Australian Aviation — January 2018

JANUARY-FEBRUARY2018 123

S

ignificant changes coming from

CASA are signalling – finally –

that the organisation is listening

and acting following a decade of

disappointments.

The announcement on aviation

medicine changes that will permit

aerial application pilots to operate

on a Class 2 medical is a significant

step forward in the way CASA is now

looking at risk and managing it.

While it won’t affect application

pilots who need their Class 1 medical to

fly charter, it is a very welcome change

in the process where CASA has heard

industry concerns, reviewed its own

practices, openly consulted and moved

forward with both safety and efficiency

as twin objectives.

In the same week, CASA Director of

Aviation Safety, Shane Carmody, also

wrote to AAAA recognising our Aerial

Improvement Management Systems

(AIMS) following a comprehensive

CASA review. He identified that “AIMS

supports improved safety outcomes”

and “exceeds current regulatory

requirements”.

CASA has also committed to

working with AAAA on our chief pilots

course as “an alternative means of

supporting assessment and approvals”.

The course is based on identified

competencies and aims to deliver skills

transfer to support chief pilots in aerial

application companies. AAAA looks

forward to delivering the new CASA-

recognised course as soon as possible,

as most of the materials are ready to go.

When these very positive initiatives

are combined with the new strategic

consultative mechanisms under the

CASA Aviation Safety Advisory Panel

(ASAP), it appears that the long hoped

for cultural shift within CASA is

gaining momentum.

TAAAF – of which AAAA is a

participant – recently developed and

put forward three policy papers to

ASAP on key priorities for industry,

including revitalising GA, addressing

ongoing training and licensing issues

and pushing major maintenance

sector reforms. TAAAF is now working

on new strategic papers addressing

additional critical issues ranging from

ATO/flight examiner indemnity to

establishing a policy hierarchy.

Not only is there now a clear

pathway to identifying industry

problems, but there is a coherent

means of developing remedies at a

high strategic level within CASA. That

change should not be underestimated.

Industry should not ignore the

significant changes going on in

CASA and should be offering every

encouragement to the Minister, the

CASA board, the DAS and senior

management to keep going – using

the powerful and positive systems now

emerging.

T

he helicopter industry, including
owners, operators, engineers,
pilots, aircrew and the vital
support teams, has become
so much part of the aviation and
community landscape that it can be
taken for granted. So much so that
it comes as a surprise to many that
Australia has the world’s second-largest
civil helicopter fleet.
Over the summer holidays while
many of us are enjoying the company
of family and friends, helicopters will
be tasked daily to fight fires, rescue
the lost and injured, transport crews
offshore, work with farmers and utility
companies, support law enforcement
agencies plus train our next generation
of pilots and engineers. These are just a
few of the many tasks that helicopters
perform around the clock.
The helicopter industry provides
continuous essential services to our
towns and cities. In the very worst

of weather it is only the helicopters

that can get through to the lost and

stranded, both on land and at sea.

Thanks to the industry’s

professionalism helicopters have been

embraced by Australians. Being the

most flexible of aviation platforms has

meant helicopters operate with few

complaints and are seen as a force for

good.

The industry’s relatively light

infrastructure footprint also meets

with almost universal community

approval, compared to the larger and

more complex requirements of most

commercial fixed-wing aircraft.

Helicopter operators are often based

in regional and remote environments

somewhat distant from the centres of

political power. The industry’s success

is therefore something of a double-

edged sword. It often does not have

much time to be a squeaky wheel

because it is focused on delivering vital

and timely services. In the past it was

sometimes in danger of being forgotten

for the perverse reason that it was

simply too busy to engage politically.

In recent years this has begun to

change. The Australian Helicopter

Industry Association (AHIA) has

become very active on behalf of its

members and the industry in general.

Its work on CASR Parts 61 and 138

remains a top priority. It is working

hard to make night firefighting a

reality. For many communities these

skills cannot come soon enough.

The pace of this policy and

regulatory development is increasing

as the industry grows and interacts

with new technologies such as rotary-

winged drones and tilt-rotors.

Rotary-winged aircraft are

experiencing technological change and

diversification that makes them the

aviation platforms of first choice for

many tasks.

‘The long

hoped for

cultural shift

within CASA

is gaining

momentum.’

‘In the very

worst of

weather it

is only the

helicopters

that can get

through.’

A new hope?

CASA is turning the corner

A force for good

Introducing the Australian Helicopter Industry Association

FIRE & AG

PHIL HURST

ROTOR TORQUE

PAUL TYRRELL

CEO - AHIA

AERIAL

AASSOCIATION OFPPLICATION

AUSTRALIA LTD.