Pilots and Part 137 and 138 operators conducting specialised operations can now use an alternative pathway for training and testing for specialised endorsements.
Part 137 and 138 operators can use experienced and competent pilots they employ to conduct training for endorsements in-house.
Legislative basis
We recognise the Part 141 flight training scheme is not working as intended in training pilots for specialised endorsements.
Pilots and operators need an alternative pathway to better facilitate training and assessment. We plan to make changes to CASR, but this will take some time.
We created approval instruments to allow pilots and Part 137 and 138 operators to take immediate advantage of the planned change.
The instruments include:
- CASA 05/23 — Flight Training and Flight Tests for Grant of Aerial Mustering Endorsements Approval 2023
- CASA 31/23 — Flight Training and Flight Tests for Grant of Sling Operations, Winch and Rappelling Operations, and Firefighting Endorsements Approval 2023.
This pathway is an alternative to the existing Part 141 flight training pathway for specialised endorsements.
Endorsements you can access using this pathway
You can gain these endorsements using the alternative pathways:
- aerial mustering – aeroplane endorsement
- aerial mustering – helicopter endorsement
- aerial mustering – gyroplane endorsement
- sling operations endorsement
- winch and rappelling operations endorsement
- aeroplane firefighting endorsement
- helicopter firefighting endorsement.
Accessing the alternative pathway
Operators can use suitably competent, experienced, and trained pilots to conduct training for, test for, and grant specialised endorsements. This means they can upskill their pilots in-house instead of sending them to a Part 141 training operator for the training.
Subject to the conditions in the approval, the operator’s training pilots do not need to:
- be employed by a Part 141 flight training operator
- hold a flight instructor rating
- hold flight examiner rating.
Part 137 and 138 operators can use a training pilot to conduct endorsement training and testing activities. The operators and training pilots must comply with the conditions of the instrument.
Pilots with a low-level rating can now access training for the endorsement through a Part 137 or 138 operator. This is instead of accessing the training through a Part 141 flight training operator.