CASA Briefing newsletter - June 2010

From the Director of Aviation Safety

John McCormick

I am pleased to report there have been no major problems following the introduction of the package of airspace changes on 3 June. Overall, operations at Class D and non-towered aerodromes have been running smoothly, with the majority of pilots successfully following the new procedures. Naturally, some pilots have still been on a learning curve and may have missed a radio call or failed to get a required clearance. I can only urge everyone to make sure you fully understand the new procedures before operating at a Class D or non-towered aerodrome. One of the easiest ways to test your knowledge is to spend a little time completing the e-tutorials on the CASA website. There is a link to these tutorials from the front page of our web site - just go to the e-learning box on the bottom right hand side.

CASA has been observing operations at a number of Class D and non-towered aerodromes and carefully studying incident reports submitted since 3 June. From this it is obvious there are a number of pilots still unclear about their responsibilities when taxiing or manoeuvring at Class D aerodromes. You must get a clearance from surface movement control prior to operating on the manoeuvring area of any controlled aerodrome. Specific clearance is required to taxi, enter, cross or back-track on a runway. These requirements are important as they reduce the risk of collisions and runway incursions.

I have been very encouraged by the feedback I have been sent from the aviation community about the Class D and non-towered aerodrome changes. A special feedback form on the CASA web site sends comments directly to me and from those lodged to date only a very small number have been critical of the changes. Much of the feedback has contained questions or requests for clarification, while just under half are clearly supportive of the new procedures. It is pleasing that a number of people have praised the intensive education campaign CASA ran prior to 3 June and safety education products such as the Visual Flight Guide. Please keep the feedback coming - you can complete the feedback form anytime.

It was a great pleasure to be at the North Queensland Aero Club in Cairns earlier this month to present one of the Sir Donald Anderson awards. These awards, sponsored by CASA, go to the highest performing trainee female pilots each year. The three female pilots with the highest marks in their theory exams receive the awards - with the first place getter winning $3000, second $2000 and third $1000. I went to Cairns to present Rhoda Ilave with the award for second place, with the other winners already having received their awards at the Australian Women’s Pilot Association national conference in March. Rhoda achieved excellent scores in both her commercial and air transport pilot licence exams, getting 100 per cent in one exam. She is due to start work as a line pilot for Air Niugini.

Best wishes

John F McCormick

New ways to learn about 3 June changes

New tools to learn about the 3 June airspace changes have been released by CASA. A 14 minute DVD on the changes to procedures at non-towered aerodromes is now available. The DVD runs through the key aspects of the new procedures, as well as the requirement to carry and use a radio at all certified, registered and military non-towered aerodromes. A highlight of the DVD is a flight from Orange to Ballina, which is used to describe the procedures that must be followed and to explain good airmanship. Advice is provided by Rex and Qantas on how the airlines operate into non-towered aerodromes, with an emphasis on the importance of correctly using transponders. The DVD features cockpit vision and clear graphics to deliver easy-to-follow information on being heard, being seen and being safe.

Order the Be heard, be seen, be safe DVD.

CASA has also launched an on-line interactive guide to operating in and around controlled airspace. Called OnTrack, the guide covers the new Class D procedures and how to avoid airspace infringements. OnTrack uses video, audio, pop-up alerts and interactive maps to explain how to operate safely in and around controlled airspace. There are video guides on how to fly inbound and outbound tracks at the newly designated Class D aerodromes. Pilots can review their flights over unfamiliar terrain before taking to the air.

View OnTrack and learn about controlled airspace

Get your updated visual pilot guides

The easy-to-use visual pilot guides have now been updated to include the recent changes to procedures at general aviation aerodrome procedures (GAAP) and non-towered aerodromes. The Visual Flight Rules Guide and the Visual Pilot Guides can be downloaded from the CASA web site. The six guides are currently only available on-line so they can be easily amended by CASA as required. Feedback from pilots on the guides is encouraged and suggestions can be incorporated in the publications. The Visual Flight Rules Guide is divided into five main sections – general, pre-flight planning, operations, helicopter operations and emergency procedures. Everything from the flight rules, radio procedures, meteorology and airspace procedures for visual flights is covered in the guide. Sections can be downloaded separately and printed as required.

The five Visual Pilot Guides covering Archerfield, Jandakot, Melbourne, Sydney and Parafield now include the new Class D procedures. Pilots operating to visual flight rules are encouraged to use the guides when planning flights at these locations. Naturally, the guides do not replace formal aviation documents such as the Visual Terminal Charts and the En Route Supplement Australia. However, the guides do provide a wealth of easy-to-follow information, including diagrams and photographs. Currently these guides are only available on-line at the CASA web site.

