[thorn bird]

Now, now guys,

"I dream a dream"(Les Miserables)

We've all been kicked in the cobblers so much it gets increasingly hard not to take a protective stance, you know the one, hands crossed over the family jewels, every time there's another epiphany from Fort Fumble.

Sooo, the dream???....just a whisper mind you, but it caresses the ears like a lovers feather.

There will be a CAsA board meeting shortly, in, of all places "Perth", a few might wonder why? but then given the Hawke in charge, think? travel,5 star hotels, travel allowances etc.

50 grand of taxpayers money is Chicken Sh..t.!!

Then here comes the changing of the guard!!!

Whisper is the next board meeting after that will be in?????

Not anywhere in the land down under.

If the whisper is correct, in the land of the long white cloud.

There the new board can be briefed and see for themselves first hand, what "Proper" regulation can do for an industry.

Where aviation is now the second biggest contributor to their GDP.

Add in representatives of the pacific nations that have adopted NZ regulations and more to the point WHY?

Then of course the question? why they have NOT adopted Australia's world leading, state of the art, ICAO anointed bullsh.t, and one gets a little shiver down the spine.

Could it be that finally after so much angst and grief the message is about to be delivered loud and clear?

The aviation industry in Australia is in a regulatory mess, a mess so bad that its very survival is at stake.

Mr. Miniscule, the balls in your court.

At your age, balls are irrelevant, no need to adopt a protective stance, hey, perfect opportunity to kick your predecessor in the cobblers.

Go on, you know you want to!

[Peetwo]

I thought it had gone a bit quiet from my Monday's post #33 - 'The Trough Runneth over...   However apparently that was just the opening salvo & Dick Smith & Co was just gathering together reinforcements...

Courtesy of Friday's the Oz - Oh Dear!

Angus Houston, we have a problem with air traffic control  

• by: EAN HIGGINS
  
• From: The Australian
  
• June 19, 2015 12:00AM
  

Reporter
Sydney




Ballina Byron Gateway Airport manager Neil Weatherson would like to have radio operators at his airport; he thinks firefighters could do the job. Picture: Lyndon Mechielsen Source: News Corp Australia




Ballina airport, in northern NSW, handles big volumes of tourist traffic but still lacks local air traffic control. Source: Supplied




Airspace row. Source: TheAustralian




Flying without a voice. Source: TheAustralian

The call came through to Dick Smith from the Chief of Air Force’s office: would Mr Smith be available to come down to Canberra to meet with Angus Houston? He could park his car in the air marshal’s own space.  

In his Sydney office, Smith was chuffed. The businessman and aviator held Houston in high regard, and they had both been championing big reforms to the nation’s air traffic control system, to adopt the well-proven model employed in the US, where they had both flown extensively.

It was April 8, 2002, when Smith arrived at the Russell offices.

“I was met by people all in uniform and end up in this big office Houston had overlooking Canberra,” Smith tells The Australian.

At the back of his mind was that the then Coalition government, which had announced the move to the US-style National Airspace System, was soon to announce an implementation group to make it happen.

Smith, who had enormous practical aviation experience as well as having chaired top aviation bodies, naturally thought he’d be called to be on it.

“Everyone said, ‘You need to be on the implementation team,’ ” Smith says. “I’d gone to Europe, to the US, to Canada, to study the airspace.”

What happened in Houston’s office left Smith first gobsmacked, then angry.

“When I get there, Houston says, ‘Ah, Dick, I have decided it would be better if you were not on the implementation team,’ ” Smith says.

Smith was shocked — he told Houston he strongly believed if he were not directly involved in the implementation, the changes would not come in. Houston told him he was wrong: Defence was totally committed to the airspace changes, and they would go ahead.

A few weeks later then transport minister John Anderson did indeed write to tell Smith he would not be on the implementation group.

Smith says the whole thing was based on vested interests who did not really want change: departmental officials, civilian air traffic controllers and their air force counterparts.

In 2008 Smith wrote an “I told you so” letter pointing out to Houston that the air force chief’s stated belief in 2002 that the NAS system could be introduced without him, Dick Smith, had proved wrong.

“In the end, nothing happens. Absolutely nothing,” Smith says. “They spent millions of dollars, they had all sorts of people involved.”

Smith admits he bears a grudge against Houston over the affair, but says he is upset because of what’s happening, or rather not happening, now.

Since 2011 Houston has been on the board of, and since 2012 chaired, Airservices Australia, the government-owned but industry-funded organisation that runs the nation’s air traffic control system, including firefighters at airports.

In that position, and with his former RAAF colleague Margaret Staib appointed chief executive of Airservices in 2012, Houston could implement elements of the US ­system right now, Smith says.

“He’s the boss, he’s the chairman, he should just say, go ahead and do it,” Smith says.
Documents provided to The Australian by Smith show Houston was, in the early 2000s, thoroughly committed to introducing the US system. In a 2003 letter to Smith, Houston wrote that “Defence remains fully behind the NAS”, and in another to an advisory group that year said it should be consistent with the US system.

But 13 years on, it hasn’t happened and Houston has been ­silent.

While in the US and Canada, air traffic controllers guide commercial aircraft throughout all airspace, whether radar is available or not, Australia still has a piecemeal situation where some areas are designated controlled airspace but others not.

In the uncontrolled airspace, even though the aircraft may still be under radar coverage, national air traffic controllers are not allowed to guide them below 8500 feet, and pilots have to talk to each other on radio to try to maintain separation and avoid smashing into each other.

Another aspect of the US system, which allows regional airports without control towers to use stationed staff such as firefighters to give pilots basic weather and air traffic information via the Unicom radio, has not been introduced.

Civil Aviation Safety Authority rules ban anyone apart from those who have been air traffic controllers within the past 10 years from using the Unicom to provide any but the most basic weather information, and ban any discussion of local air traffic.

Not only do penalties apply to anyone who provides unauthorised traffic and weather information to pilots, but the pilots can be punished for using it.

Soon after The Australian exposed the restrictive rules last month, CASA issued a statement saying it would consider applications to train non-air traffic controllers stationed at airports to man the Unicom to provide pilots with basic local air traffic information and weather, and provide a legal exemption to do so.

Smith says this opening could mean that at regional airports which do not have control towers, but which are big enough to have significant air traffic, firefighters, baggage handlers, check-in staff, or refuellers could be trained to provide pilots with basic local air traffic and weather.

This would appear to provide Houston with just what he said he always wanted: the chance to introduce one part of the US system, by getting some of his 900 firefighters and support staff at “untowered” airports around the nation to man the Unicom.

The idea has been supported by, among others, the manager of Ballina airport on the NSW north coast, Neil Weatherson, who wants to introduce radio operators and regards it as commercially sensible for the 17 firefighters stationed there to do it, rather than hire a new separate crew.

Houston has been on leave overseas and unavailable for comment, Airservices says.
Spokesman Rob Walker says training the firefighters to use the Unicom “is not currently being considered”.

Australian Federation of Air Pilots president David Booth has expressed support for the move.

But according to Smith and others, Airservices does not have the stomach to take on the air traffic controllers union, Civil Air, which has registered its opposition to relinquishing an inch of its monopoly on air traffic information.

An increasing number of aviation industry figures are calling on Houston to take charge and introduce those aspects of the US system that are within his direct control, such as the firefighters becoming radio operators.

While some measures, such as extending controlled airspace wherever reliable radar is available, would also involve CASA, the figures say Houston is in a commanding position to lobby for the changes and make them happen.

