[P7_TOM]

Stumbled over a couple of very good articles, quite by accident on line from ‘Australian Aviation’. For example – Gliding Club troubles.
 
AA – “However, soaring rent prices could soon see them shuttered. Sydney Metro Airports have proposed increases of 225 per cent and 550 per cent, respectively, for the two clubs, which, according to SCGC club president Justin Couch, is “untenable”.
 
There is some ‘good stuff’ published in the mag. If you have a spare moment, have a browse.

[thorn bird]

Camden???...a new housing estate perhaps, or an industrial estate in the offering?

Large donations to the political elite should see a bipartisan vote to circumvent the Lease,
but then since when have any of them adhered to it anyway.

Mc bank got all the money back they spent buying the three airports by selling
Hoxten, needed a bit of film flam to dodgey the titles but.
Be interesting to see how much Camden is worth to the development sharks.

[Peetwo]

Via Oz Aviation - :

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General Aviation


CESSNA PILOT FELL ASLEEP MID-AIR FOR 40 MINUTES
written by Adam Thorn | May 26, 2021



A Cessna 208B Caravan pilot fell asleep mid-air for 40 minutes due to “inadequate sleep the night before” and hypoxia triggered by the aircraft’s oxygen system.

An extraordinary ATSB investigation has even revealed a separate Royal Flying Doctor Service King Air was tasked with trying to wake the pilot up by approaching close and dipping its wings to trigger the first aircraft’s collision alert system.

The incident took place on 2 July 2020 as the pilot was conducting a ferry flight from Cairns, Queensland to Redcliffe.



The ATSB’s acting transport safety director, Kerri Hughes, said the hypoxia alone was unlikely to have solely caused the incident, which was due to a combination of “fatigue and mild hypoxia, possibly exacerbated by dehydration and diet”.



The investigation reveals how the pilot was conducting a ferry flight of a Cessna 208B Caravan aircraft from Cairns, Queensland to Redcliffe on the afternoon of 2 July 2020.



While cruising at 10,000 feet the pilot encountered unforecast icing conditions and poor visibility due to cloud and climbed to 11,000 feet and began using the aircraft’s supplemental oxygen system intermittently. (Pilots are required to continuously use supplemental oxygen when flying unpressurised aircraft, such as the Caravan, when flying above 10,000 feet.)



When the aircraft was about 53 km west-north-west of Sunshine Coast Airport, air traffic control (ATC) unsuccessfully attempted to contact the pilot regarding their planned descent into Redcliffe, the investigation notes.



Following repeated calls to the pilot, ATC enlisted the assistance of pilots in nearby aircraft to contact the Caravan pilot, who was seen to overfly Redcliffe and track towards Brisbane.



The pilot of a Royal Flying Doctor Service Beechcraft B200 King Air aircraft departing Brisbane was asked by ATC to intercept and contact the Caravan pilot, but their initial efforts were unsuccessful. The King Air pilot then dipped their wings and approached the Cessna in an attempt to trigger its traffic alert and collision system (TCAS), but the pilot remained unresponsive.



At 5:35 pm, after 40 minutes without contact and when the aircraft was about 111 km south-south-east of the intended destination, the pilot woke and ATC communications were re-established.



Air traffic control reported that the pilot sounded ‘groggy’ and ‘not really with it’ upon first contact and took a few minutes before slowly commencing the descent to 8,000 ft.



Upon changing frequencies, ATC instructed the pilot to land at Gold Coast Airport. The pilot accepted the instruction at first, but then later advised that they would prefer to continue to Redcliffe instead. Air traffic control reiterated that, given the situation it would be better for the pilot to land at the Gold Coast as there was runway lighting and emergency services available.



The pilot accepted the instruction and tracked to the Gold Coast, while the B200 pilot continued to follow and monitor the aircraft. Air traffic control reported that the pilot continued to sound ‘groggy’, but gradually improved on approach to land.



The aircraft was landed safely at 18:01pm and the pilot was attended to by the Gold Coast aircraft rescue and firefighting officers and the aerodrome safety officer. The officers conducted a visual observation of the pilot.



The pilot, who reported falling asleep, declined first aid and an ambulance.



