Reference number
AR201800038
Date reported
Published date
Mode
Affected operation/industry
Concern subject type
Concern summary

The absence of updated airspace information affects flight crew’s ability to conduct accurate pre-flight planning.

Reporter's deidentified concern

The reporter has expressed a safety concern regarding the late delivery of [Provider] Australia Revisions.

The reporter stated that Revisions are frequently late, delivered out of Revision (date) order, or not delivered at all.

In 2017, [Provider] Revision Number [xx-xx] (29 DEC 2017) was delivered; however, Revision Number [xx-x] arrived a few weeks later. More recently, Revision [x] (23 March 2018) was received on 20 March 2018 [envelope stamped 16/03/2018], but Revision [x] (09 March 2018) was received on 28 March 2018 [envelope stamped 26/03/2018], two weeks past the Revision date.

The reporter is concerned that the absence of updated information is affecting flight crew’s ability to undertake accurate pre-flight planning and assessment. This results in unnecessary increased workload, for both flight crew and Air Traffic Controllers during critical phases of flight.

Named party's response

The Revisions provider did not respond to the Repcon.

Regulator's response

CASA conducts regular surveillance on [Provider] as it is a certified CASR Part 175 data service provider. The information provided in the REPCON will be passed to CASA’s certificate management team prior to their next surveillance event of the certificate holder.

ATSB comment

The ATSB replied to CASA’s response requesting further detail on the surveillance event. CASA provided the following response:

  • The next surveillance of [Provider] is scheduled for the week starting 29 October 2018.
  • The circumstance regarding [Provider’s] non-delivery / late delivery of their document Revisions will be examined at that forthcoming surveillance event and if appropriate, a safety finding can be made.
  • The lack of a response from [Provider] to the ATSB REPCON will be a discussion point between CASA’s surveillance team and [Provider’s] accountable manager, at the forthcoming surveillance event.