Flight Safety Magazine - The end of an era

[DaisyDuck]

The Flight Safety Magazine arrived today with a letter from the Director of CASA advising subscribers that this edition is the last printed edition due to cost constraints. :{ It will now be an on-line only publication.
How sad is it when our only safety related publication is scraped in it's tactile form. No more safety magazines to lie around the tables at flying schools or crew rooms.

[ForkTailedDrKiller]

Good riddance - it was a waste of paper anyway!

Dr :8

[Tinstaafl]

End of an era? WOFTAM extrordinaire! Not even usable as dunny paper. Right from the very first edition. Now, the original Aviation Safety Digest**...





**You may genuflect now.

[Pinky the pilot]

End of an era? WOFTAM extrordinaire! Not even usable as dunny paper. Right from the very first edition. Now, the original Aviation Safety Digest**...

Agreed! I never thought the FSM was even a poor substitute for the Digest.
Still have about the last 20 or so ASDs filed away somewhere and will never dispose of them!

[rioncentu]

I'm with Daisy. I think it's a good read and as with most on-line things, I will never read them anywhere near as much as printed material. I don't agree with canning that mag.

[Old Akro]

Here here. I'd scrap the online thing too. Too many recycled articles. Too much overseas stuff. Very little contemporary articles and those that do run have political influence. Nothing pro-active or forward looking about safety. More about adherence to rules than proving material to help tutor better airmanship. The contrast with some of the FAA or US AOPA material is stunning.

[Old Akro]

Also agree that the old ASD was better. I guess that is why they recycle so many articles from it!

[DaisyDuck]

:rolleyes: I was referring generally to the magazine from CASA, the old Aviation Safety Digest or the current Flight Safety Mag. Whichever you like/love/hate/despise or otherwise, we no longer will have anything in print. Printed media has a place in safety. It is there, on the table, for people to flick through or read. It is surely of more use than obscure articles on a website.

[Old Akro]

Yes, but unless the content is any good it goes straight to the rubbish bin. I still have my collection of Aviation Safety Digests. I have zero copies of Flight Safety Magazine. QED.

[Tinstaafl]

ASD = worth keeping no matter how old the edition
FSD = not even worth dunny reading

Anyone spot the difference?

[Lancair70]

I gave away about 10yrs worth of ASD mags to an appreciative flying school. They're still there for students to read.
Ill miss reading the mag (whatever it was/is called), it was my "go to" mag for help in getting to sleep.

[peterc005]

I've always looked forward to reading Flight Safety Magazine and often keep old copies.

Makes sense to have it online. wish CASA would send out email notifications when a new edition is available.

[kingRB]

On another note, does this mean no more double month defective calendars? :{

[gobbledock]

This industry including the airlines and regulator have turned into such a that we might as well post a sticky on prune highlighting this ATSB link :

Safety investigations & reports (http://www.atsb.gov.au/publications/safety-investigation-reports.aspx?mode=Aviation)

There is enough daily/weekly/monthly tomfoolery going on that fills these pages with interesting and disturbing reading!

As for Herr Skulls magazine and his pony pooh 'cost' excuse, pleeeeeeeeeease, spare me. How about ditching those executive salaries, BONUSES and Montreal trips then.

Peter,
I've always looked forward to reading Flight Safety Magazine and often keep old copies.
I have no doubt they are well and truly soiled also. I imagine the occasional photo's of CASA staff is what really 'floats your boat'!!

[Wallsofchina]

ASD = worth keeping no matter how old the edition
FSD = not even worth dunny reading

ASD - worth gold for its education value

FSD - I doubt that any self respecting mouse would bother to take a bite out of it on the dunny floor

[uncle8]

I read it from cover to cover because it is, mostly, interesting to me and I am interested in learning from it.
We should appreciate the effort made to produce it although I, too, would prefer a paper copy.

[By George]

The new mag was as interesting as watching paint dry. That IFR quiz was sometimes good value but the rest....well. Pages of AD's etc. You would have be brain dead to enjoy that stuff.

[Tankengine]

I used to skim it. Like others have said, I will not even skim the online version.:zzz:
Had tried for years to cancel wife's second copy!:ugh:

[Wally Mk2]

........gunna miss that rag,keeps me wood fire going for at least 2 mins with the crap that's in it!



