When tragedy strikes the aviation industry as it did this week, we all seem in a hurry to decide what happened, like it will in some way lessen the impact; that it's the not knowing that causes the ache inside all of us. But it never helps to speculate and we have to sit back and let the ATSB do its job. There are grieving families behind the scenes here, and their hearts and souls are much more important right now than the industry's desire to be the first to guess right.
Of course this accident has brought into sharp focus the issue of putting buildings on airport grounds. There has been inappropriate development around airports for years, and it reached a zenith when privatisation brought the buildings actually onto airport land. It had the effect of shifting the priority from safety to return-on-investment for the lease holders. There's nothing new in any of this; organisations like AOPA Australia have been pleading, harrassing and cajoling the government for years to do something to turn federally-leased airports back into airports again. In the meantime successive ministers have tactically ignored pretty much everything the industry has said. We need to be careful, though, that we don't try to brand all non-aviation development as being unsafe; much if it is out of harm's way. However, it is clear that the criteria of what is safe and what isn't safe failed miserably at Essendon, and that needs to be looked at in great depth right now!
RAAus CEO Michael Linke has laid to rest fears that his organisation is trying to drag four-seat aeroplanes into their sphere of influence. Recreational aircraft have a limit of two people only and a max take-off weight of 600 kg or less. But in recent months they've been pushing CASA to have the weight limit lifted to 1500 kg, which would capture several aeroplanes that are handy four-seat tourers, such as the Archer, Arrow and C182. It seemed illogical to pursue administration for aircraft of this capability, then hamstring them by not allowing them to operate to their maximum benefit. However, it seems that's the exact case we're facing. Linke made it clear that RAAus' call for a higher limit is to enable home-builders to build more robust aeroplanes without having to worry about it being overweight. There's a lot of commonsense in that; stronger aeroplanes are by nature generally safer aeroplanes, and it would be a shame if an arbitrary limit was getting in the way of safety.
I was not surprised to see CASA's plea for more submissions to the medical discussion paper. The industry has been giving feedback in great depth for so long only to see it dead-batted by AVMED because reform simply doesn't suit them. The difference now is that the campaign for reform has been re-energised by changes in both the UK and USA that almost justify change here as well. Also, CASA released the DP four days before Christmas, and since then the aviation community has been either in holiday mode or frantically gearing-up for Avalon. Regardless, the industry must respond to this DP in numbers, or it hands CASA a free kick to reject reform because we failed to care when care was needed the most.
There's only five days now until Australia's greatest aviation party gets under way! The Australian International Airshow kicks off for the industry and aviation community at Avalon this coming Tuesday, which gives us a good three-and-a-half days of grace before the general public arrives on Friday. If you're part of the aviation community, I can recommend going on the trade days as it's easier to look over the exhibits, aeroplanes and the expo centre, and the queues to just about everything are shorter! For the serious punters, you'll be able to talk in great depth about your plans and ambitions and company reps are able to give you more time. That's why we have the trade days. On the other hand, if warbirds, antiques and lots of fast, angry grey aeroplanes are what you go for, you're better waiting for the public days to see those.
Our March-April issue has been printed and put on the trucks for Avalon. It was tight this year, but the team got the job done. If you're wondering what we've got in store for you, check it out here. If you're not a subscriber and are heading for Avalon, you can always swing by our stand in Hall 2 and pick it up straight from the shelves. And while you're there, stay and chat for a bit; we're always keen to hear what people reckon.
May your gauges always be in the green,
Hitch