Originally Posted by
10JQKA
From the REPCON:
The reporter states that Broome's Class D airspace is overlain by Class E airspace which allows low performance VFR aircraft (usually piloted by less experienced crew) to be a necessary traffic concern to high performance IFR aircraft in both regular passenger transport (RPT) & charter operations during critical flight phases.
RPT aircraft broadcast any pending departure or descent on the relevant Centre frequency. The intent of this is to provide traffic awareness to potential conflicting VFR traffic. The reporter believes that RPT aircraft should not be placed in this position, when the arriving aerodrome is class D (like the structure of Class ADs in eastern states). While some opportunity for coordination may be afforded during descent, the effectiveness of the departure broadcasts is questionable as (presumably) the broadcaster is then dealing with Broome Ground and Tower frequency until they are climbing into Class E. When the broadcaster contacts Centre frequency, and becomes identified, it usually occurs well above 5,500 ft, which is too late for any avoiding action.
The reporter believes there is a safety risk in high performance aircraft having a gap between provided separation during a critical phase of flight. The reporter advises that points two and three of Broome’s ERSA flight procedures are insufficient and suggests the airspace be redesigned to provide Class C services down to at least the top of Class D altitudes on major arrival routing, as is procedure in eastern states.
Reporters comments: “Overall, Class E airspace is quite a pointless concept but never so ridiculously applied as overhead a major destination between Class D and C airspace.”
For some reason the vision of a galapagos tortoise sprang to mind while I was reading that comment.
One wonders how the reporter would cope with "low performance VFR aircraft (usually piloted by less experienced crew)" while the reporter is flying "high performance RPT" aircraft in and out of aerodromes in G.