Booth, a commercial airline captain, also supports Smith’s proposal to extend controlled airspace, although he notes it would demand more air traffic controllers, and adjustments to rules governing recreational flyers.

“Controlled airspace is the safest environment to fly in because in many cases you are positively separated,” Booth says.

One industry figure calling on Houston to show leadership is Bill Hamilton, an ex-Qantas 747 pilot who represented the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association on various airspace reform panels in the 1990s and 2000s.

“I have a lot of respect for Angus Houston,” Hamilton says. “But as a senior leader with that portfolio, why not use the resources you have to best advantage to minimise the risk?

“I don’t think not doing so is excusable in a safety issue.”

So far Houston has been able to maintain a low profile, and Staib has taken the flak over a range of other controversies at Airservices.

These include a 40 per cent increase in the salary pool and 60 per cent rise in the bonuses pool for senior executives last financial year; suggestions of large travel allowances; and failing to clear proposed capital works, involving tens of millions of dollars, with a Senate committee.

Airservices said changes in the composition of the senior executive group made year-on-year salary and bonus comparison not meaningful, and claimed the rises between 2012-13 and 2013-14 represented an evening-out of historical salary levels, with the average remuneration increase being only 2.25 per cent.

Airservices later admitted the 2.25 per cent covered only salaries, and now says all up, with bonuses, the average rise was 5.2 per cent.

Smith and others, including politicians who have been grilling Airservices officials in Senate estimates hearings over a lack of transparency and accountability, say Houston, as chairman, has to take his share of responsibility.

Airservices’ approach to the media shows little sense of needing to be accountable, with inquiries, even those submitted before 9am, not usually answered by the end of the day and with responses often more akin to platitudes than answers.

The media officers’ responses can, of course, only be as good as their well-salaried bosses want them to be.

Asked if The Australian could speak to a couple of fireys about how they would feel about helping pilots on the radio, spokeswoman Amanda Palmer says: “In terms of interviewing firefighters on station — it is also our policy to not allow our operational staff to comment on non-operational matters.”

Unanswered questions

Apart from the air traffic control issue, Airservices Australia is under scrutiny for an increase in its executive salary pool of more than 40 per cent, a rise in the executive performance bonus pool of 60 per cent, and suggestions some senior executives outside the organisation’s headquarters in Canberra have huge travel allowances.
Here are some questions Airservices has so far not answered:
• What is the breakdown of the salaries, bonuses, paid-out leave and paid-out long-service entitlements, and months worked for each of the 10 senior executives in 2012-13 and the 11 in 2013-14, not mentioning their names or positions?
• Is it correct that there are four senior Airservices executives who are not based in Canberra and who have each accounted for in the order of $90,000 in travel expenses annually, upon which Airservices also has to pay fringe benefits tax?
• Airservices has confirmed chief executive Margaret Staib’s current remuneration, including superannuation, bonuses and the like, is $600,000. Is it correct that when she first took up her position in 2012, her total remuneration on the same basis was about $500,000? If not, what was her starting remuneration?

    
Err...Angus & Wazza...tick..tick..tick..tick..tick

 

MTF...P2

[Gobbledock]

Excellent article Mr Higgins. Excellent post P2! In part;

An increasing number of aviation industry figures are calling on Houston to take charge and introduce those aspects of the US system that are within his direct control, such as the firefighters becoming radio operators.

While some measures, such as extending controlled airspace wherever reliable radar is available, would also involve CASA, the figures say Houston is in a commanding position to lobby for the changes and make them happen.

Houston has been in, and is in, a position to induce change. So far he hasn't, rather he has chosen to do what long term bureaucrats do - remain loyal to their puppet masters regardless of the outcome. Houston is a footstool to parliament. Why do you think he cut OAM Smith out of the loop years ago on ASA issues? He knew that Dick is a go-getter, and go-getters force change, and change causes ripples, and Governments don't like ripples.

ASA is a monopoly and it is a sham that the Execs are are so disgustingly remunerated and fattened with giant bonuses while presiding over a monopoly that has nil competitors. And Houston has conveniently gone silent as he normally does, using holidays or 'no comment' to duck his way out of the spotlight. Gutless!

As for the questions and lack of clarity over Staib's remuneration when she started, all I can say is she makes around $600k in salary and perks, and that excludes her bonus. Herr Russell her predecessor was on around $850k from memory. Either way she is comfortably compensated for holding the top position while her minions such as Hoody do all the real work.

So some may feel that Angus is being sized up for a pair of clay boots, but I'm not so sure. There are many, many questions to be answered about the salary and bonus increases, credit card frauds, identified non-mitigated risks and the giant lack of transparency. And may I add that this has all taken place under Frau Staibs executive appointment as well as Herr Houston's directorship. I still believe Staib along with Hoody are doing better than the Russellites,
but not by much.

TICK TOCK and OINK OINK

[Kharon]

He’d written me a letter;

About a week ago an E-mail turned up on the PAIN service.  Our legal friends had an immediate attack of the nervous Nellies and vapours.  Burn it and consign it to the deepest pit was their advice.  Well, there was much serious discussion, eventually we kept it – in the hold file – just in case any of it could ever be substantiated; or provided to an inquiry under parliamentary privilege.  Should the proposed inquiry proceed, PAIN will assist the writer of the ‘letter’  to provide the information and supporting evidence. 

‘We’ have very seriously considered publishing a severely edited version, for it is indeed a tale which deserves to be investigated and pursued with all the resources and vigour our esteemed AFP have at their disposal.  Should it be proven true in all facets, it reveals not only why Air Services and other associated agencies are not only dysfunctional, but both morally, ethically and possibly criminally corrupt.  Investigation may also explain some of the more creative ‘accounting’ which, seemingly with impunity, is alleged to milk the public purse.  Even if not true, the suspicion must be ruled out, beyond a reasonable doubt, just to quell the stories and restore confidence.

I keep reading this ‘letter’; and the temptation to simply post the edited version is almost irresistible; however, I shall content myself with a potted version, as a placebo, until the proposed inquiry is declared open.  

It is, in the beginning, a very common human tale – married man meets girl, nature takes it’s course.  While this is not cricket, it’s not a crime, not under law and hardly exclusive to our young lovers.  It appears that Ms X was ‘busy’ tending not only her love struck married swain, but had simultaneous other romantic interests a little higher up the slippery pole. 

Still not in the heinous crime league, but unsavoury; things were fine until our erstwhile lovers were caught –In flagrante delicto – during working hours.  Then the unmentionable hit the inevitable.  Not the least of our lusty swains problems were resignation and exposure leading to an ugly domestic scene with the usual consequences, but the offended wife was a ‘big noise’ so, the cover up squad became involved, it all became very, very messy, squalid and terribly ‘hush-hush’  

Then the betrayal that lead to suicide attempts, depression and ill health.  Not only had our swain used his corporate card to buy ‘chocolate and flowers’ for his paramour, but allowed her the use of the same; still all was well, until it became known that ‘he’ had done all the wooing on company money.  The informant? - Oh, none other than his beloved squeeze.  According to legend, the ‘squeeze’ was happily playing footsy under much more important tables, had top cover and fast track promotion chances, which were as happily accepted by the recipient as they were given by yet another love struck swain.

According to ‘the letter’ this was all neatly covered over and hosed down; just a domestic scandal.  But it is in the aftermath that the true damage is visible.  Divorce, suicide, depression, children’s lives disrupted is the least of it.  Corrupt misuse of ‘public’ money, cover up and threats signify but do not highlight the real damage – there are at least three important people who are not performing at the top of their game; this impacts directly on the quality of service provided; add that to the notion that this is, allegedly, not an isolated case and you arrive at the inevitable conclusions.

