Australia Launches New Pilot Safety Campaign

Australia’s Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA), in conjunction with the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB), Australian Maritime Safety Authority, Airservices Australia, the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) and aviation industry bodies, has launched a new national air safety education campaign.

The new campaign, “Your Safety is in Your Hands”, is designed to encourage pilots in the country to keep up to date with aviation safety developments, refresh their knowledge and invest in their ongoing development, with the ultimate aim of maintaining safety.

The campaign was developed with input from local pilots and uses incident occurrence data from the ATSB to highlight areas of concern, with air navigation service provider Airservices Australia and BOM providing information and resources on operating at controlled aerodromes and navigating weather and forecasting. The safety resources and information are available via a new pilot safety hub established by CASA, which includes webinars, podcasts, videos and products designed to enhance pilot safety.

“With the help from the ATSB, we’ve been able to build our campaign and safety topics based on accident and incident data,” says CASA chief executive officer and director of aviation safety, Pip Spence. “Each quarter we will focus on a new safety topic with information and online resources available through the new CASA pilot safety hub,” Spence adds.

CASA is working with local industry bodies, including the Australian Helicopter Industry Association (AHIA) and Recreational Aviation Australia to make pilots aware of the safety resources and spread important safety messages. AHIA chief executive, Paul Tyrell says his organisation supports the campaign and is looking to encourage its members to be engaged. “Helicopter pilots face similar risks to traditional fixed wing pilots and we welcome any activity or initiative to encourage pilots, no matter what their aircraft type, to think about safety,” he says.

Launch of the campaign comes as the ATSB continues to investigate and release reports on a number of recent aviation accidents and incidents, including the in-flight break-up of a Bell 206L1 Long Ranger in Maroota, New South Wales, in July; the collision with terrain following engine failure involving a Robinson R22 in Queensland earlier this month; collision with terrain of a Bell Long Ranger in Kosciuszko National Park, NSW, in April; a collision with water during a marine pilot transfer in Western Australia involving an Airbus Helicopters EC135 in March 2018; and the collision with terrain of an Airbus Helicopters EC130 at Mount Disappointment in Victoria in March.