[Peetwo]

Harfwit & St Carmode cook the books on safety of Hobart airspace - 

Via the Oz

APRIL 20, 2019

Airport secretly tagged as ‘high risk’

Hobart airport was secretly labelled ‘high risk’, The Weekend Australian can reveal.
By MATTHEW DENHOLM

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Hobart’s airspace design is under review in the wake of rising ­passenger numbers and a spate of safety incidents that led to its airport being secretly labelled “high risk”, The Weekend Australian can reveal.

The Civil Aviation Safety Authority confirmed it was reviewing Hobart’s airspace, which is based largely on a regional model despite passenger numbers being more than double the threshold for an upgrade to that used at all other capital cities.

Documents obtained under Freedom of Information laws show CASA assessed Hobart Airport as “high risk” after a series of safety breaches between September 2017 and early 2018.

As revealed last year by The Australian, these included at least four “loss of separation” incidents, where aircraft pass closer to one another than has been designed for safety. Two incidents involving Airbus passenger jets were linked to new flightpaths.

The new FOI documents show that in the wake of these incidents, CASA elevated Hobart Airport’s “risk assessment rating” to “10”. Anything between nine and 10 is regarded as “high risk”, while above 10 indicates “extreme … unacceptable” risk, the documents note.

After the incidents, a fix was introduced requiring greater involvement by air traffic controllers in assigning levels to jets flying new standard arrival and departure routes. This led to the risk rating more recently reduced to eight, regarded as “medium”.

However, the risk assessment notes that Hobart Airport, with 2.6 million annual passengers, growing to 4.5m by 2030, remains in “breach” of the one million threshold for an upgrade to capital city-standard airspace.

An independent report commissioned by CASA from Argus Consulting in 2009 recommended Hobart airspace be upgraded to capital city “Class C” to improve safety.

The CASA review was welcomed as long overdue by critics of the new flightpaths, who accuse authorities of delaying the upgrade to avoid expenditure on infrastructure.

“Hobart is the fastest-growing capital city airport in Australia, and it seems absurd that CASA and Airservices still consider it to be regional,” said Joe Holmes, president of the South East Coast Lifestyle Association.

The group, representing residents affected by noise from the new flightpaths, which require longer approaches, believes an upgrade in airspace, including full introduction of radar, will reduce the noise problem.

“Hobart is approaching three million passengers per year, well beyond the threshold of one million where an upgrade from ­regional to capital city status must be considered for safety reasons,” Mr Holmes said.

“It is frightening to learn that following these incidents, CASA rated Hobart Airport as in the highest risk category. And yet Airservices continues to persist with its regional airport model.”

A CASA spokesman said the review was “standard”. The last review, in February 2017, found Hobart’s existing Class D airspace was fit for purpose but recommended a fresh assessment in 48 months, depending on passenger numbers and safety incidents.

Asked whether the review would canvass upgrading Hobart airspace and requiring the use of radar, the spokesman said: “We look at everything and talk to stakeholders.” The review would be finished “this year”.

What are we paying these numpties for -  



MTF...P2