I hope the proposed inquiry gets rolling and our ‘anonymous’ letter writer stumps up the supporting evidence.  That report will be worth the candle I’ll need to draft it.

Toot toot..

[Gobbledock]

Mmmmm, boy meets girl, girl blows boy, eventually it all turns to shite. Well at least we know it could not have been the Hooded one!!!!!!!

[P7_TOM]

Naughty GD…… …..  Heh heh – Puts an whole new spin on things that go ‘bump’ in the night though, don’t it ?.....

[Gobbledock]

Naughty GD…… ….. Heh heh – Puts an whole new spin on things that go ‘bump’ in the night though, don’t it ?.....

Yes, very naughty. I do wonder if the Hooded one has ever invited Frau Staib to one of his infamous toga parties?

[Kharon]

Posted with no comment, none that I dare publish.  Extract below from the media release = HERE -=  

“Since the ACCC approved the long-term pricing proposal in 2011, Airservices has improved its consultation with industry. However, the ACCC would encourage Airservices to afford industry with more opportunities to provide input into its investment decision making processes and to progress its work on refining its key performance indicators to support an effective reward/penalty system,” ACCC Commissioner Cristina Cifuentes said.

What was the profit last year? -  $100, 000, 000 - seems to ring a little bell.

[Peetwo]

From that man Higgins again...

I was wrong: air traffic control creator Neil Bradley  

• by: EAN HIGGINS
  
• From: The Australian
  
• June 24, 2015 12:00AM
  

Reporter
Sydney



Neil Bradley at Aldinga airport in South Australia. ‘It was 15 years ago, and we should now move on’. Picture: Kelly Barnes Source: News Corp Australia
 
The air traffic controller who 15 years ago devised the restrictive regu­lations governing who can provide local weather and air traffic information to pilots has said he was wrong, and the rules should be changed to allow and encourage airport ground staff such as firefighters to do so.  

In 2000, the Civil Aviation ­Safety Authority contracted Neil Bradley, a controller from Adelaide, to solve a problem at Ayers Rock airport.

He came up with a solution that operates to this day, but in the process authored national aviation regulations which only allow current or former air traffic controllers to provide such a service. “I now am prepared to say I was wrong,” Mr Bradley told The Australian.
The problem facing CASA in 2000 was that the tourist trade had over the decades transformed the sleepy outback aerodrome into a serious destination for commercial traffic, and it now handles about 300,000 passengers a year.

“At the time the airlines were getting concerned about the operations into Ayers Rock, with nobody giving them traffic information,” Mr Bradley said.

“CASA said, ‘go up there and put a temporary control tower there’,” he said. “But there was no formal documentation to authorise it, for pilots to receive local air traffic and weather information.”

That required a new set of rules, and the ones Mr Bradley developed for CASA came out of the idea of allowing retired air traffic controllers to perform the service.

The rules to this day say only a Certified Air-Ground Radio Operator can provide air traffic and ­detailed weather information to ­pilots, and CA/GROs must have held an air traffic controllers’ lic­ence in the past 10 years. The only CA/GROs operating today are two retired air traffic controllers at Ayers Rock airport. “On reflection now, they should remove that ­restriction. That was 15 years ago, and we should now move on.”

Aviation industry figures including businessman Dick Smith are campaigning for ground staff at airports without control towers, such as firefighters employed by Airservices Australia, to be trained to operate the Unicom radio to provide pilots with local weather and traffic information as they do in the US.

Mr Bradley said apart from the bigger untowered airports where Airservices has fire stations, many smaller airfields could benefit from a relaxation of the rules.

One example, he said, would be Aldinga airport in the McLaren Vale wine country of South Australia where, he said, the aero club could operate a Unicom service.

“The US has had this Unicom set-up at non-towered airports going way back,” Mr Bradley said.

“They don’t have any requirements to have had aviation experience, but they are generally run by the fireys or it can be the local fixed base operator which provides maintenance and so on.”

I also noticed that an internal ASA Memo was intercepted from Acting(??) CEO Mark Rodwell:

CEO Direct - 15 June 2015


You may have seen an article in today’s The Australian newspaper falsely claiming that salaries for Airservices senior executives rose by more than 40 per cent in the last two years.

Let me assure you that this statement is completely incorrect and the correct information was provided to the journalist last week.

Airservices has today written to both the journalist and the Editor of The Australian requesting that they print a correction to this inaccurate and misleading article—view letter to the editor.

As you are aware, there are tough market conditions being faced by our customers and a range of efforts have been underway for some time to reduce our operating costs across the business.

These efforts have extended to the Executive group and senior leadership team and will continue. This included the implementation of an Executive pay freeze for the 2014–15 financial year and for the upcoming 2015–16 financial year.

Prior to the pay freeze, the average Executive remuneration for our senior executive rose on average 2.25 per cent for the 2013–14 financial year.

The Executive pay freeze is just one way we continue to demonstrate our financial restraint to our customers, industry and government.

Cost saving is all of our responsibility and this extends to the Executive and senior leadership team. I know that across our business we all continue to look for ways to work smarter and more efficiently and thank you for your ongoing efforts in this area.

Mark Rodwell
Acting Chief Executive Officer

Err...Angus, Wazza & 'Staibbed in the back'...tick..tick..tick..tick..tick


 

MTF...P2

[Gobbledock]

The above post from K, the article by the brilliant Higgins and the delightful Rodwell email is pure ecstasy!!!!!

So we have (allegedly) the perpetrator of the aerodrome radio rule saying 'he got it wrong, that was then and this is now so let's correct the problem CAsA' (can't wait to see that bearded PG handle this one), and we have A/g AsA CEO Rodwell desperately trying to save face by issuing a load of bollocks email to his minions which makes Staib and Houston look like nimwits! Oh my how Heff will be enjoying this!

Message to Rodwell -
It's too late mate, you and your Executives trough has been exposed to the core. Naughty naughty!! Save the ass covering speech about executive pay freezes being an act of good grace, nobody buys it. You can dry that out and fertilise the Parliament House lawn.You lot have been caught with your torso's in the cookie jar. How about you put your money where your mouth is and trim all executive salaries back to below $200k and remove bonuses??

What do you think Mr MrDak and Mr Truss? Your trio of alphabet soup organisations are crumbling from within......

To Tick or to Tock, that is the question.....

[Peetwo]

P2: "Angus burger thanks with pickles & Dick's tomato sauce!

{Comment: Not going to comment on the following too much, but I'd just like to say once again ---BRAVO DICK & HIGGO--- }

Wasn't sure in what order to do this so I flipped a coin and that man Higgins came up trumps so here goes.. :

New navigation system of limited safety use, say critics

• by: EAN HIGGINS
  
• From: The Australian
  
• June 26, 2015 12:00AM
  

Reporter
Sydney

A new air navigation system promoted by Airservices Australia chairman Angus Houston is imposing crippling expenses on aviation but fails to address key airspace safety issues, according to industry figures.  

Sir Angus yesterday issued a statement hailing the GPS navigation system known as Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast as providing “enormous safety and service benefit”.

But aviators told The Australian — and the Civil Aviation Safety Authority confirmed — that ADS-B would not of its own lead to an extension of airspace under air traffic control, and would not provide any weather data, nor local air traffic information about the movements of smaller private aircraft that do not have to install it. Sir Angus’s statement was designed to counter attacks from businessman and aviator Dick Smith, who has renewed a campaign for reform of the nation’s airspace regulation along US lines.

