[Peetwo]

All airways lead to PelAir (cover-up) -

Slight thread drift here but remember JT the REX HF drone?

Here is a reminder:

REX COI on UAV/RPAS -

If you ever wanted to witness a greater contrast to the excellent forthright evidence given by the representatives of AusALPA, one cannot go past the insipid (read 'soft cock') performance of the nominated REX HF Muppet Mr Tessarolo... - see HERE

The brevity of that particular session perhaps highlights the weight given by the Senators to the quality and significance of the evidence as presented by REX.

This however should not be surprising given how politically conflicted, therefore potentially regulatory captured, the REX Group and by default the RAAA currently is...

Senator O'SULLIVAN:  ...The only message I have got for you is we need all of you in this space to really have a thorough review of what is going on and join us, if you are as concerned as we are with respect to the circumstances.

CHAIR: Does Rex say it is okay; you 'do not see any problems'?

Mr Tessarolo : We did not say 'we do not see any problems'.

CHAIR: Sorry, they were my words.

Mr Tessarolo : There is room for improvement.

CHAIR: You said it was 'adequate'.

Senator O'SULLIVAN:  No, he said 'it may be sufficient', which was what attracted my attention. You said 'that while the current regulations may be sufficient …' I am asking you to review that language because nobody we have heard from thinks the current regulations 'may be sufficient'.

CHAIR: So you, Mr Tessarolo, are the general manager of the human factors group. What is a human factors group?

Mr Tessarolo : The human factors group of Rex comprises group safety compliance, engineering, QA, dangerous goods and the human factors training of pilots.

CHAIR: So when you were writing your submission, did you consult your pilots? Did you ask them? Or did you just have a team inside your area that wrote it?

Mr Tessarolo : We had a team inside our area. This was actually written in consultation with one of our board members, who is knowledgeable in the space of RPAS.

CHAIR: With the greatest respect, I do not know who your board member is but I would much rather hear from the pilots themselves. When we have the most senior pilots in a Australia's aviation industry sitting before us, all as one saying 'we have an issue' and when we have former Qantas chief pilot, Chris Manning, now at ATSB saying very clearly 'anything in airspace—'

Senator O'SULLIVAN:  And the air traffic controllers are saying it too. The only ones who might think things are okay are those who do have an interest in the unmanned aircraft space. They think everything is hunky dory in most instances. I too think you need to really go back and take a more critical look at the question with your pilots. They are the ones in the box seat.

CHAIR: I am a little bit alarmed. Anyway, you have got that message. If there is a different submission, we will take that submission late once you have spoken to your pilots. We would be happy to hear from them too should they want to appear. What system exists within your company to report drone violations? How does Rex do it?

Mr Tessarolo : Since 11 June 2016, we have had five events reported within our safety management system. The one on 11 June did not actually involve a Rex flight but involved a UAV that was spotted by an off-duty Rex pilot approximately 0.7 nautical miles from the threshold of runway 29 at Orange. The other reports actually did involve Rex aircraft. Effectively before December 2016, before CASA introduced their drone complaints form, there was no real system of identifying and reporting these to CASA. We reported these to CASA but just through our safety liaison people and then we just reported them to the ATSB.

CHAIR: That does not surprise us, particularly after CASA's very poor performance in front of Senate estimates a number of weeks ago when they referred to our concerns as: 'Why are we worried? There has not been an incident yet. It would be virtually like a bird strike.' So that does not surprise me one little bit.

This is my last one. In your submission, you talk about how you would be prepared to report the sightings of drone activity, which you have just told us. But, under the CASA and ATSB reporting regime, they are described as non-reportable events. If you have done the right thing, or your pilots have done the right thing, and reported it, do you get any feedback, or will someone just say, 'Thank you very much; check you later'? What happens?

Mr Tessarolo : From the ATSB, we have not actually received any feedback. I did receive from one CASA inspector, I believe—I am just delving into my memory with this—just a response saying that he will pass it on. From one report that we submitted using the actual complaints form, we just got a series of very generic questions about the drone event, but clearly we could not provide any answers, because it is almost impossible to provide those answers.

CHAIR: It has been proved very clearly—and ATSB have been very keen to work with us; there is no argument about that—that they have no idea who owns these things. There is no registration or number plates on them. There is no technology that says, 'This one flying by is owned by little Billy Jones down the corner there, who should be at school rather than flying his drone around the airport.' Thanks, Mr Tessarolo.

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And perhaps the best dismissal line from that whole disappointing session   :

CHAIR: Mr Tessarolo, thank you for your time, and we look forward to some feedback from your pilots.

Mr Tessarolo : Thank you. That is noted.

 

Well in a bizarre coincidence (not really - ), apparently JT will be representing Pel-Air at the upcoming Aeromed conference.

Here is JT's BIO and a summary of his presentation on behalf of PelAir:

John Tessarolo
Pel-air Aviation Pty Limited

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Biography:
Group GM Human Factors Group - John Tessarolo
John is an ATPL holder and commenced his airline flying career with Hazelton Airlines in 1999.  He then went on to obtain flying positions with Rex Airlines where he later became the Sydney Flight Operations Manager and later, National Flight Operations Manager.  These roles involved being the Project Lead for the Rex Group Fatigue Risk Management System and CASA regulatory matters.  In May 2015, John was appointed GM Human Factors Group with oversight across Safety, Security, Compliance & Quality Assurance departments.  John brings with him vast operational, regulatory and risk management experience.
 

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This presentation is to share learnings Pel-Air Aviation (Pel-Air) has derived from implementing an airline standard Safety Management System (SMS) in its aeromedical operations.  The SMS is approved by CASA to regular public transport standards, as Pel-Air is able to leverage on resources within the Rex Group of companies.  The mainstay of the SMS is an electronic reporting system, a culture of reporting and commitments by management towards safety management.

The objective of the presentation is to raise industry awareness and the level of safety through shared learning.  The SMS has shown benefits in identifying trends in areas of flying operations, aircraft maintenance and work, health and safety.

Below are a couple of cases where the SMS helped increase safety standards.

1. Air Ambulance Victoria fixed wing aeromedical operations to aircraft landing areas (ALA).  Many of these ALA are unmanned aerodromes and operate to Common Traffic Advisory Frequency (CTAF), where pilots interact with others within the vicinity to determine take-off and landing arrangements.  Through reporting in the SMS, Pel-Air identified a developing risk in unmanned aerodromes whereby patients, who were conveyed by private means, encroached onto the airside while the airplane was still running.  In one incident, the patient walked through the unsecured gate and onto the tarmac prior to the aircraft shutting down and the patient made it to within 2 metres of the still spinning propellers.
   
2. Fatigue monitoring of flight crew.  Pel-Air operates to a CASA-approved Fatigue Risk Management System (FRMS).  Through the SMS and the regular Safety Management Group meetings, statistics on fatigue, pilot reports and audit reports are quickly raised to stakeholder and management attention for decision-making.
   

We find that a systematic approach towards investigating and analysing safety events can improve safety aspects of the operations.

Hmm...for reasons of anonymity we can't show you John's face...



"Hi I'm John and I'm a CAsA-sexual" - 


MTF...P2

Ps Thread drift over -