[Peetwo]

CASA FUBAR: Regulatory oversight of our National Aerial Firefighting capability?? -     

To begin our tale of intrigue and passing strange coincidences, let us first set the scene to the beginning of 2020 just after the worst of the 2019-20 bushfires and in the lead up to the 'Royal Commission into National Natural Disaster Arrangements' - via the other Aunty's YouTube channel: 

74,435 views  Jan 17, 2020

Despite early warnings of a catastrophic fire season, authorities are still scrambling to get extra water bombing aircraft to Australia. Four jet water bombers called up by the Prime Minister are stuck overseas, unable to fly because of tornadoes and volcanic ash.

Smaller water-scooping planes are grounded in Canada, iced in for the winter.

Some firefighters argue that extra aerial support could have made a big difference earlier in this bushfire disaster, and that Australia should buy its own water bombing fleet rather than leasing aircraft from overseas.

Statement from a Government spokesperson: https://www.documentcloud.org/documen...

Ok...so let's kick the timeline off as we know it so far...

At the beginning of 2020 ( IE during the Black Summer bushfires) the Morrison Government was under extreme pressure  to address the highlighted shortfalls (ABC article above) in our National Aerial Firefighting capability.

Some of the timeline of political and bureaucratic pressure this created within Aviation House was reported on within the regulator's 2019-20 Annual Report:

     Urgent approvals for firefighting aircraft

On 4 January 2020, as Australia grappled with a devastating bushfire season, the Prime Minister announced that the Government was preparing to lease additional waterbombing aircraft for the states and territories to deploy in firefighting efforts.

The additional units would comprise two long-range fixed-wing aircraft (DC-10s) with 36,000 litres capacity, and two medium-range fixed-wing large air tankers with 11,000 litres capacity.

From 5 January, under the coordination of the Southern Region office, CASA teams across the country worked together to provide urgent approvals for the firefighting aircraft.

Once the operators of the aircraft had been confirmed, CASA commenced preparations for the entry control process. This involved providing an air operator certificate variation for AGAIR Pty Ltd, to add two DC-10s, and an air operator certificate renewal for Erickson Aero Tankers Australia LLC, to include up to five DC-9-87 aircraft. CASA concurrently processed applications for the addition of a C525 Citation and a B200 King Air aircraft to be flown by specialist pilots from the United States.

Civil Aviation Act 1988 section 28A agreements with the United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) were completed within 48 hours. These agreements are formalised jurisdictional arrangements for maintenance and flying operations.

Other authorisations issued or continued included air operator certificates for two operators, Civil Aviation Safety Regulations (CASR) Part 137 exemptions for the use of transport category aircraft in aerial application operations, exemptions from licensing requirements of CASR Part 61 for FAA pilots, chief pilot approvals, and flight check system approvals for the DC-9 and DC-10 aircraft.

CASA also processed training and checking approvals, for three type specialists for the DC-10 to support the AGAIR chief pilot responsibilities, and certificates of validation for FAA-licensed pilots to operate the Australian (lead plane) aircraft.

The last permissions were issued as the aircraft began their transit from the United States on 16 January.

CASA had handled a similar high-priority task in November 2019, when the first DC-10 air tanker was requested by the New South Wales Rural Fire Service. The aircraft authorisations, including the FAA agreement, were in place within five working days.

CASA actively supported aerial firefighting efforts across the country in the summer of 2019–20. It assessed and approved 19 operators to use 58 foreign aircraft in Australia including two DC-9s and two DC-10s, two B737 air tankers, a Black Hawk and a Russian Kazan MIL-8 helicopter.

The ability to work directly across the various divisions within CASA resulted in huge efficiencies in communication and workflow, despite the active workload demands each day.

     
With that in mind, next significant event on our timeline was the tragic crash of the Coulson C130 near Peak View, New South Wales, on 23 January 2020:

Despite the serious safety issues and deficiencies discovered in the course of the ATSB accident investigation - see HERE - the CASA Executive Management (which included at the time Graeme Crawford, former Group Executive Manager Aviation and former Regulatory Oversight Executive Manager, Craig Martin) swayed to political pressure to award a complex Australian AOC to Coulson Aviation in world record time for our regulator - here is the current version of the CAA AAOC:



Still trying to discover the exact date the AAOC was issued but from the following links/references it would have to have been in the tail end of 2020- via Airmed & Rescue: https://www.airmedandrescue.com/sites/de...k=TmJ2MvFf

Coulson Aviation has officially welcomed two new pilots to its team

Nathan Soster from Mittagong, NSW is the company’s new Chief Rotary Wing Pilot and Martyn Heyne from Sunbury, Victoria is the new Chief Fixed-Wing Pilot.