Government-owned Airservices runs the nation’s air traffic control system as well as fire and rescue operations at bigger airports.

Mr Smith has called for an extension of controlled airspace along US lines, where all commercial aircraft are guided by air traffic controllers, compared Australia’s piecemeal system, where generally below 8500 feet, pilots are left to their own devices.

Mr Smith wants the Airservices firefighters to be trained to man the Unicom radio service to provide basic local air traffic and weather information to pilots at regional airports which do not have air traffic control towers such as Ballina in NSW, Newman in Western Australian, and Gladstone in Queensland.

In his statement, Sir Angus said “the technology and global thinking in relation to air traffic management has shifted dramatically in the past two decades.

“Where once our systems relied on radar and pilots reporting their positions to ground operators, there is now a global shift to implementing satellite-based systems, such as ADS-B.”

In ADS-B, aircraft are equipped with sophisticated satellite GPS systems which determine their position, direction, speed and altitude with great precision. That information is relayed in real time to air traffic controllers via ground stations. Commercial aircraft are progressively being compulsorily fitted with ADS-B. The program is to be completed by 2017. But it will not address either of the issues raised by Mr Smith, who described the system as “a complete waste of money”.

A CASA spokesman said the introduction of ADS-B would not of its own lead to an extension of controlled airspace, saying that for airports in uncontrolled airspace like Ballina, “it would not be the single deciding factor although it would be a consideration”.
The spokesman confirmed that since smaller, private recreational aircraft which follow visual flight rules are exempted from having to install ADS-B, there would be no change to the system in which at airports like Ballina, pilots have to talk to each other over the radio to relay their positions in a bid to avoid crashing into each other.

The fact such aircraft not equipped with ADS-B would not be picked up by that system, and it is not a weather tool, mean what many pilots say is a need for radio operators at airports like Ballina, Gladstone and Newman to provide local weather and traffic information, is not obviated by ADS-B. The technical director of the Australian Federation of Air Pilots, airline captain Peter Gardiner, said that while the GPS component of ADS-B operates everywhere via satellite, it is of no value without ground stations to relay the information to controllers.

The number of ground stations remained relatively few, Captain Gardiner said, and over the vast majority of Australia there is no relay of ADS-B data at all but the highest altitudes.

Brad Edwards, the principal and chief pilot of Edwards Aviation which operates seven charter aircraft out of Armidale in NSW, said none of the promised operational benefits Airservices had promoted of ADS-B had eventuated, and the additional safety element was “zero”.

“There has been no perceived benefit in that regard for us,” Mr Edwards said.
He said Airservices’ eagerness to bring in ADS-B ahead of other countries meant for his bigger jets he could not buy off the shelf products and had to have equipment specially designed, which cost $120,000 per plane.

“For me as an operator, this has cost me a lot of money, all because of the egos at Airservices wanting to have this implemented five years ahead of the rest of the world,” he said.

Hmm...so nothing too new or revealing in that, except maybe for the observation that the Dick & Higgins assault team is not going anywhere or taking a backward step...
Next from Paul Kelly, Ol'Angus comes out swinging..

 Dick Smith is wrong on air safety: Angus Houston  

• by: PAUL KELLY, editor-at-large
  
• From: The Australian
  
• June 26, 2015 12:00AM
  

Editor-At-Large
Sydney



Airservices Australia chairman Angus Houston denies allegations by aviator Dick Smith and says the organisation is all about safety. Picture Theo Fakos Source: News Corp Australia

The chairman of Airservices Australia and former Defence Force Chief, Angus Houston, has repudiated the multiple attacks on him, his management and the nation’s air control system mounted in a sustained campaign by prominent aviator and activist, Dick Smith.  

This row is now on the desk of Tony Abbott.

In addition to calling for a range of air control changes, Mr Smith has lodged a series of unusual complaints about the way he has been treated stretching back to 2002. He admits to having a grudge against Sir Angus.

In interviews with The Australian, Mr Smith says Sir Angus has failed to implement superior elements of the US system, that our air traffic control system is dangerously inadequate, that firefighters should be deployed to assist pilots by radio, that the aviation ­bureaucracy operates at cost to safety and that as chairman, Sir Angus must take part responsibility for excessive remuneration at his organisation.

Sir Angus told The Australian the decision to modify adoption of the US system arose from government policy beginning in 2006. It was not his decision. He said, contrary to Mr Smith’s claims, Australia had a “state of the art” satellite-based control system that was the “envy” of other nations, that safety was the priority and that executive remuneration at Airservices Australia was restrained and closely monitored.

“This started when I was overseas and I am disappointed about it,” Sir Angus said of the Smith campaign. “But at the end of the day this is not about me. I have full confidence in Airservices. We put safety first. We are more than comparable with world’s best practice.

“Dick has strong views and his views have been around for many years. By his own admission to The Australian, Mr Smith carries some resentment towards me but I will let Mr Smith’s words and actions speak for themselves. People can form their own views on those matters.

“The rest of the world looks on us as the leader in implementation of the global navigation system. Australia was actually the first to see the full potential of this system.
Frankly, it is exciting stuff. We can now provide for 100 per cent surveillance coverage of the Australian continent but the system is more accurate than conventional radar. It means Airservices can now see every equipped aircraft at high altitude that is in our air space.”

In response to Mr Smith’s critique of safety in the system, Sir Angus said all passenger aircraft in controlled air space were “controlled every inch to the ground”.

In relation to lower classification airspace, he said “air traffic control provides pilots of instrument flight rules (IFR) aircraft with known traffic information in relation to other IFR aircraft”.

Instrument flight rules are used to guide aircraft when visibility is poor.

“The way the air space is kept safe is by the regulator, CASA, doing regular studies in each location,” Sir Angus said. An imminent CASA report on Ballina airport is expected to lead to new arrangements there. A former C130 Hercules pilot, Sir Angus said the current air control system was “a significant safety enhancement on what was previously a very safe air traffic system”.

In Mr Smith’s campaign against defects in the air control system and Houston 11 stories and more than 8000 words have been published in The Australian over the past month.
Every story has mentioned Mr Smith and his views. He is still ­focused on events 13 years ago, telling this paper that in 2002 Sir Angus vetoed his participation in the implementation team for the new air control system, called the National Airspace System (NAS).

In reply, Sir Angus merely said: “Dick says that I vetoed him from the implementation committee. But I wasn’t running this committee and I didn’t have the power to veto him.”
In an extraordinary assertion Mr Smith, thinking he was indispensable, said that without his involvement the new system would not be introduced.

Sir Angus rejects outright the repeated attacks on Airservices Australia chief executive Margaret Staib over her alleged excessive salary and excessive pay rises.

The chief executive is on a salary of $501,864 compared with $488,333 in late 2012. In addition, there is a $100,373 bonus compared with $97,667 in late 2012.

Sir Angus said: “What does the CEO do? The CEO runs an organisation of more than 4000 people most highly skilled and responsible for 11 per cent of air space over the globe. The organisation has safety responsibility covering 4 million flights each year and 90 million passengers.

“In my view, $600,000 is reasonable for this task and the safety responsibility it involves.
“When I joined the board in late 2011, I was on the remuneration committee.

“We felt at that point the need to tighten up executive remuneration. Since then we have been all over the executive remuneration issue and ensuring it is benchmarked against appropriate standards.”