“The ATSB found that the pilot was likely experiencing a level of fatigue due to inadequate sleep the night before and leading up to the incident,” Hughes said.



“Further, operating at 11,000 feet with intermittent use of supplemental oxygen likely resulted in the pilot experiencing mild hypoxia. This likely exacerbated the pilot’s existing fatigue and contributed to the pilot falling asleep.”

VH-DQP flight path and distance from Redcliffe Airport

Ms Hughes said most people generally underestimate their level of fatigue and tend to overestimate their abilities.



“This incident emphasises the importance of pilots monitoring their own health and wellbeing, to ensure that they are well-rested and adequately nourished, especially when conducting single pilot operations.”


Ms Hughes said the investigation carefully considered the role of hypoxia in the incident.


“Although a common symptom of hypoxia is loss of consciousness, it is not typical for someone experiencing hypoxia to regain consciousness, while still operating at the same altitude and without additional oxygen,” she said.



“Therefore, from the information obtained by a medical specialist engaged by the ATSB and from studies conducted on mild hypoxia at moderate altitudes, the ATSB determined that it was unlikely that the pilot had lost consciousness solely due to mild hypoxia.



“Rather, the pilot had fallen asleep likely due to a combination of fatigue and mild hypoxia, possibly exacerbated by dehydration and diet.”

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 Plus:

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General Aviation

DAMAGED FUEL GAUGE LED TO CESSNA LANDING ON HIGHWAY
written by Adam Thorn | May 27, 2021

VH-LBY after it landed on the Great Northern Highway in WA

An inaccurate fuel gauge led to a Cessna 441 Conquest being forced to land on the Great Northern Highway in Western Australia’s Kimberley region in March 2018.

An ATSB investigation into the incident revealed undetected water contamination in the tanks likely led to the pilot believing the aircraft had enough fuel to reach its destination in Broome, when in reality it was running on empty.

The pilot and nine passengers on board all escaped uninjured.

The Skippers Aviation Cessna 441 Conquest, VH-LBY, had departed Fitzroy Crossing for Broome in Western Australia during the afternoon of 2 March 2018 on the last sector of a four-sector scheduled passenger flight.

During descent, the FUEL LEVEL LOW annunciators illuminated, and the pilot observed that both fuel quantity gauges indicated sufficient fuel remaining and continued flying towards Broome.

Subsequently the right engine began surging, followed by similar surging from the left engine. The right engine then lost power and the pilot conducted the engine failure checklist.

The pilot declared a MAYDAY and advised air traffic control that, as the left engine was still operating, the aircraft would be able to reach Broome. However, the left engine also lost power and both engines were unable to be restarted.

With both engines not providing power, the pilot assessed that the aircraft would not reach Broome and they tracked to the south towards the Great Northern Highway in the vicinity of Roebuck Plains. The pilot landed the aircraft safely on the highway approximately 21 nautical miles east-south-east of Broome.


The ATSB’s director of transport safety, Dr Mike Walker, said undetected water contamination in the fuel tanks, possibly due to condensation forming in the close-to-empty fuel tanks while the aircraft was sitting in humid conditions following maintenance, resulted in the aircraft’s fuel quantity gauges significantly overreading the level of fuel on board.



The ATSB investigation was unable to determine how the water contamination was not detected despite different pilots conducting fuel quality checks.



“Accurate fuel management is a critical aspect of safe flight operations and it is important to utilise all available means in order to gain the highest assurance that fuel quantity measurement is accurate,” said Dr Walker.



“It is essential that a reliable fuel quantity cross-check is adopted, utilising at least two independent methods and a conservative approach.”





The investigation report notes that although the pilot routinely compared indicated versus calculated fuel quantities, and indicated versus flight-planned fuel quantities, the pilot did not routinely conduct two other methods stated in the operator’s procedures for cross-checking fuel quantity gauge indications (the use of the fuel totaliser, and prior to engine shutdown after a flight, switching the fuel boost pumps off and checking whether either of the X-FER PUMP FAIL annunciators would illuminate).



“Although the operator had specified multiple methods of cross-checking fuel quantity gauge indications for its Cessna Conquest fleet, there were limitations in the design, definition and/or application of these methods,” Dr Walker said.



