Over the Blue Mountains where old Max lives..
Safety red tape is crippling regional airlines: Dick Smith
SMALLER commuter planes are safer than travelling via road, but will never be as safe as larger aircraft and it’s a reality bureaucrats should face by lifting restrictive safety measures crippling the aviation industry, according to Dick Smith.
Mr Smith said currently the government and the aviation regulator the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) do not understand the best way of having high safety levels in aviation was to have a profitable industry.
“You can always increase safety by spending more money, but then you end up with less people who can afford an air ticket,” he said.
“It’s a balance, but in aviation people don’t admit it’s a balance.
They lie and, from the minister down, they’ll tell you that safety is in front of everything else.”
Mr Smith said he was pushing to have the act changed to show higher participation in aviation was necessary to retain a high safety level.
“Unless it does we’ll have less and less people flying and you won’t have any regional aviation at all,” he said.
Although Regional Express’s (Rex) profits have recently slumped, Mr Smith said there was no reason why country towns could not have a safe and viable air service with a profitable company.
“I think we can have higher levels of safety but with less waste, less money wasted on the regulative system,” he said.
“We’ll kill more Australians because they all be driving to Sydney they won’t be going by air and that’s criminal.”
As CASA chair in the 1990s he pushed for safety to be made affordable with a concentration on reducing costs.
He said it was tougher for regional aviators because there were less passengers, but the same safety expectations.
“If you’ve got 300 people in a 747 they can afford a higher level of safety than 15 people in a Saab,” he said.
“But what’s been happening is the do-gooders in the bureaucracy have been trying to make a Saab as safe as a 747 and you can only do that by increasing the air ticket by 10 times to get the same income as 300 people.”
Mr Smith said it was likely Brindabella Airlines could not afford to comply with the safety rules when the carrier’s fleet was grounded by CASA forcing the company into receivership.
“Flying in a small commuter plane is probably 30 times safer than going by road and flying in big airline aircraft would be 40 times safer,” he said.
“If you want to make the small commuter plane 40 times safer you’ll have no one flying.”
Mr Smith suggests the government should model its aviation safety requirements on the United States and does not believe spending less on safety puts people at risk.
“You can have very high levels of safety without the enormous costs and that’s what you have to be smart at doing,” he said.
Mr Smith cited the requirement to have his helicopter’s altimeter checked every two years instead of every five years like in the United States.
“Of course it makes it safer, if you checked it every three months it would be even safer, but with the cost of flying I’ll be the only one who can afford to have a helicopter,” he said.
“It’s a matter of that balance between cost and benefit.”
Tribute to Max
He reached for the sky: Dick Smith leads tributes to Max Hazelton
MAX Hazelton is an endangered species - a true blue Aussie who’s made money and ran a successful business in the tough aviation industry, according to entrepreneur Dick Smith.
Mr Smith flew into Orange in his helicopter on Saturday to launch Denis Gregory’s book chronicling the Hazelton legacy at the aero centre bearing the aviation legend’s name.
The launch began fittingly with Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines as friends and admirers of Mr Hazelton took to the lectern to praise the aviation pioneer.
Mr Hazelton was typified as a survivor.
Not just from his famed crash near Oberon in 1954 where against the odds he trekked for six days out of rugged bushland to Cox’s River and later managed to recover his plane.
But also for building a successful and profitable business in the aviation industry.
Mr Smith said Mr Hazelton was one of few people who could fly well and had the business acumen to match.
“He did things that other people put in the hard basket ... he stood up for his beliefs and bucked authority when he thought it wasn’t right"
He said he had recently flown over the site of Mr Hazelton’s 1954 crash and planned to take him back in a 4WD.
Mr Smith thanked Mr Hazelton for being one of few in the industry to support his reforms while he was the chair of the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA).
“We were able to change the rules so instead of Australia re-certifying aircraft [from overseas] we managed to pick seven leading aviation countries and we were able to accept their aircraft without modifications,” Mr Smith said.
“We’ve saved many, many lives because people have been able to fly in aviation from country towns compared to going by road which is far less safe.”
The Hazelton Story author Denis Gregory compared Mr Hazelton to the early explorers - charting the way for others to follow.
“He did things that other people put in the hard basket,” he said.
“He stood up for his beliefs and bucked authority when he thought it wasn’t right.
“For me it wasn’t a matter of what to put in the book ... it was a matter of what to leave out, that was the hard part.”
'OUT AND ABOUT IN ORANGE' GALLERY: FORMER HAZELTON STAFF GATHER FOR DINNER
Among Mr Hazelton’s many legacies he was credited with convincing authorities to lift the ban on night flying to allow crop spraying in calmer conditions.
A story of a plane’s failed-landing gear being lassoed by two speeding cars on an airstrip exemplified his daring attitude.
Mr Hazelton said he was excited about the book’s launch.
He thanked all involved and congratulated the airline’s former employees for their achievements including pilots Ben Hazelton, Jonathan Hazelton and Andrew Flanagan who had “began their career as hangar rats” and were now pilots for Cathay Pacific, Virgin and Qantas.
“Virgin Airlines employs 50 ex-Hazelton pilots,” he said.
“It’s also a pleasure to see the flying continue with my son Toby, and now my granddaughter Georgie who has commenced her private pilot licence and grandson Lachie who is also about to start flying training at Orange Airport.”