Sir Angus said that in setting the salary, a number of public sector benchmarks were assessed. The decision was taken to align the CEO with the level 2, departmental NAS in favour of “the need for a global, seamless, safe and efficient system for air secretary salary’’.

“I don’t believe any of those secretaries has an accountability for safety to the extent that our CEO does,” Sir Angus said.

“It is important to remember that the CEO is an executive director with fiduciary responsibilities which are very different to the responsibilities of a departmental secretary.”

Sir Angus issued a remuneration analysis showing that the CEO’s total pay increase, including salary and performance bonus, was 2.77 per cent since late 2012. This was significantly below the benchmark comparison over the same time of a 13 per cent average increase for the level 2, departmental secretaries.

Given the extent of the criticism he said: “All executive remuneration goes through the board. I can assure you, there are no issues there. As an organisation we are audited each year by the Australian National Audit Office or one of its subcontractors. Our policy has been to constrain executive remuneration.”

The average remuneration package for executives over 2012-13 to 2013-14 was 2.25 per cent. There is, in effect, an executive pay freeze over the 2014-15 to 2015-16 period.
Mr Smith seems to blame Sir Angus for the failure over the years to fully implement the NAS air traffic control system, to which he is deeply attached. It is a bizarre position.

Sir Angus says that in 2006, the Howard government made a policy decision outlined by transport minister Warren Truss that modified the commitment to navigation based upon global navigation satellite systems.

This was cognisant of revolutionary changes in aviation technology. Sir Angus said the basic policy decision to which Mr Smith seems to object was a government decision. It was not Sir Angus’s decision. “The Howard government policy statement acknowledged the world was changing and there was a need to modify the NAS implementation approach.”

This has been a bipartisan position under Coalition and Labor.

Sir Angus said: “When I was chief of the air force I supported the implementation of the NAS a full 100 per cent. That’s because it was government policy and it was my job to implement government policy.

“I was on a committee headed by Ken Matthews, the secretary of the department of infrastructure and transport at the time. The purpose of this committee was to work out the best way to implement the NAS and oversight its implementation.”

Sir Angus said, in relation to the 2002 meeting that Mr Smith complains about, that he recollects the meeting and the discussion.

“My recall is that it was with other people involved in the NAS implementation,” Sir Angus said. “My view and the view of others was that it was not appropriate for Dick to lead this implementation team. We felt he should be involved at a higher oversight level with the freedom to assist the implementation team when required. This is what happened.”
Reviewing Dick Smith’s media and political campaign, Houston said: “It’s been 11 years since Mr Smith resigned from the Aviation Reform Group supervising the implementation of the NAS. The technology and global thinking in relation to air traffic management has shifted dramatically in the past decade.

“Where once our systems relied on radar and pilots reporting their positions to ground operators, there’s now a global shift to implementing satellite-based ­systems, such as Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast. Australia is a world leader in the implementation of this technology because it provides enormous safety and service benefit in our environment. But there’s no room to stand still on matters of safety — we’re constantly working to improve the system and this approach is widely supported by the industry from our airline customers to recreational flyers, airports and the regulator.

“I note that 30 of the 47 characteristics of the NAS have been implemented. However, in some areas, government policy and regulations have moved on to reflect progress in aviation. I would welcome Dick making positive contribution to the public debate that recognises the technologies and capabilities of today and the ­future.”

Dick Smith has created a huge fuss over the need for ground staff such as firefighters at regional airports to be trained to operate the Unicom radio to provide pilots with weather conditions.

Sir Angus said: “This issue has been looked at over the years. The regulator (CASA) has decided that, if anybody is to provide air traffic information to pilots in a regional context, they must be suitably qualified people. Our firefighters are not trained in that way. Moreover, we want our firefighters ready to respond to any incident or rescue requirement, not handling the radio.”

In relation to the accusation that he lacked the stomach to challenge the air traffic controllers union, Sir Angus said: “Our position had nothing whatsoever to do with the air traffic controllers union. It is the regulator that has put these arrangements in place.”

  
Gold..pure gold & I'd say game on..
This bit...

"..This row is now on the desk of Tony Abbott.."

Well about bloody time, cause it is obvious that Farmer Truss is struggling with all this. While your there can you add this to the PMs in-tray: A rotten way – to start your day.

Ps Any questions please refer to the Reverend Forsyth 

MTF..P2

[Gobbledock]

Touchy touchy, Angus is getting a bit testy, must be worried that his trough might get taken away from him?

Herr Houston said;

“But at the end of the day this is not about me. I have full confidence in Airservices. We put safety first. We are more than comparable with world’s best practice"

Firstly old mate, safety is an after thought. Salaries, bonuses and trough diving is number one for ASA. Secondly, you mention the old chestnut 'worlds best practise'. Once that phrase gets trotted out we know you are definitely full of shit. That's where your bureaucratic life long training comes to the forefront. It's time to get the measurement for your clay boots, as well as Truss's, Skidmarks and the ever so stupid Beaker!

The war between Angus and Dick is great entertainment. However Dick's firsthand experience pisses all over lapdog Houston's.

And as for things escalating to Slugger's desk, good! The alphabet soup organisations are out of control, Pumpkin Head is out of control, sleepy Truss has nil control (bowels included), and the clock still ticks down. It will be interesting to see how the PMC and Frau Crudlin handle this brushfire? They are the epitome of obsfucators and turd polishers. 

Ladies and gentlemen stay tuned for the next round of Smith vs Houston. It will be a cage match including tables, ladders and chairs and is scheduled for one fall only. So place your bets - on the one side we have an experienced aviator, skilled businessman and a person who has suffered from blistered hands. On the other side we have a career bureaucrat and ladder climber experienced in Government obsfucation, spin, and he has manicured fingernails with soft lilly white palms.

Tick tock Tony, tick tock

[Peetwo]

Dear Angus,

We are very concerned that perhaps you may not be fully aware of the dire straits your minions are in, in fact you could call it a pickle; but, in our PC manner, we refrain from mentioning Dick  Smith.

We, like yourself have faith in your 'troops'; their stellar performances and applaud the lucid, intelligent explanation of complex, sensitive matters at Estimates.  Those Senators are such brutes and those nasty questions, to which they probably have the answers, should not be allowed.

We are truly impressed with the 'courage badges'and the 'vision' poster of how the ASA views the world is truly inspirational, but we do feel that the faux wings are just a little OTT.  

The following video-graphic presentation is provided to give you a firm grasp of exactly what you, as Chair have to fight back with against those nasty accusations. It is a scandal that anyone could believe such things, let alone ask questions about such delicate matters.   So, without further ado, for your weekend entertainment, we present the IOS sponsored ASA premier screening of "Whats That Flying".  aka WTF.

Plus the small segment on those ridiculous bloody courage badges...

Or if you prefer here is the Hansard for the above RRAT Inquiry - "Performance of Airservices Australia":

Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport Legislation Committee

Senate committee - Friday, 28 November 2014 -Performance of Airservices Australia - Hansard

 
Courage badges and posters available in the foyer, all proceeds to the executive stress relief club, C/- the Never-tell......So...



 

[Gobbledock]

Angus has proven that he is disconnected from reality. Throwing around figures of $500k and $600k like they are just a ripple in a bath.
Angus 'beef cheeks' said;

"Sir Angus rejects outright the repeated attacks on Airservices Australia chief executive Margaret Staib over her alleged excessive salary and excessive pay rises.
The chief executive is on a salary of $501,864 compared with $488,333 in late 2012. In addition, there is a $100,373 bonus compared with $97,667 in late 2012."
And;
“In my view, $600,000 is reasonable for this task and the safety responsibility it involves.
“When I joined the board in late 2011, I was on the remuneration committee.