Wmk2

[Capn Bloggs]

Had tried for years to cancel wife's second copy!
She got two copies?? No wonder it cost so much! :}

[peterc005]

@kingRB - I'm not troll; it's just this place tends to attract grumpy old men who like to whine all day. Being happy and positive contrasts with many here.

If I get home and there's a new copy of Flight Safety Magazine I usually read it that night.

There is a pile of FSMs on the book shelf in my study, next to AIP, CAR and CAO etc.

Often I highlight interesting articles and show them to my older son who is doing his PPL. When my son signed up for the CASA Self-Service Portal I made sure he got his own copy of FSM.

I also read magazines like Australian Flying. Unfortunately I rarely get times to read many books these days, but always keep a copy of magazines in my bag in case I get a few spare moments to read them.

[training wheels]

I'm surprised it lasted this long. You never get anything for free these days, especially from an organization that's known for being tight arse and supporting the concept of 'user pays'. It would have been better if they printed it only to those who wanted it. But judging the responses here, I guess that wouldn't be many and therefore probably wouldn't attract much advertising revenue.

[Centaurus]

I'll be honest and say I hardly read/read it. However if it is only online I can guarantee you I will never read it. Just as I don't read Newspapers online...and won't.

Me too. Re the old Aviation Safety Digests. Someone a few years back advertised in the Melbourne Trading Post, 100 of them in perfect condition.
I got there first and now these precious magazines are MINE - ALL MINE:ok:

I ration myself to one each day to be read at will at my favourite coffee shop. When they are finished I'll do the Sydney Harbour Bridge painting job and start all over again. Never did that with FSA. ASD is timeless due mainly to the the wonderful editorship of Macarthur Job.

For those who would consider breaking and entering my house to pinch my ASD's I must warn you I own a killer Jack Russell taught to leap at a thief's throat should I say "ASD him, Maggie". :E

[Tinstaafl]

100 of them in perfect condition. I got there first and now these precious magazines are MINE - ALL MINE

Bastard. Nay. Utter bastard. You may consider yourself told, Centaurus.

[Wallsofchina]

And just when we thought he was a Nice Man too.

I notice Macarthur Job's name has come up again with the usual superlatives.

Maybe he should be given some permanent recognition for the mark he left on Australian aviation?

[djpil]

Mac has an OAM, amongst other awards.

[Angle of Attack]

They should scrap the online edition too then with the costs saved, reduce our medical fees or bloody license reprint fees,.......yes I know I am dreaming! :ok:

[Old but not bold]

You can never stop learning from other people miss-adventures, Peter is quite correct it is good reading and maybe even us OLD fellas can still learn. New Pilots do not "know everything" like some of you that appear to be bored by this Mag, who knows we maybe reading about your next mistake???
Oldie:sad:

[Lookleft]

Why not give the ATSB the budget to print a safety magazine (like they used to). The problem with the FSD was it became more an advetorial for all the different agencies with a few "name witheld at pilots request stories".

[Wallsofchina]

Mac has an OAM, amongst other awards.

That's a good start, but this guy has had a far greater influence than many of the other OAM recipients.

[Desert Flower]

FSD - I doubt that any self respecting mouse would bother to take a bite out of it on the dunny floor

Obviously the mice I have at my place aren't self respecting then!

DF.

[DaisyDuck]

:ok: Well said Oldie

[quinnyfly]

Mac Job is bloody ledgend, got all his Air Disaster series, have read them at least twice and certain stories a few times just to refresh. I just wish he'd write some more and that CASA would keep the pupl printing as I also am not a fan of E-reading.

Personally, the tactile literature you can smell and take with you anywhere you go is the ideal safety candidate in my book <pardon the pun!!>. Stuff this online garbage....bad for your eyes folks!!:=

[Anthill]

The Budgies used to complain when I lined the bottom of the bird cage with Flight safety. Squawking and squawking....At first I thought that they were in need of more roughage, so I bought some cuttlefish for them. It turned out that they weren't constipated, but they would not even sh!t on that magazine.

As a young student pilot, Air Safety Digest not only told valueable safety lessons, but also managed to impart the concept of AIRMANSHIP to readers. FSM was just a waste of paper. I feel a bit sad for those who made the effort to contribute.

