Noted that the RAAA conference is on next week & the hot topics for discussion...
From the Oz today: "
THE appointment of a new board and head of the Civil Aviation Safety Authority and the government’s response to the aviation regulatory review are among the hot items to be discussed next week when regional airlines hold their annual national convention in the NSW Hunter Valley. Speakers include foreign and international affairs expert Keith Suter, Air Chief Marshal Mark Binskin and regulatory review chief David Forsyth. Regional Aviation Association of Australia chief executive Paul Tyrrell said there would also be a focus on the expenses imposed on regional airlines by government.
"
Well no surprises there I guess but it will be interesting to hear the Reverend Forsyth's view on the current impasse with the miniscule & his Department...
It will also be fascinating whether the Air Chief gets a grilling on the latest LOSA investigation report put out (with the usual zero fanfare & obligatory 2 year lag) by the bureau yesterday:
AO-2012-031
Also in keeping with the bureau BASR methodology the safety issues discovered in the course of the investigation can only now be viewed on the ATsB website...
However two of these safety issues are listed as recommendations and are still outstanding i.e. yet to be adequately addressed.
Risk controls for manual processing of transponder code changes
The Australian Defence Air Traffic System (ADATS) did not automatically process all system messages generated by The Australian Advanced Air Traffic System. In cases where transponder code changes were not automatically processed, the risk controls in place were not able to effectively ensure that the changes were identified and manually processed.
Issue Number:AO-2012-131-SI-01Who it affects:All Darwin Approach Supervisor, Approach and Planner rated Joint Battlefield Airspace ControllersStatus:Adequately addressed
Controller scan of green radar returns
Darwin Approach controllers were routinely exposed to green (limited data block) radar returns that were generally inconsequential in that Approach control environment, leading to a high level of expectancy that such tracks were not relevant for aircraft separation purposes. Refresher training did not emphasise the importance of scanning the green radar returns.
Issue Number:AO-2012-131-SI-02Who it affects:All Darwin Approach Supervisor, Approach and Planner rated Joint Battlefield Airspace ControllersStatus:Not addressed
CADAS risk assessment and review proces
The Department of Defence’s risk assessment and review processes for the implementation of the Comsoft Aeronautical Data Access System and removal of the flight data position did not effectively identify or manage the risks associated with the resulting increased workload in the Darwin Approach environment, in particular with regard to the Planner position.
Issue Number:AO-2012-131-SI-03Who it affects:All Darwin Approach Supervisor, Approach and Planner rated Joint Battlefield Airspace ControllersStatus:Adequately addressed
Long-range display effectiveness
The Darwin Approach long-range display was a low resolution screen that presented air traffic control system information with reduced clarity and resulted in it having diminished effectiveness as a situation awareness tool.
Issue Number:AO-2012-131-SI-04Who it affects:All Darwin Approach rated Joint Battlefield Airspace ControllersStatus:Adequately addressed
Compromised separation recovery refresher training
The Department of Defence had not provided Darwin-based controllers with regular practical refresher training in identifying and responding to compromised separation scenarios.
Issue Number:AO-2012-131-SI-05Who it affects:All Darwin-based Joint Battlefield Airspace ControllersStatus:Not addressed
The release of this report also caught the attention of some media outlets...
Example from AA:
ATSB says Defence yet to address all concerns after 2012 loss of separation incident
The Department of Defence said the Air Force was “committed to maintaining a safe air traffic control service in military airspace and believes that cooperation with civil safety agencies ensures a high level of transparency when conducting air safety investigations”.
“The [ATSB] report … detailed three safety issues that Defence has addressed to ATSB’s satisfaction ahead of the release of this report. Air Force will continue to work with the ATSB to address the report recommendations,” Defence said in a statement.
A previous ATSB report, released in October 2013, found a higher rate of loss of separation (LOS) incidents at airports where air traffic control was administered by military air traffic services (ATS).
“Military ATS were involved in a disproportionate number of loss of separation occurrences involving civilian aircraft in terminal area airspace relative to the amount of traffic they control,” that ATSB report said.
“Military ATS are responsible for about 25 per cent of the aircraft movements in terminal areas, but were involved in 36 per cent of LOS occurrences in terminal areas.”
