penash
1st Dec 2003, 03:39
Air controllers report more than 20 air-safety breaches
Air-traffic controllers have reported more than 20 air safety breaches involving Australia's downgraded airspace since the new system was introduced, their union said today.
Under the new airspace rules, which came into effect on Thursday, light planes are allowed into areas used by commercial airliners.
Light aircraft operating above 3000 metres must now use transponders - radar devices which make aircraft visible to air-traffic controllers and commercial craft.
But air-traffic controllers say many light aircraft, operating without working transponders, are straying into tightly-controlled international and domestic capital city flight paths.
Ted Lang, president of the air traffic controller's union Civil Air, said controllers in Sydney, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide and Melbourne were reporting about four transponder failures an hour.
This is despite a marked drop in the number of aircraft movements nationally since the airspace was downgraded on Thursday, he said.
"[These incidents] are a breach of air safety," Mr Lang told AAP.
"There have been a number of violations of controlled airspace where people have operated without an airways clearance."
Mr Lang said one of the major causes of concern was when light aircraft operated with faulty transponders.
"The chief mitigator in this was the use of transponders for aircraft and we're finding that although aircraft may have them turned on, they may not be providing a height read-out, so we don't know [where] the aircraft is," he said.
"We are basically having to triple our workload in trying to broadcast this travelling information to aircraft that might be interested in it."
Mr Lang said the new air traffic rules increased the likelihood of mid-air collision.
"It has become a serious operational problem for the controllers and a serious worry for commercial aircraft," he said.
"It appears some light aircraft pilots are confused about where the downgraded airspace starts and stops and the procedures."
The Australian Federation of Air Pilots (AFAP) said the new airspace rules meant pilots were "flying into uncertainty".
Captain Robin Beville-Anderson, of the AFAP, said the solution was to "kill off" the new system and reinstate the previous airspace rules.
"They've introduced a concept that is fundamentally unsafe," he said.
A spokesman for federal Transport Minister John Anderson said he was not surprised by the number of incidents reported by air-traffic controllers.
The National Airspace System Implementation Group had asked pilots and controllers to report all incidents no matter how minor, he said.
The spokesman said Civil Air was running a political campaign.
"They're trying to get us to either delay or preferably throw out the new system when they know in their heart of hearts that it's safer and more efficient," he said.
AAP
Air-traffic controllers have reported more than 20 air safety breaches involving Australia's downgraded airspace since the new system was introduced, their union said today.
Under the new airspace rules, which came into effect on Thursday, light planes are allowed into areas used by commercial airliners.
Light aircraft operating above 3000 metres must now use transponders - radar devices which make aircraft visible to air-traffic controllers and commercial craft.
But air-traffic controllers say many light aircraft, operating without working transponders, are straying into tightly-controlled international and domestic capital city flight paths.
Ted Lang, president of the air traffic controller's union Civil Air, said controllers in Sydney, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide and Melbourne were reporting about four transponder failures an hour.
This is despite a marked drop in the number of aircraft movements nationally since the airspace was downgraded on Thursday, he said.
"[These incidents] are a breach of air safety," Mr Lang told AAP.
"There have been a number of violations of controlled airspace where people have operated without an airways clearance."
Mr Lang said one of the major causes of concern was when light aircraft operated with faulty transponders.
"The chief mitigator in this was the use of transponders for aircraft and we're finding that although aircraft may have them turned on, they may not be providing a height read-out, so we don't know [where] the aircraft is," he said.
"We are basically having to triple our workload in trying to broadcast this travelling information to aircraft that might be interested in it."
Mr Lang said the new air traffic rules increased the likelihood of mid-air collision.
"It has become a serious operational problem for the controllers and a serious worry for commercial aircraft," he said.
"It appears some light aircraft pilots are confused about where the downgraded airspace starts and stops and the procedures."
The Australian Federation of Air Pilots (AFAP) said the new airspace rules meant pilots were "flying into uncertainty".
Captain Robin Beville-Anderson, of the AFAP, said the solution was to "kill off" the new system and reinstate the previous airspace rules.
"They've introduced a concept that is fundamentally unsafe," he said.
A spokesman for federal Transport Minister John Anderson said he was not surprised by the number of incidents reported by air-traffic controllers.
The National Airspace System Implementation Group had asked pilots and controllers to report all incidents no matter how minor, he said.
The spokesman said Civil Air was running a political campaign.
"They're trying to get us to either delay or preferably throw out the new system when they know in their heart of hearts that it's safer and more efficient," he said.
AAP