[jas24zzk]

Whilst I prefer the old FSD over the current magazine, its still better reading that than watching crap like the block or masterchef.

The situation we have now, is none of those 'old rehashed stories' will be passed onto the new guys coming through. A sad situation.

As for Mac Job continuing to write. Hmm mixed emotion on that. My thoughts are not the he shouldn't, or has nothing to contribute, quite the contrary.

I recently had the pleasure of meeting the GENTLEMAN behind the moniker. It was in a relaxed environment, with the smell of snags burning in the air. (YCEM's 50th anniversary). Whilst I was 'working' on the day, when the oppurtunity presented, he was a joy to listen to. His ability to hold a captive audience, and relate the message he was attempting.
One of the attendee's on the day took him flying..i'll see if i can't post the pic in a minute, and he was most gracious for that experience.

At least the 'rag' some of you condemn, had the foresight to publish his work.

[Old Akro]

I got this final copy of FSA last night. I think the letter from John McCormack reveals some of what is wrong with CASA.

As I recall, the FSA magazine was implemented in response to criticism of CASA after a review of its activities. If I recall correctly, CASA was criticised for (at the time) having no flight safety feedback mechanism to pilots. So the old ASD concept was revived and implemented (in my opinion) poorly. So, now that FSD is dead, what is the saftety communication mechanism which replaces it? Aren't we just back to the same place on the hamster wheel prior to CASA being criticied at its next review about having no c=safety communication mechanism to pilots?

Secondly, I think this line illustrates that CASA just doesn't "get" its role: All Government agencies must prioritise the way they spend public monies (sic); in this case CASA is no different". Unlike other Government agencies, CASA operates in a user-pays environment. Its not " public monies" its our money, Ralph.

If CASA was sincere, the magazine would have been dropped after a review of its effectiveness and would be accompanied with a strategy to replace its function. Instead, one suspects, it was simply sacrificed as an easy way out to avoid the real work of management in achieving operating cost reduction through productivity improvement.

[Wallsofchina]

Good point OA

[djpil]

Just happened to run into Mac and had a chat about this a few minutes ago. He had to dash - another deadline approaching, he is still busy writing so we should post links to his future articles in the online FSA magazine.
I think few will go online to browse through it.

[Rotor Work]

I wonder if they will still post out the multi creased yearly Wall Calendar,
Regards R W

[gobbledock]

Perhaps the costs they will save by dumping the magazine will pay for Albanese and his parasite political sh*tbag colleagues newly approved but immoral and unjustifiable payrises?

Akro is correct. The Government is happy for each department to ditch programs, services or pretty much anything to ensure costs are minimised just enough so that the turds in office can extract more taxpayer money for their own personal gain, or should I say their salaries and troughs.

The stench of political greed and the disconnect they have with reality and the rest of society is nothing short of astounding. Anyway, I wish all politicians a slow and painful death within a fiery plane crash, act of terrorism or some other slow means.

[bush pelican]

IT BEGGARS BELIEF that the aforesaid Director of Aviation Safety has decided to cease print publishing of Flight Safety Australia magazine from the current issue, and use only an on line format.

Don't you understand Sir, that this publication is read by an enormous number of people that are interested in Aviation, and that because of your decision, they will now not see this great publication and it's critically important content.

The magazine has interested, inspired and educated many to the infinitely varied aspects of aviation safety. Many of those people are not directly involved in crewing aircraft, but nevertheless have a direct bearing and effect on aviation safety. You have effectively closed the door to many of them.

I know myself that I will now often miss reading the magazine because I normally grab it when it arrives and put it in my briefcase, and pull it out and review it at every opportunity in transit or when having a little time to kill. I also share it around and refer interesting articles to others. I will now not be doing this as a matter of accessibility, practicality, convenience and relaxation.

More and more people are becoming sick of being tied to a computer screen and see it as a work or research tool.

With 'on line' the imperative to read is lost. It is not 'in the face', there is no ever present reminder, obvious in the mail, on the sideboard, or in the briefcase. No interesting cover to catch the interest. No copy to hand on down the line. Nothing there for the young pilots and engineers, and all the other people that come across hard copy, but would never see the online version.