The primary method used (indicated versus calculated fuel) was self-referencing in nature, and not able to detect gradual changes in the reliability of fuel quantity gauge indications.



The operator’s pilots also did not record (and were not required to record) sufficient information on flight logs to enable trends or patterns in fuel quantity gauge indications to be effectively identified, and pilots did not routinely cross-check information from fuel quantity gauge indications with information from the independent fuel totaliser.



The FUEL LEVEL LOW annunciators likely illuminated approximately 30 minutes before the fuel was exhausted in each tank, and when the aircraft was still within range of suitable alternative airports, the investigation notes.



“Pilots are required to fully understand the functionality of the low fuel warning system on their aircraft and treat any warning annunciations as being accurate unless there is overwhelming evidence otherwise,” said Dr Walker.


Following the incident, the operator increased the frequency of fuel quantity comparison checks to a known quantity, specified clearer requirements for determining discrepancies when using fuel totaliser figures, implemented additional fuel management record keeping, and increased the focus on fuel management procedures during training.

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Finally an interesting Podcast interview and article with Rex' Deputy Chair John Sharp...  
 

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‘WIZARD’ JOYCE IS FAILING HIS EMPLOYEES, SAYS REX’S SHARP
written by Adam Thorn | May 26, 2021

John Sharp (centre) welcomes the inaugural Adelaide-Melbourne flight.

Rex deputy chairman John Sharp has told the Australian Aviation Podcast that Qantas CEO Alan Joyce sees himself as a “wizard” but is actually failing his staff, customers and shareholders.

“Alan is such a hypocrite. It’s amazing that he can look at himself in the mirror some mornings,” said Sharp.

The Australia-based head of Rex was speaking on Friday ahead of the show’s release this week, where he will for the first time talk about the airline’s extraordinary last 12 months that saw it transition from COVID-induced crisis to launching domestic services.

The comments follow a long-running war of words between the pair, which has previously seen Joyce mock Rex’s “empty aircraft” and Sharp argue that his rival is “technically insolvent”.

On the show, Sharp was asked about the argument between the airlines, which have for months been launching services to destinations previously exclusive to each other.

“Qantas has got this arrogant approach that we’re too big to fail and that we’re an icon,” said Sharp. “We play We Still Call Australia Home in the cabin to remind people that we’re the Australian airline. They call themselves a national carrier, but they’ve been privatised. They’re this big bully.”

Sharp said Qantas was only rivalling Rex on smaller routes so it could remove Rex and then monopolise them for itself.

When asked if Rex was hypocritical for criticising Qantas while also launching new capital city services, Sharp conceded it was a “good argument” but there were crucial differences between the circumstances.

“Competition is competition and don’t we want it? Of course we do,” he said.

However, he argued the difference was that the Golden Triangle between Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane was comparable to the most lucrative route in the world, between London and New York, but had far less competitors.

“Melbourne to Sydney has only two airlines, Qantas and Virgin, and the prices are high. And they’re much higher than they should be,” said Sharp.

“And it’s for that reason that people argue that Sydney Melbourne route is the most profitable airline written in the world. Qantas and Virgin have got it.”

He argued the route had “plenty of capacity” to absorb more competition but the smaller Rex routes barely have enough demand to justify one airline.

“Their real purpose is to harm us for having the temerity to go into a market, which has, in the case of Sydney to Melbourne, more than 10 million passengers a year in pre-COVID times.”

Qantas has long disputed Rex’s claims, previously arguing that “Unlike Rex, we welcome competition on the routes we fly.”

The row between the two airlines began in February when Rex accused Qantas of uncompetitive behaviour by launching rival services on its previously exclusive routes such Melbourne–Merimbula and Melbourne to Wagga Wagga.

Despite the argument, the flag carrier ploughed on, and Rex itself continued with its own plan to launch capital city routes.

“Rex’s idea of competition is that it’s something that happens to other people, because they believe they have an enshrined right to be the only carrier on some regional routes,” Qantas said.

Rex’s capital city expansion has included flights to Canberra, Gold Coast and Adelaide, as well as Sydney and Melbourne.

Last month, Joyce and Sharp exchanged withering newspaper columns about each other in the AFR.

