Safety authority to increase focus on training after study reveals better pilot preparation could have prevented crashes
Australia's Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) has launched a programme with the country's flight training industry to develop initiatives to improve the standard of flight training to reduce the numbers of general aviation accidents.
The move follows completion of a study by CASA and the Australian Transport Safety Bureau into GA fatal accidents in the country in the past 10 years. The study found that 43% of accidents were due to uncontrolled flight into terrain and 32% involved controlled flight into terrain. Poor flight planning, aircraft handling problems and fuel starvation and exhaustion are the main causes of GA accidents in Australia, the study found, with one or more of these factors contributing to nearly two-thirds of the 196 fatal GA accidents between 1991 and 2000.
"These are areas where pilot training can be used as a preventative weapon and CASA needs to find better methods of helping the industry deliver the most effective information and skills," says CASA chief executive Bruce Byron.
Byron told a meeting of the Royal Federation of Aero Clubs of Australia late last month that he plans to establish a panel of senior flight instructors and CASA personnel to establish practical ways to assist the flight training sector. The panel would look at revising the generic instructor's handbook and establishing a number of dedicated flying training specialist positions at CASA offices.
The campaign is part of an increased focus on safety Byron has introduced since he took over the CASA job four months ago. He has already put on hold release of new aviation safety rules to allow more industry consultation and ensure the regulations address known safety risks.
EMMA KELLY / PERTH
Source: Flight International