What we are seeing here is a bureaucratic stupid bean counter type decision. Typical of what the CASA has been dishing out in recent years, all under the guise of improvement, cost efficiency and all the other UNcommon sense excuses we have become used to.

You have failed in this decision to understand that you have to be pro-active on Aviation Safety. That means keeping it out in the open. As much as possible right in everyone's face.

On line does not do that. Its hopeless at that.

How great do you think this efficiency of yours really is John, when you finally work out that no one much is reading it.

Please reverse this very bad decision.

BP

[FRQ Charlie Bravo]

Hear hear!!!

Bush Pelican,

Your message is great but I think that the sarcastic praise in your posts title will fail to gather the attention of the masses. I intend to start another plain-titled post called The Death of Flight Safety - Australia's CASA Leads the Way :-( (http://www.pprune.org/dg-p-reporting-points/490370-death-flight-safety-australias-casa-leads-way.html#post7291856).

FRQ CB

[FRQ Charlie Bravo]

This months Flight Safety Australia will be the last for many.

What kind of Director of Aviation Safety would lead the charge to take away such an important medium for Aviation Safety? I do not accept the rationale behind the Director's decision and I believe that neither would the majority of our industry (not to mention the flying and general public).

In a letter to 88,755 aviation licence holders, cabin crew and industry personnel (source Flight Safety Australia Jul-Aug '12 p. 2) the head of our safety Regulator (with a capital R) declared (in part):


Dear Flight Safety Australia subscriber

Flight Safety Australia magazine

Flight Safety Australia magazine (FSA) is an important means of promoting aviation safety for CASA, and is a respected and valuable source of aviation safety information by the wider aviation community. First as the Aviation Safety Digest, and then from 1996, as Flight Safety Australia, the magazine has continued to develop its capacity to inform subscribers about critical safety issues.

Subscribers will have noticed that over the last two years, in line with contemporary practice, we have been focusing on developing a stronger online presence for the magazine. Online publishing, whether for newspapers or magazines, is becoming the norm, because it offers more possibilities to feature video, audio, photographs and graphs, as well as more timely and responsive information.

All Government agencies must prioritise the way they spend public monies; in this CASA is no different.

Given the increasing use and accessibility of online media, and the constraints alluded to above, I have decided that this July-August edition of FSA will be the last printed bi-monthly issue.

The safety Promotion branch within CASA will continue to bring you Flight Safety Australia online bi-monthly, and will develop an even stronger and content-rich presence for the magazine.

I understand that this change if delivery method for Flight Safety Australia might not suit all current hardcopy subscribers, but the economic climate, coupled with technological realities, make this decision inevitable.

To continue to enjoy Flight Safety Australia, please follow the instructions on the reverse of the address sheet included with this issue.

Thank you for your past support of the magazine, and we look forward to continuing it online.
Yours sincerely,

[signed]

John F. McCormick
Director of Aviation Safety

I for one am more than happy to read online from time to time and to conduct research in the same way however removing the printed version fails the community and industry in far too many ways. It removes the very effective safety medium from the fronts of our offices, the crew rooms, engineering shop tea rooms, flight decks, ground handler tea rooms, WCs, libraries and most importantly the fronts of our minds.

The very notion that this will improve safety only serves to highlight the fact that CASA do not consider all of us to be players in the overall outcome of aviation safety. How narrow-sighted must a desk-bound public servant be to assume that everybody out there on the tarmac towing, cleaning, maintaining, loading, servicing or flying working with aircraft, freight or passengers is going to actively seek out the latest FSA on our computers or smart phone when there are 5 spare minutes between movements or tasks? Sure, from the perspective of a desk in an air conditioned Canberra office with broadband Internet at your fingertips and on your smart phone it might seem like a good money saving idea but aircraft do not operate in Canberra's Aviation House.

This will ultimately spell the end of the magazine as an effective safety tool. From here on almost NOBODY on the front line is going to read the articles Flight Safety Magazine. Safety promotion needs to be proactive; it needs to be there staring us all in the face with a title such as 'Oils aint oils' or big grainy photos of a B747-100 missing its fin with the attention grabbing "JAL 123, JAL 123 Uncontrollable" (FSA, July-August 2005).

If safety is not free then neither is safety promotion. Practice what you preach CASA, put affordable safety before money.

