Commonwealth legislation

CASA EX65/17 - Exemption — release of small and light unmanned free balloons beyond visual line of sight of the operator

RepealedCTH

This Act has been repealed and is no longer in force. It is retained for historical reference.

Jurisdiction

Commonwealth

Collection

legislative instrument

Plain English Summary

2/10 complexity

This exemption allows people to release certain small and light unmanned free balloons (such as weather balloons) without needing special permission to fly them beyond where the operator can see.

Normally, you must get approval from CASA to operate any unmanned aircraft—including balloons—beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS). This instrument creates an automatic exemption for two categories:

Small balloons – released in accordance with the specific rules for small balloons under aviation law; and
Light balloons – released outside designated "approved areas" but still following the rules for light balloon releases.

Essentially, if you're operating these specific types of low-risk balloons in compliance with the standard release regulations, you don't need to apply for a separate BVLOS approval. This reduces paperwork for activities like meteorological monitoring or research flights while maintaining other safety requirements.

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Current sections

Direct links to the current provisions in CASA EX65/17 - Exemption — release of small and light unmanned free balloons beyond visual line of sight of the operator.

CASA EX65/17 - Exemption — release of small and light unmanned free balloons beyond visual line of sight of the operator

Instrument number CASA EX65/17

I, SHANE PATRICK CARMODY, Director of Aviation Safety, on behalf of CASA, make this instrument under regulation 11.160 of the Civil Aviation Safety Regulations 1998.

[Signed S. Carmody]

Shane Carmody
Director of Aviation Safety

26 June 2017

Exemption — release of small and light unmanned free balloons beyond visual line of sight of the operator

1 Duration

This instrument:

(a) commences on the day after registration; and

(b) is repealed at the end of 31 May 2020.

2 Definitions

In this instrument:

approved area has the meaning given by regulation 101.150 of CASR.

3 Application

This instrument applies to the operator of an unmanned free balloon that is:

(a) a small balloon released in accordance with regulation 101.155 of CASR; and
(b) a light balloon that is released outside an approved area in accordance with regulation 101.160 of CASR.

4 Exemption

The operator is exempt from compliance with regulation 101.073 of CASR to the extent that subregulation 101.073 (1) requires an approval to operate an unmanned aircraft beyond visual line of sight.

Source text

Sourced from the Federal Register of Legislation (legislation.gov.au), CC BY 4.0.

1 CASA EX65/17 - Exemption — release of small and light unmanned free balloons beyond visual line of sight of the operator