A great question!
The answer is that there used to be an airspace philosophy at the old DCA, guided as it was by the then requirement to keep fare-paying passengers safe. In a nut-shell, if it was RPT and had jets then controlled airspace (pre ICAO classification) was introduced. Hence, control towers suddenly popped up where FK28s were to operate, and in those days Control Towers had control area steps (no Ds Cs etc, just controlled airspace, of a type which later became Class B). This meant that Ballina would have looked like Coffs Harbour with one Controller controlling the aerodrome and the lower CTA steps (See Launceston, Hobart, Maroochydore, Alice Springs. Karratha, Broome, Hamilton Island and so on). This pretty much continued until the CAA came along and with it cost-recovery. I cannot remember the exact order, but Proserpine Tower was one of the first to go, and Gove and Port Hedland never opened.
Clearly the simplistic DCA philosophy was flawed however it had a basis in the experience of the then legislators. They were well aware of the widening speed gap between jet and non-jet aircraft. They were cognisant of the introduction of ATC in other parts of the world and knew the reasons why. Furthermore, they realised that traffic levels in Australia were constantly increasing, but above all, they were trying to stay ahead of the game. This last, in particular, seems to have disappeared from our airspace planning unless it involves city-based unmanned air taxis!
There was however one thing missing from the DCA philosophy, that was surveillance. I remember when the RAAF asked when DCA was going to introduce radar into Townsville and Darwin aerodromes (mid-70s). They were apparently told that radar was totally unnecessary, Australian controllers could do all that work in their heads with the assistance of a few scraps of cardboard. The rest is history, the RAAF took over all ATC (previously they just had runway controllers) at both joint-user airports and installed radar approach control.
So what is missing from the picture? It is almost certainly surveillance. Airservices wanted to dismantle their en-route radars 20 years ago but were forced to renew them all because they could not get an ADS-B mandate through CASA in the time-frame they wanted. Now that ADS-B is mandated you can guarantee that there will never be a new radar installation by Airservices, and the current J-curve will slowly fade away in much the same way as our navigation aids have disappeared.
The trouble is that the risk factors in Australian airspace are stubbornly staying ahead of the financial requirements of Airservices so "hope" has become the prime safety mitigation.
The warning signs are there but are being resolutely ignored by the organisations that are employed to recognise them. Does anyone seriously think that putting a short range (30NM) surveillance radar and control tower at Ballina is going to break the combined banks of Qantas, Jetstar, Virgin, Rex?
How about our three arms of Government living up to the trust the Australian people have in them? I quote:
- The ATSB's function is to improve safety and public confidence in the aviation.......;
- ........safety must always be CASA's 'most important consideration; and,
- We [Airservices] provide a range of world-class services that allow safe and equitable access to our skies. Our primary focus is ensuring the safety of air travel - both in the air and on the ground
Is Ballina safe?