Sir - After reading the article "Locator rule irks Australian AOPA" (Flight International, 8-14 November, P26), I ought to point out that the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) of Australia does not want a compulsory global-positioning system (GPS). What it does say is that the GPS has proved to be vastly more effective as a means of reducing search costs in Australia than emergency locator transmitters (ELTs) ever will.
The "Velcro-fit" GPS, although not approved for anything, has become the major means of aircraft navigation in Australia's outback. It is therefore a rare event now for an aircraft to be lost and, if an aircraft is forced to land in the outback, the crew is usually able to make a Mayday call, including their precise position.
The Australian regulator has a history of prescribing the smallest details of how flights will be carried out. It also has an outstanding track record of confusing activity with achievement. The requirement for compulsory ELTs falls into this category. ELTs have been compulsory in remote areas (the majority of the country) for 30 years. Although 60% of the Australian general-aviation fleet is fitted with ELTs, neither the regulator nor AOPA is aware of any instance where the survivor of an accident says that a fitted ELT saved his/her life. By contrast, there are numerous survivors who have said: "My portable ELT saved my life." The requirement to fit C91A ELTs will generate a huge amount of activity, but there is no practical evidence to suggest that, in Australia, it is likely to achieve anything.
AOPA Australia does not support compulsory GPS. It supports the freedom to fly responsibly - the pilot having the responsibility to choose, for example, whether the safety dollar is better spent on a GPS, an ELT, or on instrument flying training, to reduce the risk of exposure to that very worst of serial killers, visual-flight-rules, flight into instrument meteorological conditions.
Source: Flight International
