Finally – a voice of reason.
P2 – “IMO this excellent submission basically sets the agenda not only for the public hearing but also for the whole inquiry, plus quite possibly for the Royal Commission/Judicial Inquiry that consequently would have to follow” etc. -
It was P2; our erstwhile skip diver and bin rummager who caught on to the fact that there was a hearing on the 14th.Inst. That being Thursday – seems St. Comodey inadvertently tipped him off, then the Secretariat had a lay day and; there was no peace, not for anyone until he found his bone. Remarkable researcher – what else could I say. He now offers us one of the best, honest, cash and bullshit, clearly defined submissions to a Senate session ever. Plain, concise and absolutely an example of the plain truth; writ by the experts without agenda or axe to grind. The drafted submission is provided by the very men and women who will be there when you are in mortal danger; not some plush arsed, overpaid bureaucrat who would rather cut his Mothers throat than risk getting the Armani suit singed, dragging your sorry arse out of an inferno.
Many of my friends (and possibly others) will tell you that I am not inclined toward asking for favours; let alone begging them; beseeching is out of the question and the very notion of ‘pleading’ is beyond my comprehension – however.
Cognisant as I am of the massive amounts of ’reading’ the Senators should do; I would, most respectfully ask that the committee due to ‘hear’ the evidence on Thursday, please, take the time to read, carefully, the UFUA submission – it is an accurate, comprehensive, no frills statement of the absolute facts. The statement also manages to convey exactly where the ultimate blame will come home to roost, should there ever be a major event and lives are lost because people like Halfwit and Comodey place the budget KPI benefits above life. One major incident will bring down a government; FDS Seaview nearly did and they had no ‘crispy critters’ on that ledger. ASA, ATSB and CASA are morally bankrupt, operationally inept and wool blind. They are also beyond any form of ‘governmental control, costing billions and failing in their duty of care. Time to reform the whole thing – start by retiring Aleck and firing, with malice aforethought Halfwit followed, by a ritual ‘tar and feathers' job on the Canary in the Hi-Viz vest and last, but not least – send St. Comodey to the next BRB indaba.
For your edification Senators, the following are essential hard points around which you cannot accept any blarney or compromise:-
“CASA is reluctant to investigate and act on the Airservices’ continual failure to provide and maintain the advertised Category at numerous aerodromes. This failure is a result of
utilising part of an operational ARFF crew (which are required to maintain Category at an
aerodrome), to respond off airport to domestic calls or performing non-operational
extraneous duties subsequent to reduced staffing availability, due to the lack of forward
planning. In this respect, CASA has failed in its role as a regulator, at least in terms of
ARFF.”
“Airservices are seemingly able to request exemptions from CASRs and other ICAO requirements easily. The following examples demonstrate the nature of these exemptions and highlight the potentially dire consequences for Australian air travellers. They also raise serious questions about CASA’s probity in its dealings with Airservices Australia:"
Recommendation 1: that the flawed methodology of using a threshold of passenger movements per year to determine the establishment of ARFF provision be reviewed for the purpose of replacing it with a system that provides greater ARFF coverage at more Australian Airports.
Like at ‘training aerodromes’ where the risks are much higher than the average. Qantas could afford one – to preserve their investment in training the next generation.
Recommendation 3: that minimum ARFF staffing levels at Australian airports be established through legislation rather than regulation or operational procedure. Any subordinate regulation should only address issues that do not relate to staffing levels or other critical factors.
Right there; in a nutshell, law verses ‘regulation’ writ to meet an agenda. No government control – yet is it not up to government to write ‘the law’?
Recommendation 4: That any review of CASR 139H Regulations or the MOS 139H be conducted by a steering committee of ARFF and firefighting experts, including the UFUA as the employee representative body for ARFF personnel.
About time some one who actually knows what they’re talking about was allowed to become involved. Who knows, we may even get some professional advice; as opposed to the CASA version based on inexperience.
Recommendation 7: That a Passenger Facilitation Charge be considered to fund and expand ARFF services in circumstances where there is insufficient funding from other sources.
