Angel Flight
I sent a submission to McCormack and asked that he forward it to CASA. CASA did not publish it as they said that I had not requested publication. Mr M McCormack
Deputy Prime Minister, Leader of the national Party
Attempts by CASA to introduce more complications in the operations of Angel Flight
Dear Mr McCormack,
For many many years CASA has in theory been answerable to a National Party Minister but in fact has run its own race over that time. I accused John Anderson of allowing CASA to run amok, uncontrolled, when I was President of AOPA. You are, unfortunately, so far keeping up the tradition.
The Civil Aviation Safety Authority has been rewriting the safety regulations for over twenty five years with miserable progress. There are simple reasons for this. CASA likes the difficult regulations that we have. By proposing ridiculous regulations they can sit back getting paid while the industry beats itself to death opposing them.
There are/always were two ways of stopping this nonsense. The most obvious would have been to use the US FAR's. A large aviation country with a strong aviation industry probably already has invented the wheel. These regulations are not sufficiently proscriptive for our CASA. Twenty years ago the CASA CEO Mick Toller claimed that the US regs were about to be rewritten so shouldn't be copied. Hasn't happened yet.
The other way is to use an independent panel to write the regs, not CASA. One does not allow the police to write the laws of the country, does one? All industry representatives serve on various panels and Boards in their own time, and have been beggared and exhausted doing so. I suggest that all CASA representatives also volunteer to serve on these boards and panels in their own time. Then we would see some progress
I note Shane Carmody has trotted out the old homily that CASA is the police and nobody likes police. Mick Toller used that one too. That is just not so. It would take a book to do it but the contrary evidence is everywhere. Ask Dick Smith for example
Space precludes a comprehensive list of CASA's shortcomings but here are two typical examples.
1. After consultation CASA introduced, many years ago the Biennial Flight Review (BFR). It was all training, it could not be failed, so who could be against that? Subsequently, CASA, without notice or consultation, changed the name (to is it AFR?) and now it can be failed. Completely dishonest.
2. Also without consultation , CASA stopped engineers flying out to a property to do required maintenance . Such maintenance now has to be done in an approved workshop, at greatly increased costs to the aircraft owners. This was at the behest of the big maintenance shops without any evidence that the fly in guys were not getting the result. No consultation whatsoever. In the States of course no such regulation exists .
My point is that CASA is, in this case, as ever, looking for more control and complexity even when such control is not justified. It has always annoyed the pedants in CASA that organisations like Angel Flight, (which has in fact an amazingly good safety record), are not under CASA's direct control. I well recall, many many years ago an aviation nonentity called Keith Campbell at a public meeting attended by Sir Donald Anderson, was told by Sir Donald that "my officers are only interested in safety . " Keith responded. "Your officers Sir are only interested in their career paths and their superannuation." There was much agreement from those attending. Uproarious acclamation in fact. Little has changed.
The latest attempt to exercise more direct control over Angel Flight and to add complexity to their operations, with no proven safety benefit, is being done in typical CASA underhanded fashion. Not a by a Regulation, which could be "disallowed" and debated in parliament but as I understand , as a "Direction", which does not have Parliamentary oversight. This was put up for comment over the Christmas period with, initially a two week (later extended to four weeks) comment period. How brazen is that!.
I can only quote my good friend Bill Hamilton who said to CASA representatives so many times when we both served on the old "Program Advisory Panel"
"This Regulation is required because of what known problem?"
I ask the same question of you
Yours Faithfully
FW Pike
122 Howells Rd
Abernethy NSW 2325
CC Shane Carmody
CEO CASA
Here it is