Nathan joins Coulson Aviation with an extensive 20-year career in aviation as a pilot mostly in the utility and airwork sector with widespread knowledge in aviation land management tasks such as prescribed and wildland firefighting, longline experience, and even in the past, time as a mechanical engineer. Martyn joins the company with over 30 years of experience in aviation, from flight instructor to training captain, fleet manager, auditing air operators and an extensive career as first officer and captain with several commercial airlines.

Interesting fact is that Heyne only lasted 7 months at CAA - extract from Linkedin:

Chief Pilot / Head of Training and Checking
RFS - NSW · Full-time
May 2020 - Nov 2020 · 7 mos
Richmond, NSW

Project management for AOC introduction for B737 and C560 aircraft. Completed Check and Training Manual as well as developed training programs and standards and benchmark development

Note: It is bizarre that MH does not even acknowledge that he was employed by Coulson...

In the context of the regulator issuing the CAA AOC in world record time, it should also be remembered that in the course of 2020 CASA put forward their draft CASR Part 138 MOS for consultation. This was the former 4As CEO Phil Hurst's take on that proposed legislation: https://aaaa.org.au/?mdocs-file=1233

AAAA Overall Response to the Part 138 MOS

AAAA completely rejects the Part 138 MOS and the existing regulations as unfit for
purpose.

The proposed MOS is particularly rejected as unworkable, costly, and a severe
regulatory overreach that is clearly additional significant regulation by stealth. It is
overly complex and seeks to micro-manage businesses and risk management
processes while ignoring existing risk controls and obviously simpler approaches.

The MOS and the regulations maintain a cool detachment from safety and instead
focus on byzantine approaches to limiting the ability of aviation companies to
manage themselves, their staff and their risks.

It is not clear what ‘problems’ CASA seeks to remedy with this detailed, complex and
highly prescriptive approach that creates a number of new requirements that are not
directly relevant to the safe operation of the aircraft or the conduct of the operation.

The current relatively simple system has not resulted in any upswing of accidents
that would warrant such a draconian regulatory response.

This is a clear case of regulatory overreach, prescription versus outcome and a lack
of understanding of the operation and the context.

As we all now know, despite the protestations of Alphabet associations like the 4As, the CASR Part 138 MOS was officially promulgated on the 29 October 2020 with little to no change...

In somewhat of a coincidence the day before the part 138 MOS was tabled the Bush Fire RC Commissioner Chair (soon to be CASA Board Chair) presented the RC report to the GG:

The Royal Commission into National Natural Disaster Arrangements Report

The Royal Commission into National Natural Disaster Arrangements has concluded.

Commission Chair, Air Chief Marshal Mark Binskin AC (Retd) presented the Royal Commission’s report to the Governor‑General on Wednesday, 28 October 2020.

The report was tabled in Parliament on Friday, 30 October, 2020.

The Royal Commission was formally established on 20 February 2020 when the Governor-General, His Excellency General the Honourable David Hurley AC DSC (Retd) issued Letters Patent formally appointing the Royal Commission and outlining the terms of reference for its inquiry.

     
In particular I refer to this recommendation:

Recommendation 8.1 A sovereign aerial firefighting capability 223

Australian, state and territory governments should develop an Australian-based and registered national aerial firefighting capability, to be tasked according to greatest national need. This capability should include:
(1) a modest, very large air tanker/large air tanker, and Type-1 helicopter capability, including supporting infrastructure, aircrew and aviation support personnel, and
(2) any other aerial firefighting capabilities (eg Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR), line-scanning, transport, and logistics) that would benefit from a nationally coordinated approach.

This led to Senator Sic-em-Rex Patrick making several media appearances and this presentation to the Senate on this issue:

Now ffwd to the middle of 2021 when CAA employed a Quality Manager and Lead auditor to support the CASA issued AOC: https://coulsonaviation.com.au/profile-quality-manager/ 

Sam is there to provide guidance to Coulson Aviation Australia team members in CAMO and AMO on compliance issues, regulatory clarification and regulatory variations and it’s an important role.