Then again, he has sat at the top level during other periods of time when Defence personnel were being underpaid, or executives were being overpaid, or Australian taxpayers were footing the bill for billion dollar Submarine lemons, flawed ships and payouts for sexual shenanigans across the fleet! Some tidbits at the below link as just one example;

http://m.couriermail.com.au/news/breakin...5829345532

So why shouldn't we be surprised that yet again Sir Beefcheeks sits atop an organisation that is under the spotlight for the waste of taxpayer money, credit card fraud, not providing value for money for services rendered to the aviation industry, and of course excessive salaries for 'the chosen few', even though Angus thinks half a million dollar salaries are the norm!

I think Sir Beefcheeks needs to seek an explanation from Beaker about the word 'tautology'? But don't worry, it's on 'Big Tonys' desk now. Good thing Tonys desk sits right next to a shredder isn't it??

Finally, this link is interesting;

http://kangaroocourtofaustralia.com/2011...s-houston/

Tick tock Sir Beefcheeks tick tock

[Kharon]

Seems to me ol’ Angus has been kept well and truly in the dark and has NFI what goes on beneath his limited radar.  I just hope that each and every little swindle is exposed, those which rob the government of income; this would help the ‘man at the back of the room’ .  That ‘training course’ in Paris for a month for example; or the ever increasing bill at the Never-tell motel, the deals, the wheels, the schemes, the new soft ware systems etc. etc.  All grist to the Senate mill.  Perhaps we can come up with some savings and even be able to afford to train some new ATCO, then give the coal face kids a weekend or two off a year, maybe a new chair to sit on.   That would be nice.

I think the fat lady is still a long way away from signing at the end of this tale.

Toot toot.

[Peetwo]

I know the Ferryman detests this comic; but IMO it perfectly highlights Ms Staib's (+ her exec backstaibbing numpties) view of what it is she is supposed to be overseeing for a measly 600k per annum...FCOL



Not sure about anything else in the Angus rant, but IMO this is what most people will remember..   

"..Sir Angus has refused to do so, saying “We want our firefighters ready to respond … not handling the radio”..."

Overnight from that man again...

Hit for $90k, flight veteran says bosses have heads in clouds  

• by: EAN HIGGINS
  
• From: The Australian
  
• June 27, 2015 12:00AM
  

Reporter
Sydney




Ray Clamback at Bankstown airport. ‘It’s ridiculous ... to say this is going to increase air safety in this country,’ he says. Picture: Renee Nowytarger Source: News Corp Australia

After 55 years of flying, and two separate near-death experiences in which he was plucked from the Pacific Ocean when he had to ditch after engine failure, Ray Clamback knows a thing or two about navigation, weather and safety.  

And Mr Clamback, who runs a flying school at Sydney’s Bankstown airport, knows the expensive GPS navigation system being introduced under the championship of Airservices Australia chairman Angus Houston won’t make an iota of difference.

“It’s ridiculous for Houston — he’s not a bad fellow — to say this is going to increase air safety in this country. It’s not,” Mr Clamback told The Weekend Australian.

What Mr Clamback also knows is that the complex avionics the air regulators are forcing him to ­install to comply with the new system, known as Automatic Dependent Surveillance — Broadcast, are costing him a lot of money.

He has bought one ADS-B unit for $16,800 and has to equip seven single-engine and one twin-­engine training aircraft with them.
Under ADS-B, sophisticated satellite GPS systems determine the position, direction, speed and altitude of aircraft, with that information relayed in real time to air traffic controllers via ground stations.

The problem, however, is that, generally, below 8500 feet, nat­ional air traffic controllers do not direct aircraft anyway, and most private and recreational aircraft flying under visual flight rules at those levels are not require to ­install ADS-B.

ADS-B is of no practical use to Mr Clamback since his unpressurised aircraft fly at lower levels.

“Why a small school like ourselves is up for $90,000, when we don’t gain anything, is ridiculous,” Mr Clamback said.

One thing that would make flying safer for his instructors and students would be if ground staff at the school, during the hours when the Bankstown control tower is closed, went on the Unicom radio to advise pilots of local weather and air traffic.

Air regulations prohibit him and his staff from doing so: the rules state that only individuals who have held air traffic controller ­licences within the past 10 years are allowed to provide such information.

“For 55 years I have flown just about everywhere in the world ­except China, and they are telling me I’m not allowed to tell a person coming in here what the weather is like,” Mr Clamback said.

One thing Sir Angus could do, Mr Clamback said, to improve air safety would be to have the firefighters employed by Airservices at airports such as Ballina in NSW, where there is no control tower, trained to operate the Unicom to inform pilots of traffic and weather, as they do in the US.

Sir Angus has refused to do so, saying “We want our firefighters ready to respond … not handling the radio”. psss..see what I mean..

Head in clouds??



Nah..more like..



---ka'ching---

MTF...P2

[Peetwo]

I know the Ferryman detests this comic; but IMO it perfectly highlights Ms Staib's (+ her exec backstaibbing numpties) view of what it is she is supposed to be overseeing for a measly 600k per annum...FCOL



Not sure about anything else in the Angus rant, but IMO this is what most people will remember..   

"..Sir Angus has refused to do so, saying “We want our firefighters ready to respond … not handling the radio”..."

Overnight from that man again...

Hit for $90k, flight veteran says bosses have heads in clouds  

• by: EAN HIGGINS
  
• From: The Australian
  
• June 27, 2015 12:00AM
  

Reporter
Sydney




Ray Clamback at Bankstown airport. ‘It’s ridiculous ... to say this is going to increase air safety in this country,’ he says. Picture: Renee Nowytarger Source: News Corp Australia

After 55 years of flying, and two separate near-death experiences in which he was plucked from the Pacific Ocean when he had to ditch after engine failure, Ray Clamback knows a thing or two about navigation, weather and safety.  

And Mr Clamback, who runs a flying school at Sydney’s Bankstown airport, knows the expensive GPS navigation system being introduced under the championship of Airservices Australia chairman Angus Houston won’t make an iota of difference.

“It’s ridiculous for Houston — he’s not a bad fellow — to say this is going to increase air safety in this country. It’s not,” Mr Clamback told The Weekend Australian.

What Mr Clamback also knows is that the complex avionics the air regulators are forcing him to ­install to comply with the new system, known as Automatic Dependent Surveillance — Broadcast, are costing him a lot of money.

He has bought one ADS-B unit for $16,800 and has to equip seven single-engine and one twin-­engine training aircraft with them.
Under ADS-B, sophisticated satellite GPS systems determine the position, direction, speed and altitude of aircraft, with that information relayed in real time to air traffic controllers via ground stations.

The problem, however, is that, generally, below 8500 feet, nat­ional air traffic controllers do not direct aircraft anyway, and most private and recreational aircraft flying under visual flight rules at those levels are not require to ­install ADS-B.

ADS-B is of no practical use to Mr Clamback since his unpressurised aircraft fly at lower levels.

“Why a small school like ourselves is up for $90,000, when we don’t gain anything, is ridiculous,” Mr Clamback said.

One thing that would make flying safer for his instructors and students would be if ground staff at the school, during the hours when the Bankstown control tower is closed, went on the Unicom radio to advise pilots of local weather and air traffic.

Air regulations prohibit him and his staff from doing so: the rules state that only individuals who have held air traffic controller ­licences within the past 10 years are allowed to provide such information.