Why? We waste millions on ASA, ATSB and CASA every year and achieve little to no increase in real ‘safety’. We get acres of manuals; trick loads of paperwork, millions of legal words which arrive – eventually, at the same conclusions we did almost 70 years ago. Nothing has changed that much.
But, for my money the quintessential argument rests on a very, very real safety issue.
“Approximately 38% of airline accidents that result in fatal injury occur on or near the ground: whilst parked, being towed or during taxiing (9%); take-off (7%); and landing (22%) (Boeing, 2018). Ground damage is an under-appreciated aviation safety hazard, as an aircraft full of fuel at the gate is akin to a bomb in a confined space (James, 1997). When an accident happens on the ground (while taxiing, take off, landing, etc), in most cases passengers survive. However, in some cases, the cabins can be overcome by fire or smoke before passengers can escape, requiring the timely intervention of ARFF personnel to ensure passenger survival.”
That’s a 38% chance of never leaving the ramp Senators; think about what the experts are saying; just ignore the standard autocratic rhetoric. Just reduce the ASA, ATSB and CASA budget by a percentage point and you will dramatically improve, in real terms, the ‘safety’ of the voting, tax paying public.
The Essendon accident and the piss poor ‘safety’ management of matters aeronautical generally demand, that you, as member of the elected Australian government,do your duty - and insist on a total overhaul of the expensive, autocratic, self serving and promoting bunch od miscreants, purpoting to ‘serve the Australian public. Bollocks they do. Ayup. A complete overhaul, an apology and perhaps some hefty criminal negligence penalties will do very nicely – Thank you.
That’s it. Rant over. Sound and fury abates as thirst prevails. You don’t realise how far down the Swanee we are, not until you’ve been away awhile – then it hits you - what a bloody awful mess we are in.
“Yes; at least two more here please –much to catch up with”.
![[Image: Untitled%2B2.jpg]](https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Cm_HajunJBQ/Vuc7mMGoOSI/AAAAAAAAISU/PLJPRoRPvKUtliZvp7KwgHIZKQm9J3TpQ/s1600/Untitled%2B2.jpg)
P2 – “IMO this excellent submission basically sets the agenda not only for the public hearing but also for the whole inquiry, plus quite possibly for the Royal Commission/Judicial Inquiry that consequently would have to follow” etc. -
It was P2; our erstwhile skip diver and bin rummager who caught on to the fact that there was a hearing on the 14th.Inst. That being Thursday – seems St. Comodey inadvertently tipped him off, then the Secretariat had a lay day and; there was no peace, not for anyone until he found his bone. Remarkable researcher – what else could I say. He now offers us one of the best, honest, cash and bullshit, clearly defined submissions to a Senate session ever. Plain, concise and absolutely an example of the plain truth; writ by the experts without agenda or axe to grind. The drafted submission is provided by the very men and women who will be there when you are in mortal danger; not some plush arsed, overpaid bureaucrat who would rather cut his Mothers throat than risk getting the Armani suit singed, dragging your sorry arse out of an inferno.
Many of my friends (and possibly others) will tell you that I am not inclined toward asking for favours; let alone begging them; beseeching is out of the question and the very notion of ‘pleading’ is beyond my comprehension – however.
Cognisant as I am of the massive amounts of ’reading’ the Senators should do; I would, most respectfully ask that the committee due to ‘hear’ the evidence on Thursday, please, take the time to read, carefully, the UFUA submission – it is an accurate, comprehensive, no frills statement of the absolute facts. The statement also manages to convey exactly where the ultimate blame will come home to roost, should there ever be a major event and lives are lost because people like Halfwit and Comodey place the budget KPI benefits above life. One major incident will bring down a government; FDS Seaview nearly did and they had no ‘crispy critters’ on that ledger. ASA, ATSB and CASA are morally bankrupt, operationally inept and wool blind. They are also beyond any form of ‘governmental control, costing billions and failing in their duty of care. Time to reform the whole thing – start by retiring Aleck and firing, with malice aforethought Halfwit followed, by a ritual ‘tar and feathers' job on the Canary in the Hi-Viz vest and last, but not least – send St. Comodey to the next BRB indaba.
For your edification Senators, the following are essential hard points around which you cannot accept any blarney or compromise:-
“CASA is reluctant to investigate and act on the Airservices’ continual failure to provide and maintain the advertised Category at numerous aerodromes. This failure is a result of
utilising part of an operational ARFF crew (which are required to maintain Category at an
aerodrome), to respond off airport to domestic calls or performing non-operational
extraneous duties subsequent to reduced staffing availability, due to the lack of forward
planning. In this respect, CASA has failed in its role as a regulator, at least in terms of
ARFF.”
“Airservices are seemingly able to request exemptions from CASRs and other ICAO requirements easily. The following examples demonstrate the nature of these exemptions and highlight the potentially dire consequences for Australian air travellers. They also raise serious questions about CASA’s probity in its dealings with Airservices Australia:"
Recommendation 1: that the flawed methodology of using a threshold of passenger movements per year to determine the establishment of ARFF provision be reviewed for the purpose of replacing it with a system that provides greater ARFF coverage at more Australian Airports.
Like at ‘training aerodromes’ where the risks are much higher than the average. Qantas could afford one – to preserve their investment in training the next generation.
Recommendation 3: that minimum ARFF staffing levels at Australian airports be established through legislation rather than regulation or operational procedure. Any subordinate regulation should only address issues that do not relate to staffing levels or other critical factors.
Right there; in a nutshell, law verses ‘regulation’ writ to meet an agenda. No government control – yet is it not up to government to write ‘the law’?
Recommendation 4: That any review of CASR 139H Regulations or the MOS 139H be conducted by a steering committee of ARFF and firefighting experts, including the UFUA as the employee representative body for ARFF personnel.
About time some one who actually knows what they’re talking about was allowed to become involved. Who knows, we may even get some professional advice; as opposed to the CASA version based on inexperience.
Recommendation 7: That a Passenger Facilitation Charge be considered to fund and expand ARFF services in circumstances where there is insufficient funding from other sources.
Why? We waste millions on ASA, ATSB and CASA every year and achieve little to no increase in real ‘safety’. We get acres of manuals; trick loads of paperwork, millions of legal words which arrive – eventually, at the same conclusions we did almost 70 years ago. Nothing has changed that much.
But, for my money the quintessential argument rests on a very, very real safety issue.
“Approximately 38% of airline accidents that result in fatal injury occur on or near the ground: whilst parked, being towed or during taxiing (9%); take-off (7%); and landing (22%) (Boeing, 2018). Ground damage is an under-appreciated aviation safety hazard, as an aircraft full of fuel at the gate is akin to a bomb in a confined space (James, 1997). When an accident happens on the ground (while taxiing, take off, landing, etc), in most cases passengers survive. However, in some cases, the cabins can be overcome by fire or smoke before passengers can escape, requiring the timely intervention of ARFF personnel to ensure passenger survival.”
That’s a 38% chance of never leaving the ramp Senators; think about what the experts are saying; just ignore the standard autocratic rhetoric. Just reduce the ASA, ATSB and CASA budget by a percentage point and you will dramatically improve, in real terms, the ‘safety’ of the voting, tax paying public.
The Essendon accident and the piss poor ‘safety’ management of matters aeronautical generally demand, that you, as member of the elected Australian government,do your duty - and insist on a total overhaul of the expensive, autocratic, self serving and promoting bunch od miscreants, purpoting to ‘serve the Australian public. Bollocks they do. Ayup. A complete overhaul, an apology and perhaps some hefty criminal negligence penalties will do very nicely – Thank you.
That’s it. Rant over. Sound and fury abates as thirst prevails. You don’t realise how far down the Swanee we are, not until you’ve been away awhile – then it hits you - what a bloody awful mess we are in.
“Yes; at least two more here please –much to catch up with”.