Importantly, he also provides the CEO as the Accountable Manager with assurance of compliant operations within in CASA regulatory framework, regulations and company requirements of the Air Operators Certificate (AOC) by delivering risk and evidence-based recommendations and observations to inform improvement actions.

“It gives me great pleasure working along with the team when I can help guide them to comply with CASA, and meet regulatory and legislative requirements.” 

  
In the meantime CAA appointed another fixed wing CP: https://coulsonaviation.com.au/new-fixed...ief-pilot/

Coulson Aviation Australia is pleased to announce Stuart as the organisation’s new Chief Pilot Fixed Wing.

Stuart is an experienced senior flight operations manager and B737 Flight Examiner/Instructor. Safety focused with an extensive regulatory experience and team building history, Stuart has almost two decades of experience in B737 domestic and international line operations including training and assessment of Captains and First Officers for Virgin Australia Airlines.

Stuart joins Chief Pilot Rotary Wing Nathan, who has been involved with Coulson Aviation Australia since mid 2020.

Nathan has a 20-year career in aviation behind him, including as a charter, remote area and line pilot with a background in fire operations and land management. His experience covers mechanical engineering and the introduction of technology improvements, as well as Head of Airworthiness with NSW National parks and Wildlife and most recently, as Rotary Wing Fleet Manager with Careflight.

Coulson Aviation Australia supports the New South Wales Rural Fire Service in operating the 737 FIRELINER, two Bell 412 helicopters and Cessna Citations on its behalf. Coulson Aviation Australia also supports Australian States as a subsidiary of Coulson Aviation in the provision of large aircraft and experienced team members seasonally.

Coulson Aviation Australia CEO Chris Smallhorn said the senior positions of Chief Pilot had attracted intense interest in the industry, and Stuart was a welcome addition to the organisation’s experienced team.

Chris said Coulson Aviation Australia had established approximately 35 roles in the past eight months. With the rest of the team members already in place, the positions of Chief Pilot will play an integral role in further establishing and growing the Australian-based organisation.

“Our key partner is the NSW RFS, as well as supporting the equivalent organisations in States including Victoria, Western Australia and New South Wales with the larger capacity aircraft,” Chris said.

“We’re very focussed on supporting and helping to build the Australian aviation industry and we’re proud of being able to create Australian jobs towards that aim.”

 
Still can't work out whether 'Stewie' is still there but my gut feeling is maybe not??

Item next was occurring at Fort Fumble where Crawford and Martin had fallen under a cloud of internal ructions which ultimately led to them both being let loose from the (now maternal) Big-Regulator Oz Aviation world.

In the interim period apparently this dude was (from at least July 2021) the 'Acting' Reg Oversight Ex Manager - MTF on this dude...

Consequently Pup_Spence appointed (NFI) former Stakeholder Ex Manager Rob Walker to the Regulatory Oversight Ex manager role...UDB! 

Less than 3 weeks into his new role Walker ticked and flicked a fairly significant legislative exemption to CAA - WTD??



P2 OBS: Coincidentally, three days after Walker issued that exemption to CAA, Pup_Spence (with equally NFI) issued a copied and pasted version of that exemption to another foreign aerial fire fighting operator Neptune Aviation Services: https://www.casa.gov.au/fixed-wing-firef...e-aviation

Which brings me to 2022...

From the CAA media release files: https://coulsonaviation.com.au/new-chief...australia/

“A key focus for Craig will be supporting the needs of NSW Rural Fire Service, and ensuring the expansion of our organisation continues to meet the regulatory and safety outcomes required of operators authorised by CASA to develop national aerial firefighting capability.

“This will be a major turning point for sovereign aerial firefighting capability, and will provide a strong foundation on which to build an expanding fleet of Australian owned and operated rotary and fixed-wing aerial firefighting assets.”

Craig said he was pleased to be joining Coulson Aviation Australia given the history of significant support provided by Coulson Aviation to Australia over the last 20 years.
“The commitment of Coulson Aviation to a long-term strategy to build Australia’s sovereign aerial firefighting capability was a great motivator for me in deciding to join the Coulson team,” he said.

And then not long after this dude (refer above) was appointed to the position of Ex Manager FLT OPS: https://coulsonaviation.com.au/new-execu...australia/\

Since that time we have had the 737 LAT crash in WA - see HERE for ATSB prelim - and the consequential subsequent CAA demotion of CM - see HERE - with rumours indicating he is currently looking for future employment...  

MTF...P2