“For 55 years I have flown just about everywhere in the world ­except China, and they are telling me I’m not allowed to tell a person coming in here what the weather is like,” Mr Clamback said.

One thing Sir Angus could do, Mr Clamback said, to improve air safety would be to have the firefighters employed by Airservices at airports such as Ballina in NSW, where there is no control tower, trained to operate the Unicom to inform pilots of traffic and weather, as they do in the US.

Sir Angus has refused to do so, saying “We want our firefighters ready to respond … not handling the radio”. psss..see what I mean..

Head in clouds??



Nah..more like..



---ka'ching---

From Planetalking this arvo, Ben weighs in on the debate...

Dick versus Angus over air space reform in Australia

Ben Sandilands | Jun 27, 2015 1:14PM |

Are we wasting millions, and destroying general aviation, by inadequately and unfairly introducing new air traffic control technology?

Dick Smith, aviator, businessman, and supporter of good causes

In recent months an important, if not broadly understood aviation issue has been pursued behind the paywall of The Australian by Dick Smith on one side and the air traffic control provider AirServices Australia on the other.

Paywalls are essential if professional journalism is to survive, but unfortunately, a model that works effectively in Australia in conjunction with broad readership hasn’t yet been proven, which means that  it is questionable as to whether there has been much connection between a crucial number of readers and the issues that have been raised by the newspaper’s detailed and perceptive coverage.

Yet that continuing argument, concerning new air traffic control technology  (ADS-B or automatic dependant surveillance-broadcast) is one in which ruinous costs could lead to the shorter term destruction of the already hard pressed private and general aviation sectors in this country.

GA operators and private pilots are being asked to spend substantial sums of money on equipment that makes them ADS-B visible,  yet not in practice be of use in many lower flight level situations, meaning that the money spent will not deliver improved safety outcomes in airspace and approaches to a wide range of secondary or regional airstrips where they are urgently needed.

These include airports where civil airliners, hobby ultra-light flyers, parachutists, private jets,  more conventional propeller light aircraft and helicopters might all  be using the same airspace, such as around Ballina or Port Macquarie.

While there are many voices canvassed by The Australian stories, and the twists and turns in the narratives do not lend themselves to bland summary, the twin focuses of the row have been on the opposing positions taken by Dick Smith and Angus Houston, who is the chairman of AirServices Australia.

Angus, as he prefers to be called, says everything is fine and Dick is wrong, and has in passing taken umbrage at criticism in the Senate of the amount of money being paid to AirServices managers, who are responsible for a public enterprise which supports itself from air navigation charges and makes profits which flow straight into Treasury.

My view is that Angus underlines a problem with the administrative and executive branches in Australia, in that there is a strong preference in Government to believe anything the Mandarins tell Ministers regardless of what party or coalition is in power,  and that there is sod all serious independent auditing of claims and budget efficiency.

Angus is very loyal to his organisation, and some very fine professionals within it, but perhaps insufficiently skeptical of its narrative over the application of ADS-B technology as it currently stands.

Dick isn’t the only prominent general aviation figure quoted by coverage in The Australian  as to the inadequacy of the airspace management in Australia today, and the more so, under ADS-B in the near future.

If Angus were to shift modes from defending the air traffic control establishment to dealing with the need to make the reforms work without further risking the survivability of the private pilot and general aviation interests in Australia we might have progress.

It seems inescapably reasonable that spending on ADS-B and the proper management of airspace must produce a very significant improvement in air safety by diminishing risk across all flying activities that involve the sharing of the skies between larger and smaller aircraft.

Otherwise, through insupportable cost pressures and inefficiencies, the very food chain in the aviation industry in terms of training, experience and critical skills in support services will be broken, and the ‘common good’ to use an old fashioned term, will be deeply harmed.

MTF...P2  

[Peetwo]

"..Sir Angus has refused to do so, saying “We want our firefighters ready to respond … not handling the radio”..."

Head in clouds??



Nah..more like..



---ka'ching---

From Planetalking this arvo, Ben weighs in on the debate...

Dick versus Angus over air space reform in Australia

Ben Sandilands | Jun 27, 2015 1:14PM |

Are we wasting millions, and destroying general aviation, by inadequately and unfairly introducing new air traffic control technology?

Dick Smith, aviator, businessman, and supporter of good causes

From the PT article Ben in reply to a comment... 

 "..Fair enough. I was only trying to paraphrase those who made such statements in the Australian newspaper stories.


One reason I have for the most part avoided GA stories is that they usually ignite fire fights among readers, with occasional burning arrow aimed at the blogger that has dared to even raise any particular GA topic you care to name.


This taught me that in GA just about everyone hates everyone else and that there is anything but general agreement on anything in general aviation.


Not saying that is right or wrong, and your comment is very useful. But this is a part of aviation coverage I usually try to avoid..."

...   sad really but Ben does have a point when it comes to general debate on GA issues, especially when it comes to Dick Smith.

Being a paid subscriber of the Oz Ben maybe interested to know that on this Dick Smith GA campaign the stats would suggest that Dick is in ascendancy i.e. those in support of the Dick campaign.

Going off the 39 comments (as a baseline) 35% were not in support of Dick, 12% were neither for or against, leaving 53% in support. However there is also another observable change in the commentary; that is Joe Public is becoming far more informed because of the Dick Smith campaign.

Here is a spread of positive Dick Smith comments from the Paul Kelly Article (why no negative DS comments - well they are all basically poorly written repetitive snipes with little or no intellectual value whatsoever), first from some self-confessed layman   : 

Desmond 5pts
Featured
2 days ago

I do not have any expertise in satellite systems or any other system in aviation so can't comment on that, however it does appear to me, as a layman, that Smith has a valid point. It appears that aircraft in controlled space are fine and Smith has no argument with that. His main thrust is that of uncontrolled air space at regional airports where on approach pilots are flying blind in relation to weather and positioning of other aircraft in the area. He is saying that firefighters or others employed at these airports should be able to provide visual observations to pilots, plane positions, who is on the tarmac, weather conditions etc as occurs in the USA.

This makes logical sense to me.

Yet CASA says they will not allow that as those observations must be provided by a trained official.

CASA is not prepared to place trained officials at regional airports to facilitate ground observations.
Catch 22.

This is insane.

It is like people on an uncontrolled beach are not allowed to warn swimmers that they can see a shark in the water, only a trained life guard should be allowed to warn swimmers of such danger, but the beach has no life guard.

I don't agree with some of the stuff Smith comes up with from time to time but on this particular point I think he is right and common sense is giving way to stuffy beaurocracy!!!

I can only assume Houston does not want to take on the union to implement a sensible practice.

Bernard
2 days ago

I know this is off topic guys BUT "Sir" Angus...Really, I feel like I'm back in the dark ages. Next it will be Lord this and Duchess....that.

I heard Smith on 2GB yesterday and what he said made total sense. Dick Smith was specifically talking about the fact that once you are below 8,000 in  regional air fields then, as a Captain, you are relying on sight and radio communication between aircraft to ensue safe approach and I assume landing and takeoff.

From a layman's perspective, if that is the case, then surely implementing the WAAS system should be a priority across the country. Can someone confirm if it is true that  that CASA staff are on a bonus system which means the less that they spend then more they reap, surely cannot be the case.

john
2 days ago

Dick Smith often mouths off about things on which he has limited knowledge. But not this time.

Dick Smith would know more about landing aircraft at small airports than most people alive and that covers more than a few countries.

