CASA AvSafety Seminars

[CitationJet]

The RAA/IFR thread has prompted me to ask.

Has anybody attended one of the CASA AvSafety Seminars?

Did you find it worthwhile?

What were the good/bad aspects?

How could it be improved?

[Jabawocky]

I have and they are OK, nothing earth shattering if you make it your business to study, learn and just be a life long student to all available educational material.

Q&A time is often entertaining:uhoh:?

J:ok:

[BrokenConrod]

Haven't been to one for years!

When CASA does something to earn my respect I will consider attending again.

BC :E

PS: .... and don't bother giving me the cr*p about all the good people in CASA. Throw a dead fish into a tank of live healthy (ie good!) fish - and see what happens!

[Jabawocky]

BC

long time no see!

So you mean when you toss in a dead one the others eat it and all die from the same poison that killed the original one? :}

J:E

[BrokenConrod]

No Jaba, I mean that the mere presence of one "off" fish in the tank will soon turn the others the same way!

BC :E

[john_tullamarine]

FWIW, putting aside the pilot niff naff seminars (the several I attended quite some time ago were a bit average), the typical engineering/safety/maintenance seminars I have been to have been of uniformly high standard - well paced and with good content.

CASA comes in for a lot of stick but I think that we need to acknowledge that the organisation does quite a bit in the way of good things as well.

[bushy]

On the morning after the bombing of the world trade centre I went to a safety seminar in Adelaide. It was a breakfast meeting.(the only free feed I ever got from CASA)
The main speaker was professor James Reason, and there was another english professor. About half the people there were medical people, and it was a very valuable, informative session. I enjoyed it and learnt a lot.

Later, another one was held in Alice Springs, and I went to that. The main message seemed to be follow the rules and use checklists and nothing can go wrong. I think there is more to it than that.
I also went to the engineering one. The presenter was tubby, tattooed and arrogant. He referred to pilots as "knuckledraggers" and told the engineers that he would put a box in the back of the room, and if they did not like what he had to say they could throw their licences in it as they went out.

i was thoroughly disgusted.

Some time later CASA cancelled a proposed seminar in Alice Springs due to lack of interest from the local aviation peeople.

[john_tullamarine]

The presenter was tubby, tattooed and arrogant

That's rather a sad story. I don't know the fellow concerned but suggest that he is atypical. Most of the tech folk are very helpful and pro-Industry..

[Lookleft]

CASA acutally ran a very good series of seminars until the whole safety education section was disbanded and they put in the Field Safety Officers. The format had been copied overseas and paricipants charged $400 to attend. All that happens now is the FSO's go around to local aeroclubs and have a chat with those who are interested.

[world traveler]

CASA ran 2 seminars in Darwin recently. I attended both of them. One on Non Towered Aerodrome procedures and the next one was meant to be on VFR into IMC, but that was changed at teh last minutes to Fuel Management (supposedly due to a a technical issue???). Both were of a good standard. For a change they kept it well paced, not to much blowing wind up their own bums, and the meals and free beer (mids or light) was generally well accepted by all that attended.

I think that seeing many of the same faces on the second night that attended the first night, gives a pretty good idea that the seminars were well run.

They catered the info to all pilots too. RAA, PPL, CPL and the Airlines. Everyone should of been able to walk away with something either refreshed, or like me, learning new info...

CASA dont get a lot right, but these were good :ok: