PNG Civil Aviation Rules - Parts 1, 11–19
What these parts are for
Parts 1 and 11–19 do not tell you how to fly; they govern how the rule set itself operates. The exam tests whether you can find the right part quickly and whether you understand that a definition in Part 1 binds every other part.
The core structure
- Part 1 - definitions and abbreviations. Terms such as operator, pilot in command and aircraft carry the Part 1 meaning wherever they appear, so a dispute about a rule is often really a dispute about a definition.
- Part 11 - general procedures: how applications, exemptions and related administrative processes run.
- Part 12 - accident and incident notification, and statistics.
- Parts 13–19 - the remaining administrative machinery: enforcement, delegations and authorisations, transition and revocation, fees and related matters.
Read rules for their modal verbs: must is mandatory, should is advisory, may confers a discretion. Rule numbers follow the Subpart system (for example 91.205 is Part 91, Subpart B), which is how you navigate in an open-book exam.
Worked example
An operator wants to conduct a flight without an item that a rule requires. The route is not to ignore the rule but to apply to the DCA for an exemption under the general procedures part. The applicant must show an equivalent level of safety, and the exemption is time-limited, conditional and personal - it does not amend the rule for anyone else.
Traps
- Assuming a PNG Part number covers the same subject as the identically numbered part in Australia, New Zealand or the FAA. Check the PNG index.
- Quoting an exemption as if it changed the rule.
- Importing a definition from another jurisdiction's rule set.
- Missing that the Act prevails where an Act provision and a rule conflict.