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ATSB push for simulator use
12:00amANNABEL HEPWORTH
ATSB says there is scope to widen the use of simulators for flight training exercises.

ATSB pushes for wider use of flight training simulators

The nation’s transport safety investigator has said there is scope to widen the use of simulators for flight training exercises.

Australian Transport Safety Bureau chief commissioner Greg Hood said the expanded use of simulators, coupled with rules that mandated the use of simulators in certain types of aircraft, had made flying safer.

“Simulator training reduces risk and the use of simulators positively contributes to aviation safety,” Mr Hood said. “The ATSB considers that the scope exists to further expand the use of simulators, particularly when training for abnormal operations.”

Respected Seattle-based aviation safety consultant Todd Curtis said training for emergencies continued to evolve.

“For the general question of, are there better ways to train emergency situations, that’s a constantly evolving issue,” Dr Curtis said. He said simulator availability could be an issue for some smaller aircraft.

Another safety expert said where simulators were not available, “the important thing is the instructor or examiner also understands what they are doing”.

The comments come as figures provided to The Australian showed there had been 25 incidents that involved simulated engine failures since the Transport Safety Act was put in place in 2003. This included 10 accidents and five serious incidents. Six of them were investi­gated. As the numbers were based on a keyword search of the ATSB database, it may not be definitive.

The nation’s aviation safety watchdog announced new requirements for training and checking exercises to be done using simulators in 2012.

This came after a serious incident at Western Australia’s Jundee airstrip in 2007 involving a mishandled go-around, which prompted the ATSB to note there was no mandated requirement for training in a simulator.

The issue came to a head again in 2010 after a fatal plane crash at Darwin that occurred shortly after takeoff on a training flight.

As well as reducing the risk of safety accidents and improving the fidelity of overall training, the rules were aimed at lowering wear and tear on an aircraft.

As well as the incident at Jundee, the Civil Aviation Safety Authority had pointed to cases where crew had lost control of aircraft while doing engine failure training exercises.

“When sophisticated flight simulators are used, the risks associated with conducting emergency and non-normal scenarios are completely removed,” CASA had argued at the time.

Under the rules, certain types of initial training should not be done in a plane that can seat more than nine people if an approved simulator is available in Australia. Also, certain training for a rating that applies to an aircraft that can seat more than 19 people or weighs more than 8618kg should be done in a simulator where an approved model is available in or outside Australia.

For certain recurrent training and checking, including certain exercises, operators of multi-­engine aircraft seating between 10 and 19 people must use a simulator if it is available in Australia. Where the plane takes at least 20 people, a simulator must be used if one is available here or in certain other countries and certain activities are involved.

Mr Hood said the ATSB had welcomed the changes “and also acknowledges the wide adoption of simulation technology by the aviation industry to enhance the safety of flying generally and flying training more specifically”.