“It’s a well-known fact in the industry that Rex has now chalked up another dubious honour,” wrote Joyce. “It has presided over the worst launch of a new jet airline in Australia’s aviation history, with empty aircraft and announced routes that have never been flown.”

It came after Sharp wrote that Joyce was a hypocrite for going “cap in hand” to the federal government for help.
“Qantas is now so desperate that it is willing to risk universal ridicule just to get its hands on more cash at any cost,” he wrote.

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MTF...P2 

[Peetwo]

Courtesy Australian Aviation:

Podcast: Angela Garvey talks her GA mental health survey

written by Jessa Sargento | October 17, 2024




Angela Garvey recently won the Excellence Award at our Australian Aviation Summit, the title we grant to the overall winner from our nine individual categories.

However, she is best known for ‘Navigating Aviation’, a confidential counselling and support service she started following a fatal plane crash in her skydiving business in 2006.

More recently, she launched a mental health survey aimed at current and former employees working in the general aviation sector.


Here, she speaks to host Adam Thorn at this week’s Safeskies Conference in Canberra.

You can listen to the show on your device by clicking here. 

Plus via LinkedIn:

GROUNDBREAKING GENERAL AVIATION INDUSTRY SURVEY LAUNCHES IN AUSTRALIA - MEDIA RELEASE - 3rd October 2024


Angela Garvey - Navigating Aviation

Founder, Director of Navigating Aviation, Specialist Aviation Counsellor, Commercial Pilot, Airshow Display Pilot.
October 3, 2024

Navigating Aviation, in partnership with Bastion Insights, is launching a first-of-its-kind national survey this week to better understand the industry culture and mental health and wellbeing of workers in the general aviation industry.

The ‘National General Aviation Culture and Wellbeing Survey’ will be open to the entire Australian general aviation industry over the next four weeks, targeting both current and former workers across all sectors of the industry.

Angela Garvey, Director and Founder of Navigating Aviation, is a specialist aviation counsellor and commercial pilot with over 35 years of experience and also winner of two awards at this year’s Australian Aviation Awards - Female Aviation Leader of the Year (Small Business) and the overall Excellence Award.

She said that the survey is vital for gaining insights into the culture of the industry, helping to ensure the future health and wellbeing of aviation workers, students, and apprentices - and that it is long overdue.

“It’s not only about ensuring appropriate and accessible support following serious events like an aircraft incident, it also involves addressing the unique psychosocial hazards of the aviation industry,” Ms Garvey said.

“This can be achieved by equipping businesses and management to better recognise and manage these psychosocial hazards, much like a safety management system, and in accordance with their obligations under the Workplace Health and Safety Act.”

Ms Garvey also said this is not just another survey, but a call to action to benefit the entire industry.

One of the goals of gaining further insights into the industry through the survey is to ensure that aviation workers have access to the support and resources they need throughout their careers and can utilise these without fear of judgment or repercussions from either employers or regulatory bodies.

This includes all workers whether they are students, pilots, engineers, apprentices, support crew or business owners.
The survey is being conducted as part of the Women in The Aviation Industry Initiative, which was established in 2019 and is administered by the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts. The initiative supports a range of activities to enhance visibility and awareness of the sector among women and girls.

In addition, the survey is supported by the General Aviation Advisory Network (GAAN) which provides advice to the Minister for Infrastructure and Transport on matters affecting the General Aviation (GA) sector.

The GAAN promotes policies that support a strong, sustainable and effective general aviation sector, encourages the uplift of the sector’s image and to make it an employer of choice.

The GAAN Chair, Andrew Andersen, acknowledges that this worthwhile research is a first in the aviation industry and the importance of the findings that it will provide.

“This research would provide valuable data about the mental health and wellbeing of workers in the general aviation sector,” Mr Andersen said.

“For these reasons, the GAAN supports the survey and encourages the participation of everyone eligible to respond.”
Findings from the study will be publicly available at the end of 2024 and will be used by several stakeholders to advocate for policy reform and break down stigmas associated with mental health and diversity in the aviation sector.

CLICK HERE TO COMPLETE THE SURVEY

-ENDS-

MTF...P2