The UK Civil Aviation Authority’s (CAA) General Aviation (GA) Unit has continued to follow its remit of regulating only when necessary and deliver on top-level principles for better GA regulation.
Achievements over the fourth quarter in 2022 include:
- Consulting on the Pilot Medical Declarations process. This consultation resulted in 1,770 responses which are currently being reviewed by the policy team. Thank you to those who responded to the consultation.
- Consulting on the simplification and rationalisation of GA pilot licences. This consultation resulted in 1,246 responses. To support the consultation and this continuing project we have produced a series of podcasts and there is more information on the GA webpages. We plan to provide an update in this project in Q1 of this year. Licensing & Training Simplification | Civil Aviation Authority (caa.co.uk)
The team engaged with our GA stakeholders and pilots, either in person or virtually:
- Our ‘Community in Spotlight’series continues. Members of the GA management team visited the British Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association at their headquarters in Leicester in October to talk about current projects and the future of hang gliding and paragliding in the UK.
- The latest General Aviation Partnership meeting was held in November. Meeting minutes: CAP232004 and Meeting presentation: CAP232004A are available to view.
GA community resources and materials shared to support the UK GA flying community to operate safely include:
- In November the GA team hosted the 2022 Post Display Symposium held at the Defence Academy Shrivenham.
- In December the team hosted a webinar for GA maintenance organisations and pilot owners of Part 21 aircraft to address the acceptance of aircraft parts for use in general aviation after the end of the EU transition period on 31 December 2022. The webinar is available as a playback video.
- As part of the CAA website’s Just Culture webpages we shared the first in our new series of Occurrence Reports looking at a real-life occurrence case study. Just Culture is an essential element of a broader safety culture, promoting continuous learning and encouraging pilots to openly share essential safety related information.
- The team joined a workshop with Astral Aviation Consulting to discuss Just Culture and how it fits into GA in the UK.
- The latest publication of the new Safety Sense Leaflets: Flight under Visual Flight Rules (VFR). This forms part of the popular General Aviation (GA) Safety Sense Leaflets series which the CAA is currently updating.
Astral Aviation Consulting (AAC), a third-party supplier, is providing support on GA Safety promotions. Activities over this past quarter include:
- Workshop: Just Culture in UK General Aviation
- Workshop: Sky Watching for pilots
Registration is now open for the next workshop on Radiotelephony. Join Chris, Matt and Nigel Willson as they talk through radiotelephony, providing some top tips as well as highlighting some pitfalls. This workshop is a refresher for more experienced pilots as well as being suitable for those who are still learning.
Astral continues to share useful GA safety information on its website, Facebook page, and Instagram.
Further information and resources for the GA community are available on our website at General aviation | Civil Aviation Authority (caa.co.uk)
Provide page feedback
Please enter your comments below, or use our usual service contacts if a specific matter requires an answer.
Fields marked with an asterisk (*) are required.