PNG CASA ATPL Air Law common mistakes
PNG CASA ATPL Air Law · Understand the traps and how to avoid them.
Answering questions about PNG CASA rule-making by choosing the ICAO Annex provision as the answer, rather than the corresponding PNG Civil Aviation Rule (CASR) Part that gives it domestic legal effect.
Candidates study the Chicago Convention and Annexes first because they are widely available, then treat ICAO Standards as directly enforceable in PNG. In fact PNG implements Standards through the Civil Aviation Act and the CASRs, and the exam frequently tests which instrument actually binds an operator.
What to do instead
For every Annex topic you revise, write down the CASR Part that implements it (e.g. Annex 1 to Part 61, Annex 6 to Parts 121/125/135, Annex 8 to Parts 21/39/43/45/47, Annex 14 to the aerodrome rules, Annex 19 to the safety management provisions). Practise answering 'which instrument applies' before 'what does ICAO say'.
Treating CASR Part 91 as the only operating rule set and applying Part 91 answers to questions that clearly describe a commercial air transport operator holding an AOC.
Part 91 is the most studied and most familiar Part, so it becomes a default answer. Candidates miss the thresholds and applicability statements that separate Part 91 from Parts 121, 125 and 135, and forget that the more restrictive rule prevails where both could apply.
What to do instead
Build a one-page applicability matrix: type of operation, aircraft size/seat configuration, whether an AOC is held, and which Part governs. Then re-read each Part's applicability subpart and note the explicit 'operated under Part X' cross-references before answering any operations question.
Confusing accident with incident, and confusing the operator's notification obligation with the investigation authority's role, when answering notification and reporting questions.
The definitions in the rules are close in wording and candidates rely on everyday English meanings. They also assume the pilot 'reports to CASA' rather than notifying the accident investigation authority and the relevant State, and they misstate time limits because they memorise a single number for all events.
What to do instead
Memorise the rule-based definitions verbatim, including the injury, structural-failure, and substantial-damage thresholds, and the list of events that are incidents but not accidents. For each event type, write out who is notified, by what means, and within what time, and separate immediate notification from the written report.
Applying the wrong medical certificate class and validity period to a licence privilege, for example assuming a Class 2 medical supports commercial passenger-carrying privileges or that validity is a fixed period regardless of age or privilege exercised.
Candidates memorise one validity figure and one class-to-licence mapping, but the rules vary validity with the privilege being exercised and with the holder's age, and treat different licence types differently. Age-related and privilege-related variations are the parts most often skipped.
What to do instead
Create a table with licence type, privilege exercised, required medical class, and validity by age band, and fill it directly from Part 61 and the medical provisions. Then answer practice questions by locating the privilege in the table first, before considering the medical.
Mixing up the privileges, limitations and endorsement requirements of licences and ratings, such as assuming a rating permits instruction, or that a licence privilege automatically extends to a different aircraft category or to operations under instrument flight rules.
Privileges are spread across several subparts and are written as positive grants plus separate limitations, so candidates remember the grant and forget the limitation. Endorsement and recent-experience requirements are also confused with the privilege itself.
What to do instead
For each licence and rating, write three lines: what it authorises, what it explicitly does not authorise, and what endorsement, training or recency is needed to use it. Cross-check against the recent-experience and proficiency-check provisions separately, since these are tested as distinct requirements.
Answering airspace and ATS questions using ICAO airspace class assumptions or home-country practices instead of the classes, dimensions and services actually prescribed for PNG airspace and aerodromes.
Airspace class tables are easy to generalise, and many candidates have trained elsewhere. PNG's notified airspace, transition altitudes and the services provided in each class are specific, and questions are written against the notified structure rather than a generic annex table.
What to do instead
Learn the airspace class table by service rows (separation, traffic information, clearance, radio, transponder) rather than by letter alone, then overlay the PNG notified structure: which classes exist, where control areas and control zones sit, and what the transition altitude is. Practise converting a described situation into 'class, service, pilot obligation'.
Treating continuing airworthiness as a single maintenance-release event, so questions on maintenance responsibility, approved organisations, defect recording, or airworthiness directives are answered with the release-to-service rule rather than the correct element.
Candidates compress Parts 21, 39, 43, 45 and 47 into 'maintenance', losing the distinction between design approval, continuing airworthiness directives, maintenance performance and release, records, and registration. Each has its own rule and its own responsible person.
What to do instead
Map each Part to one sentence: what it governs and who is responsible. Then, for any scenario, identify the stage (design change, directive compliance, maintenance, release, record, registration) before selecting an answer. Learn the defect-reporting and directive-compliance rules as separate items with their own time frames.
Answering dangerous goods questions from general knowledge of common prohibited items rather than from the classification, documentation, acceptance-check and notification requirements that the rules and technical instructions impose.
Dangerous goods is often revised from airline passenger notices, which cover only forbidden items in baggage. The exam tests shipper and operator obligations: classification, packing, marking, documentation, acceptance checks, and reporting of dangerous goods incidents.
What to do instead
Study the operator's and shipper's responsibilities as a sequence: classify, pack, mark and label, document, accept and check, load and segregate, then report occurrences. Learn the hazard classes and divisions, the definition of a dangerous goods accident versus incident, and the reporting obligation, separately from passenger baggage rules.
Confusing security responsibilities between the regulated entity and the regulator, for example assuming the pilot in command, the operator and the airport operator all hold the same screening or access-control obligations.
Security provisions are spread across the Act, the rules and airport security programmes, and candidates generalise from familiar airport screening scenes. They also overlook that some obligations attach to the operator's security programme rather than to individuals.
What to do instead
For each security topic (access control, screening, catering and stores, passenger and baggage reconciliation, unlawful interference reporting), write who is responsible, what the obligation is, and which instrument creates it. Keep unlawful interference reporting separate from accident and incident reporting, since the addressee differs.
Answering aerodrome and ground-operations questions from generic aerodrome design intuition rather than from the prescribed obstacle limitation surfaces, runway strip and clearway dimensions, declared distances, and movement-area rules.
These topics look like general knowledge, so candidates skip the definitions. Declared distances, strip and RESA dimensions, and the difference between manoeuvring area and movement area are precisely defined, and the intuitive answer is often wrong.
What to do instead
Learn the definitions of declared distances, runway strip, clearway, stopway and obstacle limitation surfaces as formulas and dimensions, and practise computing them from given data. Separately memorise the movement-area, apron, vehicle and pedestrian rules, including who may enter the manoeuvring area and under whose authority.