Rant only just begun,

FRQ CB

[Tee Emm]

Normally I would agree with your point. But the content of the Flight Safety Australia magazine is far behind its various predecessors such as the old but well thumbed Aviation Safety Digests of Macarthur Job's day. FSA with its bewildering display of self promotion, advertisements, lists of Airworthiness directives, quizzes and so on, in its 82 pages of bumpf lost me years ago.

It may well be that pilots that are steeped in electric highly automated aircraft will have time to read FSA on their various electronic readers. But I don't think that will happen. Older readers long since retired from flying, will inevitably sigh "there goes another era" and go back as I do to reading "The Australian" at our local shopping mall coffee shop. And when that is read cover to cover, then "The Age" is next to be pulled out of the Coles or Woolworths brown plastic shopping bag. Both are absorbing reading - which in the old days ASD was. But as for sitting hunched over a computer screen scrolling through electronic news - well forget it.

[unseen]

Bring back radio operators and navigators while you are at it!!!!!

[PPRuNeUser0163]

Completely agree FRQ CB...

How much could it honestly cost to produce the paper for these versus the benefits they produce through safety awareness etc?

When the FSA mag arrives in the mailbox I read it pretty soon after. I will be unlikely to browse to their website on the off chance a new issue will be on there however.

[FRQ Charlie Bravo]

I highly disagree with your insinuation. I am not of the radio operators and navigators era, hell I'm not even really part of the much more recent flight engineers era and I maintain that Flight Safety Australia (the printed version) is still a relevant and critical medium of safety promotion.

As long as baggage handlers, pilots, engineers, flight attendants, freight forwarders, check-in staff, refuellers, ramp agents, safety officers, security patrols and ground services folk eat their lunch in staff tea rooms there will be an audience for printed safety promotion material.

Online only is a narrow minded solution cooked up by people who do not work on the front line.

Do not get me wrong, I have used the electronic version many times (whether for study or general aviation knowledge) but it was usually so that I could find an article I'd read years before and wanted to reference to apply to a current issue. (It is important to note that I only knew about the article from having first come across is in printed format.)

FRQ CB

[FRQ Charlie Bravo]

Tee Emm,

Perhaps as an aviation-child of FSA I see it in a similar way to the way you see the Aviation Safety Digest. Likewise perhaps as a product of the world of ever-present advertising I don't mind the self-promotion and advertising as I see it as a way to help pay the bills to keep the magazine alive.

If CASA really want to save money then they should stop printing stupid posters like those damned .02 posters which (despite their intent and despite the intent of the law) made it seem to the travelling public that pilots could rock up to work 'just a little bit drunk'. Or what about the anti-canibus ads, what a waste of paper those were (are flight crew really at risk of showing up to work high and if so is a poster really going to stop them?).

I have not been this angry and disappointed with CASA for a long time, to the contrary I was actually singing their praises at work this morning after CLARC surprised me with some really great customer service on a complex issue.

FRQ CB

[Mach E Avelli]

What a pity I am no longer in a position to suffer CASA audits. How sweet it would be, when asked "show us the minutes of your monthly safety meetings" or, "where do you keep your check and training reports and evidence of .......?" to tell them we no longer use paper, except in the dunny.

And yes, Mr CASA if you ramp check my bugsmasher looking for WAC charts and ERSA etc, sorry, I now carry TWO electronic methods of obtaining same, with backup batteries, and yes the subscriptions are up to date. So whine all you like about paper redundancy. Sauce for the goose and all that.

[Al E. Vator]

I take that magazine with me and read it on long-haul flights (on rest of course). In truth I'd prefer to read the paper or a brainless magazine but I make a determined effort to read the articles and do the quizzes etc and usually end up engrossed.

No matter how many flying hours I have logged, there are always salient details and stories of humbling aviation experiences that I take notice of and store away in the atrophied brain. Those stories have come in handy in scenarios I have found myself in (from engine failures to CRM etc).

However I simply won't do that with an online publication. I have too much going on to login, download and read in a format that is less appealing than a paper document. Maybe I should make the effort but I know in reality I won't and I suspect I won't be the only one. The is a compulsiveness to read a hard copy that doesn't exist with the mass of online reading out there.

In other words, dumping the hard copy will mean certainly one less reader.

