Concerns about commercial adventure operations prompt overhaul

The New Zealand Herald is reporting that the Civil Aviation Authority is preparing to rewrite the rules governing hang gliding and paragliding operations in that country. According to CAA spokesperson Bill Simmer, the work on the new rules, which will directly address commercial adventure operations, among other issues, will begin in July.

Sommer stated that the existing rules only cover amateur, non-commercial operations and would be considered cumbersome to the operations of commercial adventure operators. He also added that the decision to change the rules was made last year and was not spurred by a recent incident in which a pax in a tandem hang gliding accident.

Stephen Richard Parson was recently convinced of manslaughter in the death of 23-year-old Greek tourist Eleni Zeri, who fell to her death March 29 during a Sky Trek commercial hang gliding flight near Queenstown.

"What happened in his case was in no way related to the regulations. The company he worked for had safety procedures in place that were in line with regulations, but he failed to follow them," said Sommer.

He added, however, that the CAA is of the opinion that current regulations were not designed for commercial operations. Some operators have complained that they had to apply to the CAA several times for different aspects of their business, making the rules unwieldy for both the operators and the CAA.

The goal of the new rule is to streamline regulation of the industry, and make safety procedures easier for both the operators as well as the CAA.

FMI: http://www.nzherald.co.nz, http://www.caa.govt.nz/