Let me give you a scenario of a typical next fatal accident.
A Piper Navajo has been chartered to take 7 passengers from Narrabri to Coffs Harbour. On descent into Coffs Harbour, the pilot makes a simple error and descends on the normal 3 degree glideslope to the aerodrome, forgetting about the mountain ridge – possibly distracted by a sick passenger.
He is on an IFR flight plan and paying full IFR enroute charges. The Navajo has required an expensive ADS-B unit to be fitted. But does that help?
There is no requirement for a ground proximity warning system or TAWS in the aircraft. No doubt the pilot is told not to descend below the DME steps, but there is absolutely no alarm system set up in the Brisbane Centre and there is a chance that the air traffic controller might be looking at his or her TSAD display (if there is one in the Coffs Tower) but of course that is just for ‘situational awareness.’
What happens? Everyone is killed.
Now look at the AMATS system that was accepted for implementation by the Labor Government. It would have been Class E airspace – run by the enroute controller, with all of the alarms empowered. Once ADS-B was added, there would be an even more accurate reading of the aircraft.
However even before ADS-B, there was a radar head at Point Lookout nearby which would have given perfect coverage to prevent an aircraft from hitting the mountain.
So there you have it. An accident waiting to happen. A repeat of Benalla. All dead. ADSB a total waste of money re safety improvement !
Proserpine is similar. It is just sheer bastardry and resistance to change from people at Airservices and CASA that have stopped us from going ahead with a proven system that was Government policy.
Last edited by Dick Smith; 7th Feb 2017 at 22:11.