Once the Part 61 Solutions Taskforce winds up in October, CASA and the industry should grab the opportunity to take a walk in the Hall of Mirrors to look at what just happened. There are so many lessons to be learnt from Part 61 and its ignoble companions Parts 64, 141 and 142; starting with how the hell they ever came into existence in the first place! There are signs that we've already absorbed that one, most prominently when CASA canceled plans to introduce a under-prepared Part 66 that was already decried from all corners of the maintenance industry. It looked like CASA was keen not to repeat a Part 61 disaster. The other thing we can look at closely is how well CASA and the industry worked together over the 10 months the taskforce existed. An industry advisory council set the priorities for CASA to sort out, and no doubt there would have been some interesting meetings behind the glass windows of Aviation House as differences of opinion faced-off. But some things did get fixed, so clearly a lot was going right. We need to take what we did right, learn from it, and leverage it across new regulatory programs in the future, preferably as preventative medicine rather than as a cure.
Another thing we will stand to learn is whether or not the CASA leopard is really changing its spots. There are many tasks on the list that have yet to be completed, and CASA has stated they will take care of them post-taskforce in the course of normal CASA business.That is a thought to send shivers through the industry; it may have been normal CASA business that got us into this mess in the first place. Hopefully they will deal with the outstandings efficiently and promptly, which should be an indicator that change catalysts inserted into the regulator are at last working.
There are less than two weeks now before the aviation community gathers at Narromine for the re-named national fly-in. Although many are still not sold on the OzKosh name (me included), once the show is well and truly underway, what will it really matter? There's three whole days of talking flying, catching up with old mates, learning new stuff, refreshing old stuff and generally marinating in aviation ahead of us. The OzKosh 2016 Program is now out to whet your whistle for this once-a-year opportunity. And for those looking to fly in, CASA has said they won't be ramp-checking ... but that doesn't mean they won't be keeping an eye out for blatant misbehaviour!
May your gauges always be in the green,
Hitch