Aviation Electrical Supplies

FOREWORD TO INDUSTRY CODE
During 2006 it became apparent that there was uncertainty regarding the regulatory status and oversight of aviation electrical work and systems supplying power to aircraft.  There were strongly held concerns about the levels of risk that existed and those earlier engineering decisions that affected the risk were not supported by risk assessment.  The Ministry of Economic Development (MED) initiated the establishment of the Aviation Electrical Supplies Steering Committee (the AESSC) to lead the identification and development of safe practices for the management of hazards associated with electrical supplies to aircraft and aviation workshops.  Additionally as part of an ongoing review of the regulations relating to electricity safety, MED (Energy Safety) proposed changes to the electricity regulations to clarify and broaden the existing exclusion of aircraft from those regulations and to explicitly extend the exclusion to cover work on aircraft and fittings of aircraft.

The broadening and clarification of this exclusion (which has now been implemented) pointed to the desirability of producing a code of practice type document, to be based on technically sound risk assessment that specifies the proper and safe management of electricity supplies to aircraft and aircraft maintenance facilities.

Representation on the AESSC included personnel from MED, Civil Aviation Authority , Aviation Industry Association, New Zealand Defence Force, Airports Association and the Board of Airline Representatives.

The AESSC advised its intention to develop an industry code or standard from an initial working document. Following a publicly advertised Request for Proposal process, Opus International was chosen by AESSC to produce the working document.  The draft of a working document, the provisions of which were based on a supporting risk analysis, was produced and independently peer reviewed in June 2009 prior to circulation for public comment.  Five submissions were received and the AESSC met with submitters in November 2009 and responded to the points that they made.  Following some limited changes, the draft code was again circulated for industry comment in December 2010.  Six submissions were received, considered and responded to. The Airports Association surveyed its members, and obtained additional advice, to establish the feasibility and cost of compliance for existing installations given that the code will apply to existing as well as to new installations.   

The process used to develop the Code along with its underlying risk assessment conforms with the requirements of AS/NZS ISO 31000:2009 and the risk criterion on which the Code is based is “as low as reasonably practicable”.

Purpose of the Code:
The purpose of the Code is to provide practical guidance for the effective management of risk arising from the interface of the New Zealand MEN electrical system and the (dissimilar) power systems of aircraft in the aviation environment. The Code is applicable to both existing and future converter technologies and with current and future aircraft.  The supporting risk assessment is intended to provide a basis for assessing the risk from and prioritising remedial work on existing power systems found not to comply with the Code.

The Code complies with the international standard ISO 6858:1982. It is consistent with the safety objectives of the standards prepared by the Australian and United Kingdom defence agencies who work with similar terrestrial power supply systems and is reflected in the Australian Civil Aviation Safety Authority’s AC 21-99 (0) Nov 2005.

For those who are responsible for taking all practical steps to ensure a safe environment for passengers and aviation staff, this Code is a most important document.

Note: The Custodian organisation for this Code in its current form is the Aviation Industry Association (AIA). The Code is lodged on the AIA website.

If changes are made to the standards upon which this Code is based the owner organisations will consider the implications for the provisions contained in this Code and any agreed amendments will be notified on the AIA website.


November 2011