[Peetwo]

Updating the Miniscule on things aviation - 23 March 2016

Dear Chester,

Hot off the Election 2016 thread..

Copy from another fora;

"Electioneering for the 2016 Federal election has started in earnest.  Yesterday Bill Shorten  ALP addressed the party faithful and others at a meeting in Central Qld.

A mate of mine seized the opportunity to make Bill Shorten aware of the dire straits G.A. is in.  He asked from the meeting floor in front of print, radio and television media if he Shorten won the election would he hold a Royal Commission into C.A.S.A.s activities and if he would give us a minister with a pilots licence and the guts to see that the Commission’s recommendations were carried out.

Shorten told the meeting that in his union days he represented A.M.E.s in Victoria and he was well aware of the shrinking maintenance jobs market as big companies moved their maintenance off shore.  He was also aware of the very high average age of LAMEs.

My mate emphasized the scary rate G.A. is decreasing in Australia and CASAs role in it. Shorten put the questions on notice with a promise to reply when he had obtained more information.

If every pilot, LAME and others who have an interest in seeing G.A. thrive made the effort to attend  these meetings when they hit their town and asked similar questions in the full glare of the media to the representatives of the 4 major parties they might finally realize there is a problem. They should also remind candidates that Aviation Activity produces jobs.

Similar questions coming from every tin pot town and village across Australia might just light the fuse for change".

This matter should be encouraged at every juncture to maintain the impetus of change demanded.

General Aviation - Reality Check.

Excellent example Cranky, perhaps the following audio off last Sunday's Macca (Australia all over), would be of informative value to the likes of Bill Shorten & other apparatchik & political Wannabes:

20160320 Talk with Paul Poole in Bourketown about aviation

Well done Paul Poole courtesy Macca...

&..from the AMROBA thread: 

Quote:
An aircraft maintainer works on the tail of an executive jet. (Steve Hitchen)




CASA to review Small Aircraft Maintenance Regulations
23 Mar 2016

CASA announced a project yesterday to review Civil Aviation Regulation 4A to better adapt it for small aircraft maintenance, with the dual aims of improving efficiencies and removing anomalies.

In the process, CASA will not supercede the regulation with a new CASR until it is better suited to general aviation.

"CASA expects that the Civil Aviation Regulations 1988 (CAR) will continue to be required to regulate the non-airline maintenance sector until specific requirements for the small aircraft maintenance sector are introduced into the Civil Aviation Safety Regulations 1998 (CASR)," the CASA announcement said.

"In view of this, CASA acknowledges that a review is required to identify provisions that are inappropriate in the small aircraft maintenance environment. In addition, feedback from the maintenance industry has highlighted the need to simplify and rationalise the maintenance regulations, and update them to reflect the current state of aviation practice and technological development."

The general aviation maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) industry, driven by the Aviation Maintenance Repair and Overhaul Business Association (AMROBA) has been critical of the proposed CASRs because they effectively imposed regulations on GA that were designed to apply to airline transport aircraft.

CASA says it has already identified a number of areas that need attention, but will be seeking input from MROs and operators as the project progresses.

According to CASA, the CAR will need to be re-worked to make it sustainable into the future, with aims to:

• simplify the regulations
  
• reduce red tape
  
• reduce compliance burdens
  
• align with current policy.
  
  

"The project will update the CAR airworthiness regulations to ensure uniformity of interpretation and application," CASA says. "Along with the CAR update, CASA intends to provide associated guidance material. The updated CARs are expected to reduce costs to industry.

Oh & on the MH370 PR time bomb front

A debris of inconvenience -


Latest update ATSB MH370 SIO search:

Operational Update

At the request of the Malaysian Government, Australia has accepted responsibility for the search for missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370. The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) is leading the underwater search for MH370 in the southern Indian Ocean.
Joint Agency Coordination Centre MH370 Operational Search Update

23 March 2016

This operational report has been developed to provide regular updates on the progress of the search effort for MH370.  Our work will continue to be thorough and methodical, so sometimes weekly progress may seem slow.  Please be assured that work is continuing and is aimed at finding MH370 as quickly as possible.

Key developments this week

• Fugro Discovery continues to conduct underwater search operations.
  

• Fugro Equator departed the search area on 17 March, and is en route to Fremantle for a scheduled resupply visit.
  

• Havila Harmony departed the search area on 20 March, and is en route to BAE Henderson.
  

• Dong Hai Jiu 101 is en route to Fremantle after an incident on the evening of 21 March in which the failure of a tow cable connector resulted in the loss of the SLH-ProSAS-60 towfish. Recovery options are currently being assessed.
  

• Two pieces of debris found in Mozambique and suspected to be from an aircraft arrived in Australia for examination.
  

• A further piece of possible aircraft debris, suspected to be the cowling from an engine, has been found in South Africa. The Malaysian Government is working with South African officials to arrange for examination of the debris.
  
  

Analysis of debris from Mozambique

Two pieces of debris found in Mozambique arrived in Canberra, Australia, on 20 March for examination. The examination team includes investigators from Australia and Malaysia, along with specialists from Boeing, Geoscience Australia, and the Australian National University. Procedures appropriate to maintain the integrity of this potential evidence have been followed.

The items have been treated at Geoscience Australia’s quarantine-approved facilities. The pieces were visually examined to remove all visible macrofauna and then rinsed, submerged and agitated in water to capture any loose fauna. All water was then passed through a series of sieves with any possible macrofauna retained. The sieved material will then be sorted and possible biological material identified. The items were released from quarantine once they were thoroughly cleaned and all visible signs of possible contamination removed.


Specialists from the Research School of Physics and Engineering at the Australian National University are assisting with the examination. The items have been x-rayed using an advanced scanning facility developed by the university.


Other technical specialists are conducting an examination which will include seeking to identify specific features that may be consistent with the items coming from an aircraft, and if possible, from MH370.

P2 comment - Good to see the suspected MH370 debris parts are being treated properly and that the authorities are intending to be fully transparent about what they discover - about bloody time if you ask me...  

A statement on the findings will be made once the examination process is complete.

Underwater search operations

Weather may continue to impact on search operations but generally, more favourable conditions are being experienced.

More than 95,000 square kilometres of the seafloor have been searched so far.
In the event the aircraft is found and accessible, Australia, Malaysia and the People’s Republic of China have agreed to plans for recovery activities, including securing all the evidence necessary for the accident investigation.

Consistent with the undertaking given by the Governments of Australia, Malaysia and the People’s Republic of China in April last year, 120,000 square kilometres will be thoroughly searched. It is anticipated this will be completed around the middle of the year. In the absence of credible new information that leads to the identification of a specific location of the aircraft, Governments have agreed that there will be no further expansion of the search area.

[i][i][i]Click map to enlarge[/i][/i][/i][i][i][i] [/i][/i][/i]
Weather
Favourable weather conditions are forecast for the search area in the coming days.
  

Another day and another potential piece of MH370 debris, from Ben Sandilands today:

Few doubts about latest MH370 fragment found in South Africa


Ben Sandilands | Mar 23, 2016 7:38AM |


Social media image of the internal structure of the part found on a South African beach

Blue Whale in the SIO??

It is strange but no one seems to be prepared to talk about the Blue Whale in the SIO, i.e. the more potential parts that keep on washing up on the SE Coast of Africa the less likely it is that the ATSB SIO search priority area is the highest probability final resting place of MH370..

Standby for some further HOT updates -

L&Ks...P2