[Peetwo]

Letter from Ben Morgan to the editor or the RAAus magazine "Sport Pilot":

LETTER TO THE RAAUS SPORTPILOT EDITOR

Mr Mark Smith,
Editor, RAAus SportPilot

16th September 2018

Thank you for the opportunity to provide a letter, seeking feedback. Our 3,600 AOPA Australia members and every GA RPL and PPL holder would like to know;

1. Why did the RAAus Chairman and CEO respond to the CASA Medical Certification Discussion paper public consultation in December 2016, calling on CASA to deny all GA RPL and PPL holders of a self-certification private drivers license medical?

2. Why did the RAAus Chairman and CEO vote on the 22nd November 2017 at the CASA ASAP meeting, against self-certification private drivers licence medical for general aviation RPL and PPL holders, endorsing CASA’s proposal to deny GA private pilots essential medical certification reform?

3. Given that the RAAus Chairman and CEO loudly proclaim that they represent 10,000 members;

a) Prior to submitting the RAAus response paper in December 2016 that called for CASA to deny GA RPL and PPL holders a self-certification private driver licence medical did the RAAus survey its members on self-certification private drivers licence medical reform, seeking their consensus on the issue?

b) Did the RAAus Board of Directors approve the RAAus discussion paper response?

4. In view of recent editorials published by the RAAus Chairman and CEO in Australian Flying magazine, do they believe that their actions to deny the GA RPL and PPL pilot community of meaningful medical reform are a demonstration of the RAAus supporting the general aviation community?

5. Given that the RAAus Chairman and CEO have now communicated to CASA that RPL and PPL pilots operating aircraft between 600 and 5400kgs should not be allowed to fly on a self-certified private drivers licence medical, doesn’t this now send a message that aircraft between 600 and 1500kgs can’t be flown on a self-certified private drivers licence medical, entirely undermining the push for RAAus 1,500kg expansion?

6. Assuming that the RAAus Chairman and CEO did not consult with their 10,000 members, and given that they have actively campaigned to undermine the national private pilot community, seeking to clearly disadvantage RPL and PPL pilots so as to force pilots into a system where a private company owns your pilots licence, aircraft registration and your freedom to fly, should the RAAus continue to be allowed to influence industry consultation panels? Do these actions constitute a gross conflict of interest and an abuse of the industry consultation processes?

I thank you again and look forward to the RAAus response.

BENJAMIN MORGAN
Executive Director - AOPA Australia
Email: ben.morgan@aopa.com.au

In follow up to Wannabe's post above...

Courtesy of AOPA Oz CEO Ben Morgan :

1) asap_meeting_171122
2) FOI- CASA ASAP MED REFORM
3) RAAUS MEDICAL REJECTION
4) raaus-submission-casa-medical-certification-standards-discussion-paper-march-2017

Also courtesy of Richard Talbot Vice President & Treasurer AOPA of Australia:

Mr Hitchen’s description of this issue as a spat seems to trivialise what is the most important issue to many GA pilots.

 
The inner workings of TAAAF and ASAP have been an eye opener for me. I am stunned to see who represents the industry on these forums. My one visit to TAAAF confirmed it is a forum where only issues that every member association can agree on are taken forward. This all but ensures that issues such as medical reform cannot be represented at that level. Ben Morgan’s assertion that TAAAF does not adequately represent GA is 100% correct in my opinion. Who are the members of TAAAF? Well the website is certainly not accurate. It appears to me that the bulk of logos are used to provide credibility to the real power base.
 
Ironically 3/8 ASAP members are also members of TAAF. So one might conclude the allows them to put issues they do not agree with “out to pasture” at TAAAF and then drive the nail in at ASAP. Others are told they cannot sit on ASAP, but instead be represented by TAAAF? How is it that RAAA and RAAus sit on the panel but GFA, APF, Warbirds, AAUS (Drones) do not? Drones are the biggest emerging market in aviation. Where is the representation of small Charter operators who are about to be wiped out by excessive regulation?
 
Aviation is full of contradictions. Ask CASA and they will tell some participants that you can’t fly in controlled airspace without a Class 2 medical. That is of course rubbish, as GFA have been flying gliders in GAAP and Class D airspace for many years without an aviation medical.
 
CASA have not provided anything to demonstrate they have taken a risk based approach and on what basis they have discounted the safety data of UK and USA. It’s not even clear if the panel was given the details of the UNRESTRICTED requirement for the AUSTROADS Commercial standard, which now means a private pilot must meet a medical standard far in excess of that required to drive a 40 seat commercial coach. CASA have yet again implemented a heavily restricted medical for healthy pilots, Class 2 Basic is perhaps worse than the failed RAMPc. Unhealthy pilots must still submit to a Class 2. CASA have done absolutely everything they can do to avoid actually changing the Class 2 medical standard, so very few people will get any relief.
 
This issue and the way it has been consulted upon is ugly, and the Australian Aviation community would be appalled with what appears to have taken place here. Thousands of pilots signed the petition for medical reform. There has been no meaningful consultation with any of them or, AOPA and SAAA who represent the majority of them. In fact CASA declined to register their 1700+ letters in the public consultation that they did conduct. None of the members of the ASAP panel appear to have done any consultation with their members at all!
 
It is now 2018. With social media and the Internet is would be possible for CASA or the minister to poll every pilot in the country in 24 hours. AOPA’s own polling on Facebook indicates well over 80% of pilots support self-certification medicals in line with UK and USA. So who are these faceless people who claim to represent the interests of the industry, but do not?
 
CASA needs to get back to implementing a single standard for same operations, based on the risk and level of informed consent of the participants, rather than designing a market and playing the participants off against each other.
 
I hope the parties can do better!

P2 - This is not my indaba (as a member of RAAus Wannabe may care to respond), however it is my understanding that none of the rank & file RAAus members were informed that the CEO and Chair of the Board would be putting forward that CASA deny all GA RPL and PPL holders of a self-certification private drivers license medical.  

MTF...P2 

ps Courtesy AOPA Oz CEO Ben Morgan: