Article supplied by CASA

CASA is urging travellers to follow the rules and show consideration to airline and airport staff as well as each other during the upcoming school holidays.

To ensure safety and respect when travelling by air during this term break and beyond, we’re supporting the ‘No More Carry On’ campaign.

It’s a call for patience and preparedness as travellers, airline crew and airport teams once again face a peak in airline travel.

‘We’re really pleased to be involved again in this important safety initiative,’ says CASA CEO and Director of Aviation Safety Pip Spence.

‘We understand and appreciate people are excited to be travelling again ¬– especially during these school holidays – and that’s evident by just how full flights currently are.

‘But passengers need to be mindful they may sometimes face long waiting queues, flight delays, and missing baggage. And while that can be frustrating, it’s no excuse for bad behaviour towards airport and airline staff or other passengers.

‘It’s also against the law to behave in an offensive or disorderly manner on board an aircraft, or to disregard the safety instructions of airline crew.

‘Harmful and unruly behaviour puts everyone’s safety at risk and can disrupt the important safety duties of airline crew, cause distractions during critical phases of flight and jeopardise the safety of other passengers.

‘As the aviation safety regulator, our role is to help ensure that when passengers and crew board a plane they get to their destination safely. We want everyone flying these school holidays travelling or working in a safe environment.

‘Under our aviation safety rules substantial penalties can be imposed for offensive or disorderly behaviour on board an aircraft and for failing to comply with any safety-related instructions. This can include fines of up to $15,650 (per offence) and in some cases up to 2 years’ imprisonment.

‘So please don’t take your frustrations out on staff or other passengers.

‘While on board we also encourage you to listen to the safety briefings and follow all airline crew directions and requests.

‘Once again, we strongly support this campaign and we really want you to enjoy these school holidays and travel safely, wherever your exiting destination may be.

More information is available on the A4ANZ website.

Article supplied by CASA

Director of Aviation Safety, Pip Spence

Getting young people interested in aviation and developing the expertise of those already in the industry is crucial to the wellbeing of our sector.

Every incentive helps so I was pleased to be able to announce at the recent Safeskies conference in Canberra that we are offering a new scholarship program for safety managers.

These are people who play a crucial role in maintaining our safety record and we will be offering 3 scholarships worth up to $5000 each to help them increase their knowledge and skills through professional development.

We are encouraging safety managers who are committed to the development of a healthy aviation safety culture to apply.

More specifically, we are looking for people with a minimum of 2 years’ industry experience who use their initiative and display a high standard of aptitude and leadership.

They must also be working in a key aviation position, or have worked in one previously, and if you’re in this category I would encourage you to apply.

We believe this this a great opportunity to help successful individuals build their aviation expertise in the same way our engineering scholarships have benefitted promising Aircraft Maintenance Engineers (AMEs).

We announced 5 recipients of the engineering scholarship at the Rotortech Conference in May this year. We received more than 100 high-quality applications and the winners from Queensland, New South Wales and Western Australia demonstrated a commitment to achieving the highest professional standards in their chosen fields.

Article supplied by CASA

Director of Aviation Safety, Pip Spence Are you up to date with the latest aviation safety developments? Do you want to refresh your knowledge or enhance your piloting skills?

We’re giving pilots a terrific way to invest in their ongoing development through a new national campaign backed by government agencies and aviation industry groups.

The campaign drives home the important message ‘your safety is in your hands’ and draws together a wealth of important pilot safety information on a new online hub.

Resources such as webinars, podcasts, videos and other safety-enhancing products are available in one easily accessible forum we believe will be an invaluable source for the piloting community.

In developing the campaign, we drew on research into pilot attitudes to safety information from CASA and other sources, as well as Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) occurrence data.

Our research showed that most pilots found that educational resources produced by CASA were helpful, but they were not always aware they existed or knew where to find them.

Safety topics are based on ATSB accident and incident data and we will focus on a new theme each quarter, starting last month with non-controlled aerodromes.

This is a significant and always relevant subject that emphasises the importance of radio calls, planning and situational awareness.

You can find useful tips from experts in informative videos demonstrating best practices in these and other key areas.

The campaign will run through to July next year and topics in future quarters will focus on forecasting and navigating weather, flight planning and using controlled aerodromes.

Our thanks go to Airservices Australia and the Bureau of Meteorology for contributing information and resources on operating at controlled aerodromes and forecasting and navigating weather.

Additional help came from the Australian Maritime Safety Authority and industry bodies such as Recreational Aviation Australia and the Australian Helicopter Industry Association.

The associations will be helping to get the message out to members and we are particularly keen to see rotary wing pilots use these resources after a number of accidents this year.

We are providing resources to help the associations and local flying schools encourage involvement, particularly from recreational and private pilot licence holders.

This pilot group believes it is extremely important to keep up to date with developments in aviation safety and has positive views about aviation standards.

We want to reinforce the concept that safety is in their hands, as well as the importance of thinking ahead and maintaining their skills.

However, the importance of the campaign’s message cannot be underestimated for those who are more qualified.

While CASA provides the framework for maintaining Australia’s safety, it is also a matter of individual responsibility.

We can all get blasé about any function we perform over a lengthy period but in aviation nonchalance can be fatal.

Flight Safety Australia has published many sad stories where the worst has happened as well as numerous articles where veteran pilots urge colleagues to refresh and update their knowledge throughout their careers.

Pilots owe it to themselves to check out these resources and I hope as many as possible do so.

All the best,

Pip