[Peetwo]

AirAsia Crash: Are Regulators Moving Too Slowly On Upset Recovery?

 
..The fruit of Alan's labour is perhaps best highlighted in the exemplary Final Report on QZ8501, completed within a year of the tragic accident and as yet with little criticism...

5 SAFETY RECOMMENDATIONS

While the KNKT acknowledges the safety actions taken by the aircraft operator, there still remain safety issues that need to be considered. The KNKT issues the following Safety Recommendations addressed to:

5.1 Aircraft Operator

1. The KNKT recommends that Indonesia AirAsia to re-emphasize the importance of the Standard Call-Outs in all phases of flight.

2. The KNKT recommends that Indonesia AirAsia to re-emphasize the taking over control procedure in various critical situations of flight.

5.2 Directorate General Civil Aviation


1. The KNKT recommends that the Directorate General Civil Aviation to ensure the implementation of air operators‟ training of flight crew is in accordance with the approved operations manual.

2. The KNKT recommends that the Directorate General Civil Aviation to ensure that air operators under CASR 121 conduct simulator upset recovery training in timely manner.

3. The KNKT recommends that the Directorate General Civil Aviation ensures that air operator maintenance system has the ability to detect and address all repetitive faults appropriately.

4. The KNKT recommends the Directorate General Civil Aviation ensures the Indonesian Civil Aviation Safety Regulations to regulate the duties of the pilot in command as specified by ICAO Annex 6.

5.3 Aircraft Manufacturer

1. The KNKT recommends that Airbus to consider in developing a means for flight crews to effectively manage multiple and repetitive Master Caution alarms to reduce distraction.

2. The KNKT recommends that Airbus to consider and review the FCTM concerning the Standard Call-Outs in all phases of flight.

5.4 United States Federal Aviation Administration and European Aviation Safety Agency

1. The KNKT supports the previous French BEA recommendation (Recommendation FRAN-2015-024) on ensuring that future programs to include initial and recurrent training relating to taking over control of aircraft equipped with non-coupled control stick.

2. The KNKT recommend expediting the implementation of mandatory for upset recovery training earlier than 2019.

While on the Indonesian aviation safety SSP, on another strange parallel irony, 10 days before the NTSC release of the QZ8501 Final Report, I intercepted this informative article from the Jakarta Post -  Policy-making in aviation needs to involve industry players :

Indonesia’s intention of becoming a member of the UN International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) council may backfire if the government implements regulations without considering their impacts on flight-industry players. Air Law Community chairman Andre Rahadian said in a discussion on Thursday that several regulations imposed by the government aimed to improve flight safety and security had burdened airlines.

“Regulations should consider the airlines, especially in terms of their businesses continuity,” he said, adding that some regulations had prevented airlines from making achievements while already being affected by the slowing global economy.

Andre highlighted several regulations that weighed in airlines’ costs, such as a minimum paid-up capital requirement and minimum fleet age. He expressed concern that a regulation obligating airlines to deposit paid-up capital of Rp 500 billion (US$36.57 million) in the form of fresh funds and/or capital goods would only increase costs.

He said only two airlines in the country owned such capitalization, leaving others to struggle to meet the requirement in three-years time. The Transportation Ministry introduced earlier this year the minimum capital regulation in response to a major plane accident. The ministry was of the opinion that the accident occurred on account of improper maintenance as a result of the airline’s insufficient capitalization.

Andre said that by involving industry players in the regulation-making process, the government would be able to measure the possible impact of the proposed regulation.

“This can also ensure legal certainty as chances to revise the regulation will be smaller,” he said. The government aims to become a ICAO council member for the 2016-2019 period to introduce Indonesian interests in the organization’s policies. To support the objective, the government must improve flight safety to meet the ICAO requirements.

The move is in line with the ministry’s commitment to focus on transportation safety next year, as it plans to allocate 20 percent of its Rp 48.5 trillion ($3.57 billion) budget in the 2016 state budget to improve safety in air, land, sea and rail transportation.

Coordinating Maritime Affairs Minister Rizal Ramli said on Thursday that the government had asked the Australian government to support Indonesia in its efforts to become a council member. “I assisted in talks with the Australian government to convince Australia and other countries support us,” he said as quoted by kompas.com. The ministry claimed earlier this month that it had implemented corrective recommendations from the ICAO and the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in its efforts to become a council member.

The ministry’s director for air transportation, Muzaffar Ismail, said the corrective actions, which were in line with recommendations from the ICAO, were 96.2 percent complete. The ICAO officials will carry out an evaluation and conduct an inspection this year to follow up and validate the adjustments.

Rizal stated that the large size of Indonesia’s airline business encouraged such an effort.

Data from the ministry said that the country’s airlines had flown around 87 million passengers last year. It aims to fly around 162 million people by 2019. To support the growth, the ministry plans to build 62 new airports by 2030, adding to the existing 237.

  
 Although the findings of the QZ8501 final report could be seen as a set back for the stated Indonesian effort above, it should also be recognised that the NTSC have proven their effectiveness as a properly independent & compliant State AAI (Annex 13). This integrity & independence is fundamental to the implementation of a proper ICAO Annex 19 SSP. Sadly the same cannot be said for our State AAI, the currently much maligned ATSB...    

AIOS strikes again?? - GFT catches disease.  

With the above Indonesian/QZ8501 related posts in mind, yesterday Geoffrey-I Qantas-Thomas (reference SMH article: Indonesian airlines rank lowest in world for safety)
made this (IMO) defamatory comment:

"Aviation is critical to the economic development of Indonesia yet the government appears unwilling or incapable of meeting its international obligations by upgrading its oversight of its airline industry," he said.

GFT have you been living under a rock? You are truly ill informed if you believe that regulatory oversight has anything remotely to do with the excellent safety record of your beloved QF. It is Qantas that make CASA look good, just look at this post if you don't believe me - AAI in a parallel universe - or this quote by Ben Sandilands (from the Planetalking featured article in that post):

Both incidents are grounds for an urgent inquiry into the fitness of Jetstar to continue to hold an air operator certificate, and the appointment of an independent audit into the capacity of CASA to discharge its obligations to maintain air safety standards in this country.

Indonesia may be struggling to administer effective regulatory oversight but at least they have a truly independent State AAI not intimidated (without fear nor favour) to deliver quality investigation reports like the excellent QZ8501 Final Report.

MTF..P2