View the visual pilot guides.

Ageing aircraft issues in the spotlight

Work is underway to answer an important question about aviation safety: does Australia have an ageing aircraft problem? A special project has been set up within CASA to not only answer the question, but examine a wide range of ageing aircraft issues. The current average age of single and multi-engine fixed wing aircraft is 30 years and 97 percent of multi-engine piston aircraft are older than the typical 20 year design life. In addition, there is an increasing use of older jet aircraft in regional areas. The ageing aircraft project will look at issues such as safety, reliability, maintainability, economy and liability. Analysis of information on these issues will aim to identify at what point an increase in the age of an aircraft results in unacceptable consequences.

CASA will gather information for the ageing aircraft project from across the aviation industry, with extensive consultation with representative bodies, industry specialists and maintenance and engineering organisations. Data will be collected on structural fatigue, corrosion, wiring systems, power plants, mechanical systems and maintenance programs. Outcomes from the project’s work will be the development of an ageing aircraft policy, the identification of critical ageing aircraft issues, minimising the effects of ageing aircraft on the travelling public and developing proactive regulations and advisory material. CASA has set up the project in response to the Federal Government’s National Aviation Policy White Paper.

We’re planning the air traffic management future

Work is starting on planning for the development of technical standards and an implementation timetable for new air traffic management technologies. This follows the release of the National Aviation Policy White Paper last year. The White Paper set out a strategy for air traffic management and detailed the new technologies that will be adopted. The White Paper says: “By 2020 Australia will have moved to a national ground and satellite-based network of air traffic management providing a level of communications, navigation and surveillance coverage unprecedented in Australia’s aviation history.” “This will be achieved by… investment in surveillance infrastructure and the increasing use of performance based navigation and approach with vertical guidance procedures around Australia.”

Navigation technologies identified are Area Navigation (RNAV), Required Navigation Performance (RNP), Approach Procedures with Vertical Guidance (APV) at aerodromes where precision approaches are not available, Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) OUT and ADS-B IN, advanced surface movement guidance and control and wider carriage of aircraft collision avoidance equipment. The timing of the development of standards for all these technologies and their implementation needs to take into account a range of factors. These include the replacement and decommissioning of Airservices Australia navigation technology, aviation industry investment time scales, the availability of avionics and the availability of qualified engineers to install equipment. CASA has set up a project to plan the integration and timing of the changes.

Find out more about the air traffic management technology project.

E-learning is now even easier

Learning on-line about the recent changes to procedures at Class D and non-towered aerodromes has just become even easier. Two e-learning tutorials on the changes have been divided into sections, making it simpler and quicker to learn about the subjects you need. Originally, the tutorials were split into Class D - which included the old GAAP aerodromes - and non-towered aerodromes. Feedback from users indicated the tutorials were lengthy and some people were not able to complete the learning. The tutorials are now divided into five topics, plus a section on where to find additional information and documentation. Topics for the new Class D airspace include entry procedures, operations within Class D airspace, separation responsibilities and exit procedures. Non-towered aerodrome topics include radio carriage, radio communications, flight procedures and hazards. Each topic now takes no more than 10 minutes to complete and people can exit and re-enter partly completed tutorials at any time. All pilots are encouraged to complete the tutorials as they provide essential information on all the key areas of the changes to procedures that came into effect on 3 June 2010. For the thousands of pilots who attended CASA’s workshops on the changes, the tutorials are an ideal way to refresh that learning.

View the Class D and non-towered aerodrome tutorials.

Parachuting gets pat on back

The Australian Parachute Federation has been commended for completing a re-write of their operations manual. CASA’s Director of Aviation Safety, John McCormick, said the manual was re-written in good time and to a high standard. Mr McCormick told the Australian Parachute Federation’s 2010 annual conference there was now an excellent working relationship between the regulator and the Federation. “The communication channels between the APF and CASA’s Sport Aviation Office allow for open, positive and frank exchanges,” Mr McCormick said at the 50th anniversary conference.

