CASA yesterday opened public consultation on a review of airspace around the Pilbara region of Western Australia.
CASA's Office of Airspace Regulation (OAR) evaluated the airspace in the region within 100 nm of Coondewanna from ground level up to FL125 and assessed accidents and incidents from the databases of Airservices Australia and the ATSB.
"In 2020 we sought feedback on the airspace around the Pilbara region to evaluate the fitness for purpose of the airspace," CASA states. "We produced a preliminary report of the Pilbara Region airspace in 2021, on which we also sought feedback.
"This 2023 draft report of the Pilbara region airspace review is significantly different to the preliminary report. Additional consultation conducted when preparing the draft report helped us understand issues and enabled some matters to be actioned.
"This included establishing the Pilbara Users Forum and the publication of a Terminal Area Chart for the Pilbara region."
The airspace review found:
- communication limitations in the area impact situational awareness. VHF comms are limited at some lower levels due topography and shielding
- HF comms are relayed and may be delayed due to operations separate from ATC
- users regularly experience frequency congestion on HF and VHF due to repeated transmissions, required broadcasts and the preference for VHF
- some aircraft use satellite phones due to the limitations of HF. This impacts the situational awareness of operators in the area.
- surveillance in the review area is based on ADS-B, but thesesunits are located at Newman and Paraburdoo, which limits the surveillance coverage away from these areas
- producing a terminal area chart (TAC) specific for the Pilbara would support users in the area
- developing a Pilbara Aviation Operator’s Forum would enable greater access to information by stakeholders in the region.
Airservices Australia has already produced a TAC for the Pilbara, and CASA has committed to verifying the details of all ALAs shown on the Pilbara TAC.
Consultation on the Pilbara review closes on 16 October, with submission to be made through the CASA Consultation Hub or via e-mail.
"We want to hear from as many Pilbara region airspace users as possible including FIFO operations, agriculture and tourism operators, local flying schools, aero clubs, and industry bodies," CASA says.
"Your feedback will help us to finalise the Pilbara Basin Airspace Review."