Sir Angus Houston, get off your high horse - If you denied pilots and troops the best of information when you sent them into action, you would have been charged with dereliction of duty.

This is like the attitude of the Defence Force which refused help to fight a fire at Lithgow and their attitude led to a bushfire which decimated the Blue Mountains taking a horrific toll.

linda
2 days ago

Much of what Houston says is convincing but his answer on firefighters providing weather information at regional airports smacks of bureaucratic obfuscation. Firefighters are surely capable of observing and reporting on the weather without being distracted from their primary duties, and information of that kind could be useful to pilots. Dick Smith is right about this one, but given his reputation as a bit of an obsessive in this area,  I fear that his advocacy of a correct position in one case may not help it to be implemented.

Lindsay
2 days ago

If it is a choice between believing the statements of Dick Smith or Angus Houston it is a no contest: Dick Smith every time. Why? Because Angus Houston is a political animal who always says, in public, what his political masters want.

    
Next a couple of comments from aviators:

Ted
2 days ago

Kees, as a practising pilot flying of the beaten track away from the famous j curve on the east coast, I am afraid I have to agree with Dick Smith.

There is nothing wrong with the American Uni com system, which is operated usually by FBOs.

These fixed base operators are not trained weather observers, air traffic controllers or firemen, but they are as a rule experienced pilots.

The information that they give to arriving aircraft is the wind direction and speed and the operative duty runway in use, so an approach can be be planned without having to do an overflight of the field.

They give an heads up of known traffic, any local airfield serviceability issues and an approximation of the the weather, rain, snow, cloud base etc without going into semantics .

It's there as a valuable guide only, but ASA and CASA are terrified of liability issues.

The pilots neither need nor require a fully operational departmental system, but very happy with a low cost, no cost friendly operator at the field to give you a heads up.
This is the argument that Dick is on about.

The worlds best practice mantra trotted out by the department is not shared by pilots that are familiar with the American system.

This one needs some editing (hint..hint.. ) but you will get the gist.. :

Botswana O'Hooligan

2 days ago

@eng  It used to be that most positions in ATC and the FSU were staffed by ex RAAF types and the Air Navigation rules were all contained in a small A5 tome about one and a half centimetres thick. The Air Navigation Orders were about A4 size and were about an inch thick. Both publications would now fill a couple of wheelbarrows despite the fact that aeroplanes still depend on a wing each side, go no faster and in fact take longer to get from capital city to capital city than they did when jets were first introduced to Australia.

We are back to the old days of fifty plus years ago when we had but VAR, DME, ILS, and a radio compass, and sat in holding patterns wending our way down to the bottom of the stack before we could land because there was no Radar, no VOR, and no GPS. Now of course we have every known aid to man available to us and even the Ipads some pilots use would have more computing power than Neil Armstrong and Co had for their lunar landers and we are back to sitting in holding patterns wasting huge amounts of fuel in a time when everyone is supposedly green.

It is basically a waste of time building a jet aeroplane that goes reasonable fast because the ATC system simply cannot handle them and thus we are slowed down to 250 knots below ten thousand feet and right back to 170 or so knots on final approach which is simply ridiculous for it is akin to driving ones car with the handbrake on. Blokes like Mr Smith, an amateur pilot if there ever was one judging by his escapades, didn't and don't do any good, and won't do any good now, and if the now Mr Houston, a lovely bloke by all account's, represents the ATC system we should all head for the hills, by train of course, because the RAAF ATC system, and he was the head of the RAAF, is just a bloody disgrace for Townsville and Darwin are about the scariest places to take a jet aeroplane because of the ineptness of their RAAF ATC people.

The system is so bad that this old man who gets a staff discount on airline travel, prefers to drive the thousands of kilometres to get somewhere rather than go through the drama of security checks, the delays, and the holding at destinations and wonders in the dark watches where we all went wrong for we were once at the lead in things aviation with the invention of distance measuring equipment, flight data recorders, and cockpit voice recorders with a safety record second to none.

Finally going back to Ben's comment reply he went onto say...
"..At a deeper level, and as a former student of public administration, the executive/administrative divide in Australia is a worry. Successive aviation ministers have their responses to serious anomalies, like Pel-Air, and passenger accident liability, written for them by the very people who are being criticised for poor decisions, and I don’t think that is helpful, whether in bank and finance regulation, or air safety.."

To which Jen Jensen made this excellent comment..

[*]3
Jen Jensen
Posted June 28, 2015 at 9:09 am | Permalink
Ben Sandilands wrote “At a deeper level, and as a former student of public administration, the executive/administrative divide in Australia is a worry. Successive aviation ministers have their responses to serious anomalies, like Pel-Air, and passenger accident liability, written for them by the very people who are being criticised for poor decisions, and I don’t think that is helpful, whether in bank and finance regulation, or air safety.”

That is the crux of the matter.

We all hope that Angus Houston and Mark Skinner will reform their departments and not be seen to be in “Yes Minister” mode. It is imperative that they both sort out the issues with fresh eyes, not just parrot the department think.

[*]
Don't lose heart Ben...
MTF...P2

[Gobbledock]

Frank mentioned this absolute pearler on UP;

"When military officers leave "field rank" their promotions are at the behest of the government via their peers. It's then they loose objectivity and man management skills and become part of the "punch and judy show". They should be ignored as having any sensible input into any civilian problems. (Including looking for sunken aircraft)"

Spot on. Angus and Staib have nothing in there backgrounds that qualify them for their current positions. All they have proven previously is how to nod and say yes while licking their way up the greasy pole.

Then swh said;

"Sir Angus has close connection to the head of ASA, who was his 2IC most of the way through the RAAF in my view means he has a personal conflict of interest on this matter.

And;

In my view Sir A and his 2IC that now run ASA have a very poor understanding of air traffic management and technology. Not the right people to be driving national policy in the area".

Correct. They have not earned those positions nor do they qualify or deserve these positions. Having them both in these roles is nothing but a government reward for previous services rendered, a golden handshake, mates rates and nepotism. The whole thing is a sham.

Then TBM-Legend then slipped in this;

"Sir Angus has been a "yes man" for all of his career. I'm not surprised that he strictly follows the "party" line to the last full-stop.."

And there you have it! Angus the groomed and trained subservient footstool.

As we know, 'yes men/women' are always spineless pathetic creatures who are unable to 'man up' and speak their own minds. They prefer to kiss politicians asses and place themselves at the PM's feet as footstools rather than do the honourable thing. But hey, this is Australia and we are quite used to this by now! That's why these ex military brown nosers and political puppets get rewarded with life time membership to the taxpayer trough, for being good boys and girls to their beloved Masters.

"Cleansed sphincters for all"

[Kharon]

Oh, the chirruping of the birdies. etc.

"Sir Angus has close connection to the head of ASA, who was his 2IC most of the way through the RAAF in my view means he has a personal conflict of interest on this matter.

The thick plottens.  I have heard this before, but given the ASA top brass penchant for dalliance and hanky panky at public expense, a little old fashioned nepotism is not such a heinous crime – is it now.  I know Freud always maintained relationships were based on sex or masochism, but both together; the mind boggles.  

Aye well, it’s back to my contemplation of the poster – one of my more adventurous friends reckons they were smoking some ‘good shit’ when they dreamed it up, wants to know where they got it.  No matter, another round of double shifts for our ATCO will adequately cover the growing bills at the Never-tell motel; the rest is tucked away between the ledger sheets, waiting for it’s turn for an all expenses paid moth in Paris.  

“Angry elephant on short final – Go around”.