Australia’s three major aviation agencies will host a safety forum at the 2019 Australian International Airshow at Avalon.
To be held on Thursday February 28 2019, the inaugural FlySafe 2019 forum is a partnership between Airservices Australia, the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) and the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA).
The aim of the one-day event is to enhance aviation safety through discussing and exploring a range of issues with experts from all three organisations, the trio said in a joint statement.
Airservices chief executive Jason Harfield, ATSB chief commissioner Greg Hood and CASA chief executive and director of aviation safety Shane Carmody are all due to speak at the conference.
Other speakers include the director of the Defence Flight Safety Bureau Group Captain Nigel Ward and New Zealand Transport Accident Investigation Commission chief commissioner Jane Meares.
There will also be a session that talks through a hypothetical accident at a busy airport to consider the role Airservices, ATSB and CASA play in such a scenario.
Carmody said FlySafe 2019 represented a unique opportunity for the aviation industry.
“CASA is committed to maintaining Australia’s strong aviation safety record through improvements to regulations, effective consultation with industry and working together with other aviation agencies,” Carmody said in a statement.
“At FlySafe 2019 the aviation industry will have the opportunity to address and confront safety issues, and hear how the three agencies will continue to work together to improve aviation safety in Australia.”
In December 2018, the ATSB published its annual Australian Aviation Safety Statistics report, which showed that there were 40 fatalities in the aviation sector in 2017, up from 21 fatalities in the prior year.
The report showed commercial operations experienced 14 fatalities from 21 accidents, while there were 21 fatalities from 93 accidents in general aviation. The remaining five fatalities were in the regional aviation sector, which recorded 53 accidents in 2017.
There were also 32 serious injuries and 173 minor injuries recorded in 2017, compared with 35 and 130, respectively, in the prior year.
The report said there were 203 aircraft involved in a serious incident in 2017. (A serious incident is defined as an incident with a high probability of an accident.)
Hood said the ATSB regularly investigated aviation accidents involving poor decision making and risk management.
“We regularly see accidents repeated – fatal accidents which could have quite easily been avoided – it is incredibly tragic and very frustrating,” Hood said.
“There are valuable safety lessons to be learned for the whole of industry from our investigations, and I look forward to discussing a range of safety matters with the attendees at FlySafe 2019.”
Harfield said he would provide FlySafe 2019 with an update on the current developments in air traffic management safety, including on the Onesky project that aims to replace the currently separate civil and Defence air traffic management systems with a single program.
“Australia’s aviation safety scorecard is the envy of the world, and we continue to innovate and improve in order to maintain this proud legacy,” Harfield said.
“It is crucial we do this, so the industry grows safely and efficiently in the years to come.”
More details on FlySafe 2019 can be found on the airshow website.
