CASA today announced the start of an education campaign aimed at getting pilots to increase their skills and knowledge.
Named Your Safety is in Your Hands, the campaign is the result of collaboration with the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB), Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA), Airservices Australia, Bureau of Meteorology (BOM), and other aviation associations and companies.
CASA Director of Aviation Safety and CEO Pip Spence said input from pilots using ATSB occurrence data were critical to the developing the campaign.
“With the help from the ATSB, we’ve been able to build our campaign and safety topics based on accident and incident data," she said. "Each quarter we will focus on a new safety topic with information and online resources available through the new CASA pilot safety hub."
CASA's Pilot Safety Hub contains a range of resources and information including webinars, podcasts and videos aimed at enhancing pilot safety. The hub is sectioned into four critical areas: Non-controlled Aerodromes, Weather and Forecasting, Flight Planning and Controlled Aerodromes.
“Airservices Australia and the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) have also contributed to our campaign by providing information and resources on operating at controlled aerodromes and navigating weather and forecasting,” Spence said.
“Aimed at the Australian pilot community, we’ve been working on a range of resources for local flying schools and industry associations to encourage their students and members to get involved.”
Two of the associations working with CASA to raise pilot safety levels are Recreational Aviation Australia (RAAus) and the Australian Helicopter Industry Association (AHIA).
RAAus CEO Matt Bouttell said providing the piloting community a resource hub for topics that affect all pilots when flying is invaluable.
“Having safety information and useful resources on-hand in the one place is an asset to our members and the wider piloting community,” he said.
AHIA Chief Executive Paul Tyrrell said his organisation supported the campaign and would be looking at how to encourage their members to engage and think about aviation safety.
“Helicopter pilots face similar risks to traditional fixed wing pilots, and we welcome any activity or initiative to encourage pilots no matter what their aircraft type to think about safety,” he said.
Each quarter CASA will focus on a different topic, loading relevant information and resources onto the Pilot Safety Hub.