Defence in its October 2 statement pointed out that: “Air Force and civil air traffic controllers have common qualifications and apply the same standards and procedures.”
After reading this report I found the in bold statement quite disturbing..
As per SOP Ben was first onto this story and also as per SOP he doesn't hold back...{particular highlights are in bold}
:
Darwin ATC deletes vital message unread, imperils Qantas jets
Defence air traffic control at Darwin is arguably a greater risk to aviation than home grown terrorists
On 2 October 2012 near Darwin airport military air traffic controllers screwed up the safe separation of an arriving Qantaslink 717 and a departing Qantas 737 with a combined passenger capacity of about 283 seats because of a case of mistaken identity involving an RAAF C-130 which wasn’t even flying near the airport.
The C-130’s transponder code had also been inadvertently applied to the 717 flight by the civilian air traffic control system, but had been changed to a new code before it entered Darwin’s approach and departure airspace under defence control.
Except that Darwin military control had deleted the change message unread, leaving the officers handling the arrival in a state of momentary confusion as to who was doing what when suddenly nothing they were hearing or seeing at their desk matched their assumptions or expectations.
In its summary of this report the ATSB describes this inexplicable unprofessionalism or stupidity as “local contextual factors and confirmation bias”. The ATSB must think the Minister is an idiot. (See page 10 of the full report and ask yourself, if Darwin control can’t even be bothered to read AirServices messages how bleeding dangerous are these fools).
The labels in this ATSB image and related text prove it has a sense of the ridiculous
{Ps Hmm..
..not sure but that pic could have been taken in my garden shed...
}
The ATSB final report into this incident is highly technical and would probably put lay readers into a coma. Use the download button for the full report,
don’t rely on the summary.
It needs one of those gripping YouTube videos favoured by America’s safety investigator the NTSB to explain with moving pictures the unsafe elements of this particular incident and highlight the unsatisfactory state of affairs in which our military controllers are entrusted with the lives of hundreds of airline passengers where defence flights cross paths with passenger jets .
While the incoming 717 crossed directly above the outgoing 737 with 900 feet to spare, infringing the safe separation distance by ‘only’ 100 feet, it is the stuff up in Darwin control that is of concern.
There has never been an incident exactly like this one, according to the ATSB report, but there is a long history of military incompetency in handling civilian aircraft movements in defence controlled airspace particularly at the shared facilities at Darwin and Newcastle airports.
And nothing, apart from the issuing of anodyne media releases by successive transport ministers, has even been done about this.
There seems to a death wish of disastrous proportions in the Department of Defence in that it continues to assert its professionalism and competency in handling passenger jets, and resist all efforts to allow civilian controllers to control civilian jets at these airports, until one day there is a terrible tragedy,
because bugger all has even been done to fix the problem.
It is astonishing to read in this report that the Australian Defence Air Traffic System and the much larger civilian system have “only limited communication between them.”
The ATSB also expresses dissatisfaction with some of the responses it received from Defence.
The ATSB is not satisfied that the DoD has adequately addressed the safety issues regarding the provision of refresher training to air traffic controllers for the scanning of green radar returns and in compromised separation recovery requirements and techniques. As a result, the ATSB has made formal recommendations to the DoD to take further safety action on these issues.
Going on past performances, Defence will continue to ignore the ATSB in that nothing material will be done to end the risk that the actions of its controllers pose to the life and limb of civilian airliner passengers, and will resist as fiercely as it has in the past any suggestion that its controllers cease to exercise any control over civil movements.
However the chairmanship of AirServices Australia has passed to Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston (Retired) while its CEO is Margaret Staib, who also has a distinguished previous career in defence.
It may well be that they will recognise that this situation at shared military/civil airports in manifestly dangerous and untenable, and take decisive action to eliminate these risks.
And in case you were wondering which Miniscule the ATsB thinks is an
IDIOT here is the text from a promo tweep from Ben...
"...Lastest Oz ATC stuff up with two QF jets shows ATSB thinks Minister Truss is an idiot.."
To be fair to the bureau they would not be alone in their alleged assessment of the miniscule...
TICK..TOCK miniscule I don't believe, on past form, that Senator X (at least) will leave this one alone at the upcoming Senate Estimates..
MTF...
