PNG CASA IR Air Law common mistakes
PNG CASA IR Air Law · Understand the traps and how to avoid them.
Treating the PNG Civil Aviation Rules (CARs) Part 91 as if it were identical to ICAO Annex 2, so the candidate answers 'in accordance with the Annex' where the PNG rule imposes a stricter or different requirement (for example notification, equipment, or documentation specifics).
Many candidates study from ICAO Annexes or foreign syllabi because PNG-specific material is thinner, and they assume harmonisation means identity. The CARs implement the Annexes with local variations and additional requirements, and exam items are written to the PNG rule.
What to do instead
Study the PNG CARs directly (Parts 1, 61, 91, 121/135, 139 as applicable) and, for each Annex topic, write a short note of the PNG difference. When practising, answer from the CAR text and cite the part/rule number in your notes so the source is fixed in memory.
Confusing the roles and powers of the regulator (CAA PNG), the Minister, and the accident investigation body, and answering that the CAA investigates accidents or that the investigator prosecutes.
In PNG the safety regulator and the accident investigation function are distinct, and candidates transfer assumptions from states where one body does both. The separation of investigation from enforcement is a standard exam theme.
What to do instead
Build a one-page organogram: who makes rules, who issues licences and certificates, who conducts investigations, and who can prosecute. Learn the objective of investigation (prevention, not blame) and the reporting chain, then test yourself by assigning each action to the correct body.
Getting the rules of the air wrong in detail: right-of-way priorities, minimum heights over congested areas versus open country, VFR visibility and cloud-clearance minima by airspace class, and the hemispheric/cruising level rule for track.
Candidates memorise one set of VFR minima and apply it everywhere, ignoring differences between controlled and uncontrolled airspace, altitude bands, and PNG's terrain and class structure. Magnetic track versus heading confusion also causes errors.
What to do instead
Make a matrix of airspace class versus flight visibility, distance from cloud, and height above terrain, plus a separate table of cruising levels by magnetic track. Drill with short scenarios ('track 275, IFR, which level?') until the lookup is automatic, and always state units (feet, km, NM) explicitly.
Misapplying the documents and records that must be carried on board and their validity periods, mixing up certificate of registration, certificate of airworthiness, radio station licence, and crew licences, or assuming all must be originals.
The list is long and the validity and carriage rules differ between items and between private and commercial operations. Candidates learn a vague 'all documents on board' rule and then guess on specifics.
What to do instead
Create a table with columns: document, who issues it, validity, must it be carried, original or copy acceptable. Fill it from the CARs, then cover the answers and reproduce it from memory. Include maintenance release, mass and balance, and licences for each crew member.
Answering on licences, ratings, and recency from general knowledge rather than the PNG licensing rule: confusing the validity of a Class 1 medical with a Class 2, the period of a rating, or the recent experience required to carry passengers.
Medical durations vary with age and class, and recency rules changed over time. Candidates rely on remembered foreign rules or outdated numbers and pick a plausible but wrong interval.
What to do instead
Learn the specific intervals and age bands for medicals and the precise recent-experience requirement (landings, hours, instrument time) as written in the PNG licensing rule. Write them as a dated flashcard set and re-check against the current rule before the exam.
Treating the aircraft certificate of airworthiness as permanent, or confusing it with the maintenance release, and failing items on continuing airworthiness, maintenance schedules, and defect reporting.
The C of A has a validity and is contingent on maintenance being performed under an approved programme; the maintenance release is a separate flight-specific document. Candidates collapse the two into one concept.
What to do instead
Learn the chain: type acceptance, individual C of A, approved maintenance programme, maintenance release for the flight, defect recording and reporting. For each link, note who may certify it and what happens if it lapses. Practise distinguishing 'aircraft may not fly' from 'aircraft needs a release'.
Getting dangerous goods and security questions wrong by assuming all dangerous goods are forbidden to passengers, or that the operator's approval covers cabin baggage without limits.
The rules are permit-based rather than blanket prohibitions, with detailed exceptions and quantity limits, and the technical instructions are cross-referenced rather than reproduced. Candidates generalise from signage they have seen at airports.
What to do instead
Learn the categories (forbidden, permitted with approval, permitted in limited quantities), the carriage and notification requirements, and the pilot's responsibility to be informed. Use short case examples (spare lithium battery, aerosol, oxygen cylinder) and classify each against the rules.
Misreading the question's operational context: answering for a commercial air transport operation when the stem describes a private flight, or applying IFR rules to a VFR flight, or ignoring that the flight is in PNG airspace versus international airspace.
Exam stems are deliberately compact, and the applicable rule set depends on operation type, airspace, and flight rules. Candidates pattern-match on a keyword and answer from the wrong rule set.
What to do instead
Before answering, underline the operation type, flight rules, and airspace in the stem. Build a decision tree: operation type, then airspace, then flight rules, then the specific rule. Practise by rewriting each practice stem into a one-line 'given' statement before choosing an answer.
Using the wrong units or converting incorrectly: metres versus feet for altitude and visibility, kilometres versus nautical miles, and kg versus pounds for mass and balance, producing answers that are right in method but wrong in value.
PNG operates in a metric-altitude environment in places while aviation convention uses feet and knots, and questions deliberately mix units. Candidates convert in their head under time pressure.
What to do instead
Adopt fixed conversion factors (1 NM = 1.852 km, 1 ft = 0.3048 m, 1 kg = 2.2046 lb) and always write the unit next to every number in working. Do timed drills where the only task is unit conversion so the arithmetic is not competing with the legal reasoning.
Answering 'what should the pilot do' items with the ideal airmanship action rather than the action the rule prescribes, for example reporting a hazard by radio when the rule requires a written report to the authority within a set period.
Candidates with operational experience answer from habit and good judgement, but the exam tests the prescribed procedure, including who is notified, in what form, and within what time.
What to do instead
For every occurrence topic (accident, serious incident, defect, airspace infringement, dangerous goods event), memorise the notification chain: immediate notification to whom, followed by a written report to whom, within what period. Separate 'good practice' from 'required action' in your notes and answer only the latter.