The Civil Aviation Safety Authority has agreed to allow the use of the Multicom frequency 126.7 at airfields not marked on aeronautical charts, according to a new proposal made public today.
The issue has been under review and consultation since 2013, when CASA amended the appropriate frequency from 126.7 to the area VHF without advising or consulting the aviation community.
A previous proposal released in December 2017 involved expanding the definition of "in the vicinity of a non-controlled aerodrome" to 20 nm radius and mandating 126.7 as the en route frequency below 5000 feet. Subsequent consultation did not support the concept, prompting the new proposal released today
"CASA is proposing a solution that would maintain the status quo but, in addition, allow the use of 126.7 MHz in the circuit area of uncharted aerodromes," the latest proposal states. "This solution would see local (uncharted) aerodrome traffic no longer broadcasting on ATC frequencies.
"CASA acknowledges this solution introduces the risk of transiting aircraft being unaware of the existence of an aerodrome due to not being on an aeronautical chart. However, CASA considers the risk to be low with the appropriate controls already in place.
CASA also considered using 126.7 below 5000 feet, but using the 20-nm zone only for aerodromes with regular passenger transport (RPT) operations, and using of 126.7 below 5000 feet with no change to the "vicinity" definition.
In order for the new proposal to operate safely, CASA has identified the following measures, which it has deemed "reasonable".
- Containing the use of 126.7 to the circuit area (i.e. 3 nm radius and up to and including 1,500 ft AGL) will confine the residual risk to the low-level area in close proximity to an uncharted aerodrome
- For uncharted aerodromes that are located within the vicinity (10 nm) of a charted non-controlled aerodrome pilots must monitor the designated frequency for that aerodrome
- CASA will recommend that "busy", currently uncharted, aerodromes be published onaeronautical charts
- When operating at an altitude which could generate a conflict with the circuit area ofan uncharted aerodrome, CASA will recommend that pilots capable of monitoring two frequencies monitor 126.7 MHz in addition to the Area VHF frequency
- The AIP and CAAP 166-01 guidance will be appropriately updated regarding frequency usage at uncharted aerodromes. The use of 126.7 MHz for uncharted aerodromes will only be a recommendation and single-user aerodromes/ALAs may still use Area VHF where airmanship dictates this as appropriate
- CASA will ensure that all aerodromes in the Airservices Australia database will be published on aeronautical charts unless verified that they no longer exist or where not possible due to chart clutter. This will ensure that there would be relatively few aerodromes that are not published on charts and further reduce the risk
- This proposal would be accompanied by a significant industry education and training campaign.
Consultation on the new proposal is open only until 14 May. Submissions can be made through the CASA consultation hub.