This is heading away from aviation safety not enhancing it.

[Baileys]

I agree - another retarded decision by hopeless bean counting managers that don't actually have a clue about being a good manager.

[Sunfish]

Pelican is right. FS had a readership far beyond registered pilots. As a wannabe I was reading it from around 1976.

[By George]

I wonder if access could be gained to accident information, photographs, personal information etc. Then a private individual could take on an 'old-style' digest and produce a quarterly publication. Perhaps even have Mac as a patron or at least as an adviser. By-pass the system that is failing us. I would be willing to help. I have kept every copy of the old digest and still flick through the articles. A must read and so many hard lessons to benefit all pilots at all levels. I don't even open the plastic wrap on the new one. Straight into the bin.

OK I know....who is going to pay the costs. I would gladly pay 10 dollars a copy on a commercial basis. Keep the adds at the back and relevant to aviation. Make it available to anyone who wants to buy it. You only need to look at the programs on the TV to see the general interest is there.

[Keg]

You'd often find a copy of the Aviation Safety Digest in the various crew rooms and tea rooms around the place- even engineering and the baggage handlers. Very difficult to leave an e-copy around.

If it was an app I'd be happy to say that it could still reach most pilots given the availability of the iPad, iPhone and android devices. Until now though I've NEVER read the thing online. If it's not an app I probably won't.

[LT Selfridge]

Another 'victory' for style over substance.

Pilots recognise role of 'learning from other people's mistakes' in improving aviation safety.

Pilots cobble together relevant stories and analysis on back of cigarette packet and distribute widely. Content eagerly read and distributed by aviators.

Production of digest partly handed over to literary and publishing types to correct pilot spelling and replace cigarette packet with paper.

Production empire grows with relevance of material inversely proportional to gloss and advertising content.

Paper copy disappears, literary and publishing types move on to online version, their non-flying futures safe and secure.


There is a story of a 3SQN chap in WW1 who was about to convert onto the RE8 which had a reputation for spinning. Pilots did not really know what spinning was all about aerodynamically in those days and so there was some concern amongst the lads about taking on the new aircraft. Our hero was getting onto a truck to take him into the local English village and noticed a mimeographed scrap of paper on the floor titled ' Spinning the RE8'. It simply read:

"if in a spin, close the throttle and place the controls in a neutral position."

Substance beats Style

[Old Akro]

I don't know why I'm suckered into making more comment but:

1. I'm very confident that the printing cost will be small compared with the on-going costs of publishing an on-line version. Artwork, layout, writing, etc. If CASA was serious about saving money it would review the structure of the whole thing, not just cut off the visible tip of the iceberg.
2. As has been pointed out, the online version will be less popular with advertisers. The magazine was CAB audited. So, advertisers would know how many copies are circulated and read. The on-line version is unlikely to have this. The circulation and especially readership will not be known, so it will become a much less attractive option for advertisers. So, advertising revenue will fall, which may mean that the online version will actually cost more.
3. If CASA really had a safety / communication objective, they would have surveyed the readers to find out what is best. The options include: reduced cost mailed version (ie black & white, limited photos), emailed pdf, online form (eg AVWEB) or electronic version on the CASA website. It looks pretty clear that CASA took the most expedient, easiest decision that suited the needs of the bureaucracy.
4. If memory serves me correctly, CASA introduced the FSA magazine after it was criticised for not having a mechanism to promote aviation safety after it dropped ASD. So, hasn't CASA just done a full circle of the hamster wheel?

[OZBUSDRIVER]

Realisticly....whats the difference about getting on this site and jawboning about safety and reading a "well written" (NOT FSD!) safety mag online?

Thinking laterally, there is a whole opportunity of feedback available to the regulator if they could embrace the idea of honest feedback without attempting to eat our heads off. Formal reply is a good means but to get in after a flight where some BS deal has occured because of a change in procedure...ClassE/D????? ADS-B????? Radio Diahorea???? A blog argument could give a quicker feel to the situation than a month of formal input.

Now THAT would be an amazing addition to the safety culture of this industry.

[Waylonparker]

You can be sure that I will be writing to my local member to raise the matter with the Minister! I am absolutely disgusted and if you are too then you should do the same.

What a horrible backwards step for aviation safety promotion.

Waylon Parker