Yesterday, 09:01 PM
The Last Minute Hitch: 17 October 2025
17 October 2025
– Steve Hitchen
The more I explore artificial intelligence the more confusing it is to me, and I do wonder if sub-contracting our thinking is history's greatest expression of laziness. I accept that AI makes things faster and can look in places that we humans wouldn't think to look, but that also opens up results for mistakes that we humans wouldn't be intelligent enough to make. Aviation has to prepare itself for AI despite all that, with the process of certification our key protection against the drivel often spouted from commercial AI. Commercial AI's critical flaw is that it draws information from the internet, which we know contains a mass of erroneous material. It reminds me of an acronym from the embryonic days of business computers: GIGO – Garbage In, Garbage Out. That still applies today; think of what happens when you program your GNSS wrong. Aviation experts are also advocating the power of current technology over AI, pointing out that it has less potential for error than AI does. It's a fair point, but it's also comparing mature technology with developing technology. The AI of 2035 may be something completely different from what we understand today: fewer errors, greater reliability and robust redundancy. We are counting on the process of certification to ensure that, but brave new worlds don't come with tour guides, and at the moment those who will be charged with certifying AI are just as green with the technology as the rest of us.
"..as soon as they saw their way back, they found the road blocked.."
CASR Part 61 has been around for 11 years now, so it really is reasonable for the deadline to expire for converting flight crew licences from CAR 5; there's been plenty of warning and opportunity to get it done. But some people fell through the cracks: pilots who had to give away their flying careers until they had enough disposable income and a station in life that permitted them to pick up their headset again. So many of us have done it; I was away for four years. Because your licence doesn't expire, CASA was probably sending lapsed pilots warnings about converting, but the pilots wouldn't have bothered because at the time they couldn't see a path back to aviation. As soon as they saw their way back, they found the road blocked. Returning pilots–especially PPLs–have always be a key source of custom for many flying schools, and with CASA rebuffing that since the 1 September deadline, FTOs have had to send them away. Fortunately, despite the stern responses, CASA is aware of the problem and is exploring methods of working around the regulations so returning pilots can be accommodated. They're hinting at an exemption (remember how regulation reform was going to get rid of all those?), but could come up with an alternative means of solving the problem. What we can't accept is a situation that forces returning PPLs to start their training all over again. That wasn't the situation before Part 61, and shouldn't be the situation after Part 61. There is always a way to do everything, but I do agree with CASA that we have to be patient whilst they work this out.
The accident involving VH-MSF has served to teach us only one thing: the ATSB doesn't always have the answers. When I first heard of this crash, I, like hundreds of others no doubt, asked why the ballistic parachute didn't recover the situation. We are all still asking that question. ATSB investigators quasi-concluded that it pointed towards pilot incapacitation, but the medical teams found no reason for that. It doesn't mean it didn't happen, only that there is no evidence. When you read through this report and the comments from ATSB Chief Commissioner Angus Mitchell, you can almost hear the frustration in the tone. After two years, they can provide no answers, opening up the issue to continued unfounded speculation. I think all of us would like to know what caused this tragedy, but like many others we have to live with the uncertainty. Most of all, the families of those involved don't get the answers that generally provide a touch of closure.
May your gauges always be in the green,
Hitch
17 October 2025
– Steve Hitchen
The more I explore artificial intelligence the more confusing it is to me, and I do wonder if sub-contracting our thinking is history's greatest expression of laziness. I accept that AI makes things faster and can look in places that we humans wouldn't think to look, but that also opens up results for mistakes that we humans wouldn't be intelligent enough to make. Aviation has to prepare itself for AI despite all that, with the process of certification our key protection against the drivel often spouted from commercial AI. Commercial AI's critical flaw is that it draws information from the internet, which we know contains a mass of erroneous material. It reminds me of an acronym from the embryonic days of business computers: GIGO – Garbage In, Garbage Out. That still applies today; think of what happens when you program your GNSS wrong. Aviation experts are also advocating the power of current technology over AI, pointing out that it has less potential for error than AI does. It's a fair point, but it's also comparing mature technology with developing technology. The AI of 2035 may be something completely different from what we understand today: fewer errors, greater reliability and robust redundancy. We are counting on the process of certification to ensure that, but brave new worlds don't come with tour guides, and at the moment those who will be charged with certifying AI are just as green with the technology as the rest of us.
"..as soon as they saw their way back, they found the road blocked.."
CASR Part 61 has been around for 11 years now, so it really is reasonable for the deadline to expire for converting flight crew licences from CAR 5; there's been plenty of warning and opportunity to get it done. But some people fell through the cracks: pilots who had to give away their flying careers until they had enough disposable income and a station in life that permitted them to pick up their headset again. So many of us have done it; I was away for four years. Because your licence doesn't expire, CASA was probably sending lapsed pilots warnings about converting, but the pilots wouldn't have bothered because at the time they couldn't see a path back to aviation. As soon as they saw their way back, they found the road blocked. Returning pilots–especially PPLs–have always be a key source of custom for many flying schools, and with CASA rebuffing that since the 1 September deadline, FTOs have had to send them away. Fortunately, despite the stern responses, CASA is aware of the problem and is exploring methods of working around the regulations so returning pilots can be accommodated. They're hinting at an exemption (remember how regulation reform was going to get rid of all those?), but could come up with an alternative means of solving the problem. What we can't accept is a situation that forces returning PPLs to start their training all over again. That wasn't the situation before Part 61, and shouldn't be the situation after Part 61. There is always a way to do everything, but I do agree with CASA that we have to be patient whilst they work this out.
The accident involving VH-MSF has served to teach us only one thing: the ATSB doesn't always have the answers. When I first heard of this crash, I, like hundreds of others no doubt, asked why the ballistic parachute didn't recover the situation. We are all still asking that question. ATSB investigators quasi-concluded that it pointed towards pilot incapacitation, but the medical teams found no reason for that. It doesn't mean it didn't happen, only that there is no evidence. When you read through this report and the comments from ATSB Chief Commissioner Angus Mitchell, you can almost hear the frustration in the tone. After two years, they can provide no answers, opening up the issue to continued unfounded speculation. I think all of us would like to know what caused this tragedy, but like many others we have to live with the uncertainty. Most of all, the families of those involved don't get the answers that generally provide a touch of closure.
May your gauges always be in the green,
Hitch