Drew McKinnie
Safety Manager
Engagement and Dialogue
Thank you to all members who have supported our Skyward Summit Safety Seminars in Brisbane, Perth, Murray Bridge and Camden, plus a mini-seminar at Lake Keepit. I look forward to a Victorian event in the new year. These face-to-face gatherings have been open to all members and addressed a wide variety of Gliding Australia development and safety topics. To all presenters and organisers, well done and huge thanks.
We have addressed safety priorities and plans (more on this later), safety occurrence trends, operations and airworthiness safety focus issues, personal safety and integrity, mixed operations with other airspace users, Flarm use and tests, cross-country and performance flying, training system changes, Part 149 implications, safety culture changes, education and awareness topics, and of course, hot issues like responses to Pawnee airworthiness directives. These sessions have also provided excellent opportunities for networking and dialogue with key people, engagement with CASA, alignment of plans and fostering cooperative effort.
I came away from these events with a greater appreciation of the enormous efforts many members are making to better educate and encourage pilots, build better standards and practices, and share lessons and concerns. I appreciate the follow-on discussions that have occurred, and efforts to spread news and insights among club members. Good on you!
CASA staff attended some seminars and some safety awareness materials. We appreciate their support in hosting an Aviation Safety Webinar online in September, when Cath Conway and I presented a session on sharing the air safely with gliders and sailplanes to a wide aviation audience. We sought to build awareness of how and where we fly, our limitations and capabilities, situational awareness, cross country, circuit and flight planning issues.
This is available online on YouTube: tinyurl.com/4fnxfzrm
We are also presenting at the Safeskies 2024 conference on sharing the air challenges, plus consulting leading aviation human factors experts at the PACDEFF conference. This engagement helps keep gliding in the minds of key aviation decision-makers and officials and brings insights we will use to improve our training systems.
Pawnee Airworthiness and Safety
I commend the efforts of many dedicated people in airworthiness circles who have been working so hard to negotiate with CASA, LAMEs, local aerospace industry, South American Authorities and others associated with the Pawnee wing spar corrosion and cracking Airworthiness Directive and Service Bulletins.
As SM I have supported Chair of Airworthiness and Executive Manager Airworthiness on airworthiness issues and safety risk, reviewing analyses and technical documents, trying to resolve Special Flight Permits. I have worked with Chair of Operations and Executive Manager Operations on operations safety issues arising from alternative launch methods, winch operations, currency, flight reviews and training aspects. I have supported the Board Chair and CEO on enterprise risks, strategic communications, draft submissions, timeline of key issues and decisions, and feedback on issues of member concern. The GA team's efforts have seen some clarifications from CASA senior managers, allowing alternative methods of compliance.
I have high confidence in the integrity of decisions and risk assessments, airworthiness and operations judgements being applied by Gliding Australia officials. Much more work is ongoing, developing options for spar and wing replacement, testing procedures, cooperation with overseas authorities, and better options for Pawnee airworthiness support.
Safety Priorities
Our current safety priorities in terms of occurrences and preventive strategies, approved by the Executive, Board and CASA, are:
Aircraft / Glider Control
Aircraft / Glider Separation and Collision
Runway Events
Airframe Occurrences
Terrain Collision / Hard Landing Events
Gliding Australia has supported the Victorian Coroner in relation to the Mount Beauty Grob G109B fatal accident (Aircraft / Glider Control), the Queensland Coroner on the Gympie Astir and LSA fatal accident (Aircraft / Glider Separation and Collision), and the Australian Transport Safety Bureau for their investigations into the Caboolture Pawnee and Jabiru fatal accident (Aircraft / Glider Separation and Collision, and Runway Events). Gliding Australia has also responded to formal CASA inquiries regarding low flying (Inflight Operations Management), and failure of a glider tailplane in a hard landing (Airframe Occurrence).
Other occurrence categories of increasing concern are:
Ground handling accidents
Glider towplane occurrences
Competition finish safety (including straight-in approaches and training)
Breakdowns in situational awareness
Traffic overflights in gliding circuit and competition areas
FLARM defects and poor performance
Training System Improvements
Safety priorities therefore drive high priority work on the following training systems issues:
Training unit on Straight-In Approaches, Competition Finish and Energy Management
Training units on Wave Soaring and Ridge Soaring
Training on situational awareness aids, including awareness of FLARM testing, performance monitoring, updates, limitations, plus the risks of misuse of situational awareness aids, fixation on In Flight Distraction Devices (IFDDs).
Other Training Safety Priorities
Other training safety priorities include aerobatics training to implement a new Gliding Aerobatics manual, including improved flight limitations and safety awareness. Instructor training projects include
Accident investigation, causal analysis
RMO, L3, CFI training and awareness
Instructing methods training, human factors awareness
Improving standards in basic training – stability, control, lookout
Keeping the Fun in training, motivation and performance flying experience
Other Important Work
Other important work planned for 2025 and beyond includes:
Improved SOAR, SDR and Safety Reporting systems, improved feedback and process management, including better investigation of operations and airworthiness crossovers.
Integrated independent safety review system supported by club self-audits, safety intervention audits as required
Improving packs of pilot education and awareness material on safety topics, online resources
Webinars and video resources on gliding operations safety, education of other aviators
Building Positive safety culture (Just Culture plus Reporting, Questioning, Learning, Flexibility)
Links with European Gliding Union, Overseas gliding associations, safety working groups
Representing members and clubs interests on rule changes, airspace change proposals, supporting Gliding Australia efforts on technical working groups
Update of Emergency Response Plans, guidance to clubs.
As a closing comment, most of the real safety outcomes we achieve, come through the efforts and vigilance of volunteers in gliding organisations and clubs. I appreciate the contributions of all who volunteer to help their club colleagues. Teamwork matters. I am working to encourage and better support advocacy and volunteer support in the gliding community. Well done and thank you.