about? Are they still issues half a century later? Vector looks at some of those issues and what progress has been made on them.
Among the other summer stories; there’s the third and final instalment of our VFR into IMC series (incidentally, one of the issues Flight Safety wrote about), the very real, if rare, likelihood of a lithium battery fire during flight, the dangers of night-induced spatial disorientation, and the importance of recording cycles of aircraft components with a life limitation.
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