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Aviation History
2004
2004-02 - 0015.PDF
AIR TRANSPORT AIR TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT EMMA KELLY / PERTH Australian pilots intensify war on airspace initiative Petition to government started after furore over Tasmanian air safety incident Australian pilots and air traffic con trollers have started a petition to try to encourage the government to overturn the controversial National Airspace System (NAS) in the wake of another air safety inci dent which NAS opponents attribute to the airspace changes. The petition, started by a group calling itself Safeskies, says that the changes, implemented in late November, downgrade the safety level of Australia's airspace and pro vide no clear benefit to stakeholders. It states that the system is "flawed and failing in a number of key areas". These include reliance on see-and-avoid and on the traffic alert and collision avoidance sys tem (TCAS) as a first-response sepa ration tool; deficiencies in transponder use by visual flight rules and instrument flight rules air craft; verification of transponder accuracy; the depiction of correct frequencies on navigation charts; and a lack of radar coverage in Class E airspace, especially over Tasmania and Alice Springs. The petition calls for the Class E airspace procedures to be sus pended, Class C airspace to be restored and for area frequencies to be reinstated on navigation charts. It has been signed by around 1,000 pilots, but the government is adamant that the NAS will remain. The move follows an incident over Launceston, Tasmania late last month involving a Virgin Blue Boeing 737 and a Socata Tobago general aviation aircraft. The Virgin Blue 737 was descending through 1,000ft (300m) into Launceston when its TCAS was triggered by the Tobago. The incident is being inves tigated by Airservices Australia and the Australian Transportation Safety Bureau (ATSB). Late last year the ATSB deter mined that there was no infringe ment of separation standards and no near-miss during a similar incident in early December involv ing a Virgin Blue 737-800 and a Cessna 421. Airservices Australia says that the bulk of incidents in NAS airspace have not been serious safety occur rences and that separation break downs were common before the NAS was implemented. Air traffic controllers' union Civil Air and the Australian and International Pilots Association (AIPA), are continuing to demand changes, however. "AIPA is calling for the Class C airspace control steps to be changed to cater for the climb and descent profiles of com mercial passenger-carrying aircraft. We are also calling for the Class E airspace over non-radar Class D air traffic control towers such as Launceston to be replaced with Class C airspace," says Capt Richard Woodward, technical and safety director. • Australian aviation regulations and standards company Aviation Compliance Solutions (ACS) has become the first company in the Asia-Pacific region to be appointed as an audit organisation for the International Air Transport Association's Operational Safety Audit (IOSA). Melbourne-based ACS is the third IOSA audit organi sation, after Aviation Quality Services of Germany and the USA's United Airlines. ACS expects to conduct most of the IOSA work in the Asia-Pacific region. IOSA was introduced last year in an attempt to bring international operational standards to the airline industry. START-UP Virgin closes on US launch Virgin Group chairman Sir Richard Branson expects to finalise his strategy for the launch of a new US carrier within weeks. Branson, chairman of long- haul carrier Virgin Atlantic, has long held ambitions to add a US domestic arm to his operation. Speaking at the unveiling of the Virgin Atlantic-sponsored Global Flyer aircraft in Mojave earlier this month, Branson said he was "two to three weeks away" from deciding whether to link with an existing carrier or start up independently. 'We've got two sets of talks going on, one to take over a chunk of another airline's slots, and the other to launch from scratch as a start-up," he says. Discussions are ongoing with Airbus and Boeing about narrow- body equipment, with a deal envisaged last year for around 10-15 aircraft. Branson says these talks will be finalised once the number of aircraft is estab lished. Branson recently completed final interviews for the airline's chief executive in New York, and says the airline is still on course to be launched this year. Three bases have reportedly been shortlisted: Boston, Washington DC and San Francisco. www.flightinternational.com FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 20-26 JANUARY 2004 13
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