DAVID LEARMOUNT / LONDON
Impatience with JAA process is prompting unilateralism
Denmark, Norway and Sweden are likely to adopt the draft European regulation on single-engine instrument flight rules (SE-IFR) operations ahead of a European Joint Aviation Authorities final agreement on the new regulation.
The Danish civil aviation authority says it wants to approve the use of certain single-engined types it believes are "safer" than the older twins that operators are permitted to use under existing rules.
Current JAA regulations dictate that only twin-engined general aviation aircraft may operate commercial passenger or cargo flights under IFR conditions or at night, but the GA community has been pressing for a change because the safety statistics for modern, single turbine-engined aircraft are far better than for the piston twins they would replace.
Aviation authorities that oppose SE-IFR argue a comparison should be made with turbine-powered twins like the Fairchild Metros and Shorts 360, but figures are still being assembled.
In Europe, Spain and Switzerland have already adopted as national law the JAA's notice of proposed amendment (NPA), which, by October, is expected to form the basis of a new JAR allowing commercial SE-IFR flights subject to certain conditions.
In the USA and Canada SE-IFR operations are legal, and the US Federal Aviation Administration allows certain operations with piston singles because the ban simply made pilots "scud-run" to stay under cloud, a high-risk practice.
Denmark, Norway and Sweden are expected to announce imminently that they will adopt the NPA and their respective aviation authorities are meeting ahead of a final decision expected as early as this week.
"We definitely want to do this," says the Danish authority.
Source: Flight International