Recreational parachuting began in Australia in 1958 and parachute jumps were limited to those with written permissions from the Director General of Civil Aviation. Mr McCormick said there are now around 290,000 jumps a year, which highlights the need to ensure safety across the industry. “In 1986 the APF became a self-administering organisation. Today, self-administration means that, while CASA continues to maintain the overarching regulatory framework, it works in close cooperation with recreational aviation organisations, like the APF, to make sure the approved safety-related requirements of those organisations are applied and enforced by the organisations themselves. In that sense, ‘self-administration’ is not ‘self-regulation’. This approach means that the APF provides CASA with necessary specialised knowledge and insight into the standards and practices of the parachuting industry, while allowing the sector to be administered on a day-to-day basis primarily by people who are the experts in the field.”

Read John McCormick’s speech to the Australian Parachute Federation conference.

Keeping electronic flight bags safe

Updated advice has been published on the airworthiness requirements covering electronic flight bags. The advice relates to off the shelf lap top computers that are used on board an aircraft to manage aviation documents, check lists and relevant forms. Where these lap tops contain dynamic, interactive applications that can manipulate data they are considered to be an aircraft component when carried on an aircraft. However, the computers may be repaired or maintained by non-aviation approved organisations, using data from the original equipment manufacturer. It is recommended that a manufacturer authorised repair agent be used. To receive the computer safely back into service on an aircraft it is also recommended a number of procedures be put in place. These procedures include having a nominated electronic flight bag administrator, a means of validating software, control and documentation of changes or updates to software, a process for notifying defects or errors and training on the use of electronic flight bags. These procedures should be documented in an aviation organisation’s operations and airworthiness manuals. Laptops used as an electronic flight bag should not be used for personal or business reasons.

Read the electronic flight bag airworthiness bulletin.

Everything you need to know about airworthiness directives

A comprehensive information package on the new arrangements for airworthiness directives has just been updated. The advisory circular on airworthiness directives is an essential reference source for aircraft operators and maintenance personnel. The 17 page document sets out the airworthiness directive system that came into operation on 1 October 2009. From that date CASA ceased to produce Australian airworthiness directives that simply mirror those from overseas safety regulators. All aircraft on the Australian register are now required to comply with applicable airworthiness directives issued by the national airworthiness authority of the state of design of the aircraft. It is the responsibility of the registered operator to monitor all airworthiness directives that apply to their aircraft, including any unique Australia directives that may be produced.

The advisory circular explains how to determine the state of design for aircraft and aircraft components, how to obtain airworthiness directives, how often to monitor for new directives and what directives must be complied with when an aircraft goes on to the Australian register. Where compliance with a directive requires reports or findings to be submitted to an overseas regulator, these must be sent to CASA for review. Information will then be sent on to the overseas regulator as necessary. The process for issuing Australian unique airworthiness directives is set out in detail, as is the process for applying for an exclusion or alternative means of compliance.

Read the airworthiness directive advisory circular.

Aerodrome standards to be clearer

A review of a range of standards applying to aerodromes used for air transport operations is underway. The review will look at standards covering areas such as runway slopes, runway surface conditions, runway end safety areas and taxiway and apron separation distances. Under examination is the manual of standards that supports Part 139 of the Civil Aviation Safety Regulations. Part 139 sets out the requirements for aerodromes where air transport operations are conducted. The manual of standards covers issues such as the dimension and shape of runways, taxiways, aprons and related facilities. In late 2009 the Australian Airports Association provided CASA with the results of their review of the standards and these were examined by CASA. It has been determined amendments can clarify some areas and help prevent any misinterpretation of the intent of the standards. CASA has set up a project to conduct the post implementation review of the Part 139 manual of standards.

Find out more about the aerodrome standards project.

Detect those unapproved parts

Aircraft maintenance organisations, engineers, manufacturers and product distributors are being reminded of the need to take action to detect suspected unapproved aviation parts. It is vital for ongoing aviation safety that replacement or modified parts being installed on aircraft conform to an approved design. Identifying unapproved parts can be difficult, as they can look similar to approved products, and this means systems and procedures need to be put in place to detect any problems. CASA has published a revised Civil Aviation Advisory Publication setting out the steps that should be taken to identify suspected unapproved parts and how to report findings.

Detection involves procedures being followed during the procurement, supply and acceptance of aviation parts. Suppliers must be screened and parts must be inspected after being received for any irregularities. Where parts are suspected of being unapproved this must be reported to CASA immediately using a dedicated form available from the CASA web site. The form can be submitted by mail or on-line, with supporting documentation such as photographs or sketches encouraged. CASA will notify the aviation industry of safety information resulting from the investigation of suspected unapproved parts reports.

Learn more about suspected unapproved parts.

Thanks for the briefing Ian, it's great to keep track on the different changes etc going on. :thumb_up: