While these infringements are almost certainly the fault of the pilots concerned we should also look at the possible underlying contributory factors.
An example of what I mean:- A pilot may raise his flaps on the landing roll and inadvertantly raise the wheels instead. Although it's his fault, a contributory factor might be that the switches are similar and next to each other and a change to the layout would improve safety.
I must confess to a certain sympathy for the glider pilot and a feeling that a contributory factor to his infrimgement might be the format of the data available to him, and that a change might improve safety.
Gliders can cover very wide areas, never in a straight line. The tools available on the AIS site are geared toward a pilot flying in a straight line from A to B. It is also possible to use them to provide a brief for a local area, but a glider pilot needs information on a much wider area so he is stuck with the FIR brief.
It is not easy to build a geographic picture in your mind from this brief, and maybe 3 hours from take-off, while concentrating on finding and staying in lift while at the same time keeping a very good lookout (gliders tend to gaggle together when lift is found) it must be very difficult to simultaneously re-read copious pages of brief to find out what the hazards are in the particular area that you have ended up in.
What is deparately needed in this situation is some sort of graphical reference. An outline map with the hazards marked on it that can be referenced to the chart and which gives references to the individual items in the brief (e.g. a mark on the map with the NOTAM number next to it). This would allow the pilot to rapidly locate the items relevant to his location.
I suspect depictions of Nav Warnings will be all that is needed, remaining items that might affect the flight can be picked up from scanning the brief before take-off.
Producing the geographic plot is not particularly difficult, given good data to work from. Several people have produced software to do the job, the best known being Ian Fallon with NotamPlot and Ian Bennett with NotamPro. Unfortunately they and everyone else are hamstrung by the CAA witholding essential information.
What most pilots call NOTAM are in fact Pre-Flight Information Bulltetins (PIB's). These are produced from NOTAM but data included in the original NOTAM and which is essential to the process of selection sorting and display is omitted from the output.
This is a deliberate policy by the CAA. NATS have no objection to the release of the data, it is the CAA who are deliberately blocking its release, despite requests from myself and others.
This is a real "Catch 22". "We welcome safety improvements but we won't give you the information that you need to produce them, therefore we cannot condone the use of your product."
If you would like to make representations on this subject the person responsible for the CAA policy in this area is
Phil Roberts
Assistant Director, Airspace Policy 1
Room K 603, CAA House
45-59 Kingsway
London WC2B 6TE
Further contact details can be found in Chaper 4 of
CAP 723
Mike