Sir Humphrey did indeed say:
Two basic rules of government. One, never look into anything you don't have to. Two, never set up an enquiry unless you know in advance what its findings will be
I’m not quite so cynical as Sir Humphrey. It does seem however that despite what appears to be an apparent gutlessness to in fact act in the interests of safety, CASA does seem to be attempting to walk the fine line between that and the commercial imperative.
It’s a little bit concerning that the process of consulting is to begin
now when surely the specific concerns of the industry, legitimate or otherwise, have been sitting on the desk for some time now.
As flight crew we’re always encouraged and in many cases required by the act to choose the most conservative course of action when there is some doubt as to the safest choice in the decisions we make. The term double standard comes to mind. The review appears indeed to indicate some genuine concerns regarding safety in respect of the status quo and yet all I see at this point is the can being yet again, kicked down the road albeit now CASA have at least acknowledged empirically a problem exists that needs to be addressed. It’s not yet a solution, perhaps it’s a start.