Accident only occurred about 12 hours ago and all the armchair experts are at it again! PPRuNe SMEs in action again!
Let the ATSB and the appropriate people investigate before making assumptions people.....
What? Wait 2 to 3 years for a report? By then it will be consigned to the back of your memory, any lessons or enhancements that could be made to a 'service' will be long forgotten. Convenient for the 'service provider.'
OPINION: The ANSP does not make a whole lot of money out of these flights, they don't care about these flights, they are a necessary hindrance in the ATC system. The ATC system in Australia is a 'profit making' machine. GA IFR is like a small job for a tradie, unblocking a drain for a plumber, installing a powerpoint for a sparkie. They're a pain in the arse. They want the big jobs. Same as ASA, GA IFR is a pain in the arse, ASA want the big jobs, QF, Virgin and the internationals.
I'll preface what I post with a couple of facts, I know for a fact that there are current and ex ATC's that post on this bulletin board. It's also a fact that some of these ATC's actually control this particular airspace.
FACT:
- If you request an airways clearance on the ground at MNG......you will NOT receive an airways clearance with the ATC's initial reply. You will receive a traffic statement and a discrete squawk code. This traffic statement will include known VFR traffic and any observed VFR traffic on the HMI. It is a waste of time asking for an 'airways clearance' on the taxy call.
- You will NEVER EVER be 'radar vectored' outside CTA or OCTA as it is termed. NEVER, not in a hundred years. So putting this into the accident mix is also a waste of time.
OPINION:
- This accident would not have happened had the appropriate class of airspace been used for this area. Class E.
- You wont, as airspace users, in your country, get the class of airspace required in that area, taking into account the traffic densities, because your ANSP will not get the return on the facilities and investment required. i.e. they don't want the little jobs, they can't charge you the 'real' cost of providing this service.
There is the human side to this, 4 families at minimum have lost members. The human side of this can't be calculated, lose a family member, you don't just say 'oh well, just an accident, carry on folks'
What is the cost when there are perfectly acceptable remedies that give these operations a chance? But they wont be implemented because of cost. And it's perhaps a very acceptable cost in the industry and publics eyes, but not to the ANSP, because they are a profit making machine.
Meanwhile, wait for 3 years for a report from a hopelessly underfunded and under resourced investigator. The coroner wont come to the conclusion that Class E would have prevented this, 3 years down the track, memories have faded and you're just waiting for the next avoidable accident.