Limitations of the See-and-Avoid
Principle
The following recommendations were issued as part of the BASI
Research Report - "Limitations of the See-and-Avoid Principle",
1991. At the time of the issue of that report the six
recommendations were not assigned formal recommendation numbers. To
facilitate publication of the recommendations and the responses to
them, they have been entered into the OASIS database. As a result,
the recommendation numbers assigned to them do not reflect the
actual recommendation issue date, rather the date that they were
entered.
Safety Recommendation
The CAA should require white strobes rather than red rotating
beacons to assist visbility when the aircraft appears against dark
backgrounds.
Note: The Recommendation was issued to the [then] Civil Aviation
Authority (CAA) in 1991.
CASA feels that rotating beacons and strobe lights should be
used whenever an aircraft is airborne or is taking off, landing, or
taxying or being towed (including temporarily stopped while being
towed) on an active runway. Pilots are not always able to assess
when the display of these lights is effective, so CASA recommends
their use on every flight.
CASA does not accept this recommendation. Whilst it is
acknowledged that there are some circumstances in which visibility
would be enhanced by the use of white strobe lights in place of red
rotating beacons there would only be a marginal reduction in the
level of risk when taken in the total context of collision
avoidance strategies. CASA would not be able to sustain with
industry, the argument for such equipage on a demonstrable cost
benefit basis.
