Five years ago the general aviation industry was predicting dire consequences of changing the old GAAP airports to Class D. There was even debate over what colour of Class D we should use: ICAO or FAA. The greatest mystery at the time was whether or not there was a need for change at all! We were told the change was to bring about an increase in safety, and there's not a lot of doubt that the whole thing was catalysed by one fatal accident at Moorabbin. At the time, some commented that the change would not prevent similar incidents happening again. Now, Airservices has reviewed the move and is compiling a report as you read this. They say research indicates an increase in safety has occured. It will be interesting to see how, given that, indeed, there has been very little operational difference in the two classifications. Airservices has made no promises about releasing the report to the public, but let's hope they do.
Continuing our look back to Australia's recent aviation past, the ATSB has been back to the crash site of Pel-Air Westwind VH-NGA at Norfolk Island. It's still where it was when Dominic James ditched it there in 2009. Since then we've had an ATSB investigation completed, a Four Corners report, speeches in parliament, a senate inquiry, a Canadian TSB review, the Forsyth Report, more speeches in parliament and now we're back to where we were in 2009: no definite understanding of the causes of the ditching. There's been a lot of taxpayers money under the bridge since 2009, and more flowing down the river, so lets hope this time we get what we should have been given then: an ATSB report to be proud of.
The new CASR Part 61 licensing regulations continue to cause confusion and angst in the aviation community. There's no doubt the whole transition could have been handled a lot better. New CASA DAS Mark Skidmore is sending letters out to all pilots outlining what the issues are and what action they've taken. The letter is bound to please some and continue to antagonise others; that's the nature of the people in our industry. Personally, I think it's good to see that something is being done rather than the traditional response of CASA dodging the questions, and in some cases going so far as to blame the aviation community for problems. Your letters should start arriving early next week. We're keen to hear what you think of the contents.
Congratulations to the four women who won Airservices Australia training scholarships last month! This is a great leg-up for them in their careers, and hopefully they'll all use it to pursue their aviation dreams. Good on Airservices for continuing to support women in aviation.
May your gauges always be in the green,
Hitch