S.I. No. 335/2000 - Irish Aviation Authority (Operations) (Amendment) Order, 2000.

The Irish Aviation Authority in pursuance of sections 5 , 14 , 58 , 59 , 60 and 67 of the Irish Aviation Authority Act 1993 (No. 29 of 1993) as amended by the Air Navigation and Transport Act, 1998 (No. 24 of 1998) hereby orders —

(1) This Order may be cited as the Irish Aviation Authority (Operations) (Amendment) Order, 2000;

(2) In this Order “the Principal Order” means the Irish Aviation Authority (Operations) Order, 1999 ( S.I. No. 19 of 1999 );

(3) The Principal Order and this Order may be cited together as the Irish Aviation Authority (Operations) Orders 1999 to 2000;

(4) This Order shall come into operation on the date of its publication in the Iris Oifigiúil or on the first day of November, 2000, whichever date occurs later.

2. The Principal Order is amended as follows —

“(1) Article 2 —

(a) Delete the definitions for “aerodrome operating minima”, “alternate aerodromes and heliports”, “cabin attendant”, “crew member”, “decision height/altitude”, “flight recorder”, “flight time”, “instrument approach and landing operations”, “pilot-in-command” and insert therefor the following definitions:

“aerodrome operating minima” means the limits of usability of an aerodrome for:

(i) take-off, expressed in terms of runway visual range (RVR) and/or visibility and if necessary, cloud conditions; or

(ii) landing in precision approach and landing operations, expressed in terms of visibility and/or runway visual range (RVR) and decision height or altitude (DA/H) as appropriate to the category of the operation; or

(iii) landing in non-precision approach and landing operations, expressed in terms of visibility and/or runway visual range, minimum descent altitude or height (MDA/H) and if necessary, cloud conditions.

“alternate aerodrome or heliport” means an aerodrome or heliport (including the aerodrome or heliport of departure), which may be specified in a flight plan, to which an aircraft in flight may proceed when it becomes impossible or inadvisable to proceed to or to land at the aerodrome or heliport of intended landing; alternate aerodromes include the following:

“takeoff alternate” means an alternate aerodrome at which an aircraft can land should this become necessary shortly after takeoff and it is not possible to use the aerodrome of departure;

“en-route alternate” means an aerodrome at which an aircraft would be able to land after experiencing an abnormal or emergency condition while en route;

“ETOPS en-route alternate” means a suitable and appropriate alternate aerodrome at which an aeroplane would be able to land after experiencing an engine shutdown or other abnormal or emergency condition while en-route in an ETOPS operation;

“destination alternate” means an alternate aerodrome to which an aircraft may proceed should it become either impossible or inadvisable to land at the aerodrome of intended landing;

“cabin attendant” means a cabin crew member who performs, in the interest of the safety of passengers, duties assigned by the operator or the pilot-in-command of the aircraft, but who shall not act as a flight crew member; cabin attendants are termed cabin crew members in the applicable Joint Aviation Requirements and a reference to a cabin attendant in this Order shall be construed as a reference to a cabin crew member;

“crew member” means a person assigned by an operator to duty on an aircraft during a flight duty period;

“decision altitude (DA) or decision height (DH)” means a specified altitude or height in a precision approach at which a missed approach must be initiated if the required visual reference to continue the approach has not been established; DA is referenced to mean sea level and DH is referenced to the threshold elevation of the runway concerned;

“flight recorder” means any type of recorder installed in an aircraft for the purpose of complementing accident or incident investigation and includes flight data and cockpit voice recorders;

“flight time” means, save where the contrary intention appears, the total time from the moment an aeroplane first moves for the purpose of taking off, under its own or external power, until the moment it finally comes to rest at the end of the flight; this is also known as “block to block” or “chock to chock” time in general usage or, in the case of a helicopter, from the moment its rotor blades start turning until the moment the helicopter finally comes to rest at the end of the flight and its rotor blades have stopped;

“instrument approach and landing operations” means approach and landing operations using precision or non-precision instrument procedures as defined in the latest amendment to Parts I, II and III, as appropriate, of Annex 6 to the Convention effective on the date of entry into operation of this Order, unless otherwise prescribed;

“pilot-in-command” means the pilot designated by the operator or, in the case of a private category aircraft or an aerial work aircraft, by the owner, as being in command of that aircraft and charged with the safe conduct of a flight;”.

(b) Delete sub-paragraph (b) of the definition for “flight crew member” and insert therefor:

“(b)  in relation to an aircraft registered in any other state, a flight crew member appropriately licensed or validated under the law of that state and charged with duties essential to the operation of an aircraft during a flight duty period;”.

