Oh Sinner man, where you going to run to.
It’s amazing – there’s old Moses doing all the clever (safety related) stuff he managed with 10 rules he found laying about under a bush in the mountains. Think about the safety implications of leading a nation to freedom. Mind you Moses kicked it all off with a justifiable homicide and had to depart the fix – at speed. Well, he ambled about the planet for a while before bumping into a talking, burning bush – which told him to set free the slaves. Well Moses toddles off back home and told the Fairy he wanted his folk kicked loose – “Nah” said the Fairy. Moses warned the Fairy – fair and square - that nasty thing would happen should overtime and bonus not be paid or; he let the workers go; and they did. Well after a bit more pushing and shoving and some bloodshed; Fairy let the people go. Fairy, as all good tyrants do, reneged and chased Moses across the deserts until the Red sea stooped them: No problem, Moses split the sea asunder with a wave of his walking stick and all the lads and lasses scampered across, safe and dry, to safety. Without GPS, they wandered about lost for a while until Moses found a mountain and got, direct from god, via Amazon drone delivery – a couple of stone tablets with ten rules. Safety rules, writ by a deity - after the event.
You have to wonder how modern OH&S would view these events; a burning bush, desert travel, armed pursuers, and then walking across a sea bed, mountain climbing, bonfires, etc.
You have then to wonder what CASA would do with the ten, simple, deity scripted rules. Seriously, when you think about it, the same old killers have been dogging flight since the first one. Here is 15 years worth, from the experts, who still have an active industry to draw on for modelling:-
FAA - The Top 10 Leading Causes of Fatal General Aviation Accidents 2001-2016:
1 Loss of Control Inflight
2. Controlled Flight Into Terrain
3. System Component Failure – Power plant
4. Fuel Related
5. Unknown or Undetermined
6. System Component Failure – Non-Power plant
7. Unintended Flight In IMC
8. Midair Collisions
9. Low-Altitude Operations
10. Other
CASA have drafted a whole range of penalties which, should you have an accident which contain much in the way of clever legal wriggle room to make sure that as you lay dying in your hospital bed, you are aware of the criminal charges to be brought against you. It was your fault, end of. The beauty part is that CASA have no responsibility whatsoever for your situation. You will not however be shown the in depth educational material CASA have produced to assist you in avoiding these problems. We used to rely on the ATSB ‘Crash Comic’ to do that, alas.
Take the FAA’s item 7 as an easily understood for example: Unintended flight into IMC.
The CASA rule is simple enough – don’t do it – 50 penalty points if you do. And yet it still happens despite the blood curdling legal penalties for doing so – strict liability etc. I’d bet many beers that almost every pilot has a ‘been there – done that’ story; very, very few of those tales would be a deliberate event, as in a deliberate, knowing, intended breach of the regulation. This event has claimed a lot more lives than any of the ‘competencies’ demanded by Part 61 have saved. Yet, apart from a few bits and pieces of ‘educational’ material CASA have not undertaken any sort of concerted program to drive the messages home, despite it being easily and inexpensively done; a video for example. It boils my blood when St. Comodey bangs on about how his decisions improve ‘safety’. The only safety he is ensuring is safe legal conviction – should you survive an unintended run in with low cloud and rising terrain. Pilots need weather understanding; flight planning expertise; a detailed knowledge of where the back door is and instrument flight competency to demonstrate a 180˚course reversal under the hood. Easy enough to dish up criminal penalties; wash you hands and walk away – but isn’t prevention better than cure?
When you plough your way through the massive Part 61 tick-a-box exercise of obtaining a licence, you have satisfied the outrageous demands made – like ‘engine starting’ (tick). This is one of the many absolutely bloody useless waste of time in 61. It actually is borderline funny – you only need to have this box ticked once – yet I can think of no less than three different ‘start’ techniques required (Normal, Hot and flooded) which can catch you out, then there’s hand starting and using a battery cart (GPU), then there’s the risk of a fuel fed fire or even an electrical one – but not to worry – your ‘Start’ box is ticked and you are now, officially, CASA safe. Bollocks..
Then you get the brilliance of Hood and the ATSB leading the way to safety Nirvana:-
ATSB – “Recreational gyrocopters experienced the highest fatal accident rate for any aircraft or operation type, whereas recreational balloon operations had the highest total accident rate; almost four times as high as any other aircraft operation type. There were no fatal accidents involving recreational balloons reported during the study period
Aeroplanes remain the most common aircraft type flown which is reflected in their involved in accidents. In 2016, nine of the 15 fatal accidents involved aeroplanes—three helicopters and two powered weight shift aircraft were also involved in fatal accidents”.
Brilliant work – ain’t it.
