The Directorate of Flying Safety - ADF and the Bureau of Air
Safety Investigation (ATSB) recommends that AusSAR, in conjunction
with the Civil Aviation Safety Authority and Airservices Australia,
develop appropriate separation standards for the safe operation of
aircraft involved in search and rescue operations.
CASA has advised AusSAR that it would not be feasible to achieve
an enforceable regime to enhance the safety of SAR aircraft
operations without adversely affecting search integrity. Instead
risks to search aircraft might be mitigated by the professionalism
of the aviators concerned and by controlling the environment
through the imposition of temporary Restricted Areas.
On the basis of that advice AusSAR is focusing primarily on
facilitating mutual separation by search aircraft operating in
uncontrolled airspace. Measures within AusSAR's control that are
already taken include pre-flight briefings to pilots about other
search aircraft and provision of on-scene communications support
through top cover aircraft.
Additionally, AusSAR's normal practice of assigning a single
aircraft to each search area, while used to ensure search
integrity, also serves to facilitate mutual separation. Similarly,
the practice of staggering adjacent search altitudes when
practicable also eases pilot workload for mutual separation so that
they may concentrate on flying accurate search patterns.
It should be noted, however, that neither of these practices is
mandatory in AusSAR's procedures. Aircraft will be tasked to
achieve the optimum search outcomes. For example, multiple
helicopters may occasionally be tasked to conduct a closely spaced
search of a single area. Staggering search altitudes is not
practicable over hilly terrain or where the staggered altitudes are
incompatible with visual detection of the target.
All of that having been said, it is not clear to AusSAR that the
risks associated with tasking large numbers of search aircraft to
operate in remote uncontrolled airspace and, implicitly, around
uncontrolled aerodromes have yet been adequately evaluated by CASA
or Airservices Australia. AusSAR maintains that such an evaluation
is warranted. Perhaps the imminent review of CASR Part 138 would be
a suitable vehicle to address this issue.
Liaison with CASA and Airservices on these matters will
continue.
ATSB note: This response was classified as MONITOR and was used
as support for the Bureau's further correspondence to the Civil
Aviation Safety Authority on this issue. As a result, AusSAR
submitted further correspondence on the issue on 22 June
2000.
Thank you for your letter regarding the matter of provision of
separation assurance for aircraft involved in search and rescue
operations.
As you are aware AusSAR also wrote to CASA and Airservices prior to
the finalisation of the ATSB report seeking their advice on this
issue. Our views on the matter were comprehensively explained in
our response to the initial ADF-DFS/ATSB draft report on the
incident.
AusSAR would be happy to participate in a working group in
cooperation with CASA and Airservices Australia. We look forward to
being informed of the venue and date.