(c) Insert the following definitions:

“cabin crew member” means a crew member who performs, in the interest of the safety of passengers, duties assigned by the operator or the pilot-in-command of the aircraft but who shall not act as a flight crew member;

“Enhanced Ground Proximity Warning System (EGPWS)” means a ground proximity warning system with a predictive terrain hazard warning function;

“ETOPS” means extended range operations for twin engine turbine aircraft;

“Master Minimum Equipment list (MMEL)” means a list established for a particular aircraft type by the organisation responsible for the type design with the approval of the State of Design containing items, one or more of which is permitted to be unserviceable at the commencement of a flight and which may be associated with special operating conditions, limitations or procedures for that flight;

“maximum mass” means the maximum certificated mass of an aircraft;

“Minimum Equipment List (MEL)” means a list which provides for the operation of an aircraft, subject to specified conditions, with particular equipment inoperative, prepared by the aircraft operator in conformity with or more restrictive than the Master Minimum Equipment List (MMEL);”.

(2) In Article 9—

Delete paragraph (2) and insert therefor—

“(2) An operator established within the State shall not engage in commercial air transport operations unless that operator is in possession of a valid Air Operator's Certificate issued by the Authority under the Irish Aviation Authority (Air Operator Certificates) Order, 1993 ( S.I. No. 325 of 1993 ) authorising that operator to conduct commercial air transport operations in accordance with such conditions and limitations as may be specified for that operator and in accordance with the applicable Joint Aviation Requirements and an aircraft, wherever registered, shall not be used within the State for aerial work without the permission of the Authority.”.

(3) In Article 26—

Delete sub-paragraph (iii) of sub-paragraph (1) (b) and insert therefor:

“(iii) for instrument approach and landing operations, aerodrome or heliport operating minima shall not be authorised below 800m visibility unless RVR information is available at the aerodrome or heliport concerned, or, in the case of a heliport operation, an alternative accurate measurement or observation of visibility to RVR is provided.”

(4) In Article 42—

Delete paragraph (2) and insert therefor:

“(2) (a) The pilot-in-command of an aircraft shall not continue an instrument approach beyond the outer marker fix in the case of a precision approach, or below 300m (1000 ft.) above the aerodrome or heliport in the case of a non-precision approach, unless the reported visibility or controlling RVR is above the specified minimum.

(b) If, after passing the outer marker fix in the case of a precision approach, or after descending below 300m (1000 ft.) above the aerodrome in the case of a non-precision approach, the reported visibility or controlling RVR falls below the specified minimum, the approach may be continued to the decision altitude or height or to the minimum descent altitude or height, as the case may be, for that approach.

(c) In either case of (a) or (b) of this paragraph, the pilot-in-command of an aircraft shall not continue its approach to land at an aerodrome or heliport beyond a point at which the limits of the aerodrome or heliport operating minima established for that aerodrome or heliport and applicable to the approach would be infringed.

(d) In this paragraph, controlling RVR means the reported values of one or more RVR reporting locations used to determine whether operating minima are or are not met. Where RVR is used, the controlling RVR is the touchdown RVR, unless otherwise specified by the appropriate authority of the state in which that aerodrome is located.”.

(5) In Article 48—

Delete sub-paragraph (a) of paragraph (2) and insert therefor:

“(a) the safety of all crew members, passengers and cargo on board when the doors are closed and, for an aeroplane, its operation and safety from the moment it is ready to move for the purpose of taking off until the moment it finally comes to rest at the end of the flight and the engine or engines used as primary propulsion unit are finally shut down or, for a helicopter, its operation and safety from the moment the engine or engines are started until the helicopter finally comes to rest at the end of the flight with the engine(s) shut down and the rotor blades stopped;”.

(6) In Article 52—

Delete sub-paragraph (5)(g)(ii) and insert therefor:

“(ii) a cockpit voice recorder shall be capable of retaining the information recorded during at least the last thirty minutes of its operation or the last two hours of its operation where prescribed;”.

(b) Insert new sub-paragraph (5)(g)(v):

“(v) with effect from 1 January 2005, an aircraft equipped to utilise digital communications and required to carry a cockpit voice recorder, shall record on the cockpit voice recorder or the flight data recorder the digital communications with air traffic services. Where recorded on a flight data recorder, such communications shall be readily correlated with the recording of the cockpit voice recorder.”.

EXPLANATORY NOTE.

(This note is not part of the Instrument and does not purport to be a legal interpretation.)

This Amendment Order updates the Irish Aviation Authority (Operations) Order 1999 with the latest amendments to Parts I, II, III of Annex 6 to the Chicago Convention effective on 30 September 2000.