Toot – toot.
It’s amazing – there’s old Moses doing all the clever (safety related) stuff he managed with 10 rules he found laying about under a bush in the mountains. Think about the safety implications of leading a nation to freedom. Mind you Moses kicked it all off with a justifiable homicide and had to depart the fix – at speed. Well, he ambled about the planet for a while before bumping into a talking, burning bush – which told him to set free the slaves. Well Moses toddles off back home and told the Fairy he wanted his folk kicked loose – “Nah” said the Fairy. Moses warned the Fairy – fair and square - that nasty thing would happen should overtime and bonus not be paid or; he let the workers go; and they did. Well after a bit more pushing and shoving and some bloodshed; Fairy let the people go. Fairy, as all good tyrants do, reneged and chased Moses across the deserts until the Red sea stooped them: No problem, Moses split the sea asunder with a wave of his walking stick and all the lads and lasses scampered across, safe and dry, to safety. Without GPS, they wandered about lost for a while until Moses found a mountain and got, direct from god, via Amazon drone delivery – a couple of stone tablets with ten rules. Safety rules, writ by a deity - after the event.
You have to wonder how modern OH&S would view these events; a burning bush, desert travel, armed pursuers, and then walking across a sea bed, mountain climbing, bonfires, etc.
You have then to wonder what CASA would do with the ten, simple, deity scripted rules. Seriously, when you think about it, the same old killers have been dogging flight since the first one. Here is 15 years worth, from the experts, who still have an active industry to draw on for modelling:-
FAA - The Top 10 Leading Causes of Fatal General Aviation Accidents 2001-2016:
1 Loss of Control Inflight
2. Controlled Flight Into Terrain
3. System Component Failure – Power plant
4. Fuel Related
5. Unknown or Undetermined
6. System Component Failure – Non-Power plant
7. Unintended Flight In IMC
8. Midair Collisions
9. Low-Altitude Operations
10. Other
CASA have drafted a whole range of penalties which, should you have an accident which contain much in the way of clever legal wriggle room to make sure that as you lay dying in your hospital bed, you are aware of the criminal charges to be brought against you. It was your fault, end of. The beauty part is that CASA have no responsibility whatsoever for your situation. You will not however be shown the in depth educational material CASA have produced to assist you in avoiding these problems. We used to rely on the ATSB ‘Crash Comic’ to do that, alas.
Take the FAA’s item 7 as an easily understood for example: Unintended flight into IMC.
The CASA rule is simple enough – don’t do it – 50 penalty points if you do. And yet it still happens despite the blood curdling legal penalties for doing so – strict liability etc. I’d bet many beers that almost every pilot has a ‘been there – done that’ story; very, very few of those tales would be a deliberate event, as in a deliberate, knowing, intended breach of the regulation. This event has claimed a lot more lives than any of the ‘competencies’ demanded by Part 61 have saved. Yet, apart from a few bits and pieces of ‘educational’ material CASA have not undertaken any sort of concerted program to drive the messages home, despite it being easily and inexpensively done; a video for example. It boils my blood when St. Comodey bangs on about how his decisions improve ‘safety’. The only safety he is ensuring is safe legal conviction – should you survive an unintended run in with low cloud and rising terrain. Pilots need weather understanding; flight planning expertise; a detailed knowledge of where the back door is and instrument flight competency to demonstrate a 180˚course reversal under the hood. Easy enough to dish up criminal penalties; wash you hands and walk away – but isn’t prevention better than cure?
When you plough your way through the massive Part 61 tick-a-box exercise of obtaining a licence, you have satisfied the outrageous demands made – like ‘engine starting’ (tick). This is one of the many absolutely bloody useless waste of time in 61. It actually is borderline funny – you only need to have this box ticked once – yet I can think of no less than three different ‘start’ techniques required (Normal, Hot and flooded) which can catch you out, then there’s hand starting and using a battery cart (GPU), then there’s the risk of a fuel fed fire or even an electrical one – but not to worry – your ‘Start’ box is ticked and you are now, officially, CASA safe. Bollocks..
Then you get the brilliance of Hood and the ATSB leading the way to safety Nirvana:-
ATSB – “Recreational gyrocopters experienced the highest fatal accident rate for any aircraft or operation type, whereas recreational balloon operations had the highest total accident rate; almost four times as high as any other aircraft operation type. There were no fatal accidents involving recreational balloons reported during the study period
Aeroplanes remain the most common aircraft type flown which is reflected in their involved in accidents. In 2016, nine of the 15 fatal accidents involved aeroplanes—three helicopters and two powered weight shift aircraft were also involved in fatal accidents”.
Brilliant work – ain’t it.
Toot – toot.