'Unsafe' Hobart airport airspace for upgrade

[RooFlyer]

From the Oz (probably paywalled)

‘Unsafe’ airport in line for upgrade

The 'unsafe' bit in the headline is probably a bit of hyperbole, but it seems it was a word used by a HBA air traffic controller. I don't know what to think about the authorities' attitude to Hobart airport. Over the past year or so there has been a complete shermozzle when Air Services Australia changed the approach/departure corridors by fiat, without the local consultation that was required by the Act. The mayors simply got called in and informed about the changes (which took the corridors over populated areas). Big push back and ASA had to retreat.

Now, it looks like CASA is being dragged screaming into upgrading Hobart's airspace from Class D to class C - even though the airport's annual movements have been above the trigger level for a couple of years, at least.

Hobart Airport has had another spike in air safety breaches, as regulators finally accept calls to upgrade the city’s increasingly busy airspace.
Documents obtained under Freedom of Information laws show between the end of May and the end of July there were 15 occasions when aircraft, including passenger jets, breached altitude restrictions.

These “operational deviations” mean planes are not at the height they are supposed to be, and are no longer guaranteed safe separation from other aircraft. Airservices Australia said the incidents related to new set departure flight paths but none resulted in aircraft straying dangerously close to others.

“This was an anticipated transitional issue that did not involve any losses of separation or risk to safety,” a spokeswoman said.

Residents under the flight paths expressed alarm at the breaches, which follow a spate of more serious “loss of separation” incidents in the months after the flight paths — known as SIDs (standard instrument departures) and STARs (standard instrument arrivals) — were introduced in September 2017.

I don't know what the bit I put in bold means - "anticipated transitional issue" ??

Documents reveal the Civil Aviation Safety Authority has decided to give in to pressure from pilots, air traffic controllers and residents to upgrade Hobart’s airspace from “class D” to “class C”. This means satellite or radar surveillance is used to guide aircraft to the ground, rather than relying on “procedural control” by the local tower. It would bring Hobart into line with other capitals and busier regional centres.

The move has been resisted by CASA, but its latest review of Hobart airspace, completed in recent days, recommends Airservices submit a plan to make it happen “within 12 months”.

Hobart passenger movements increased by more than 400,000 to 2.7 million in the 12 months to February, 1.7 million above the trigger for an upgrade.

The CASA review finds 107 safety “occurrences” at Hobart between December 2016 and May this year, an increase it blames in part on aircraft failing to comply with SIDs and STARs height requirements. “There were some … where increased (aircraft) surveillance or changing the airspace classification may have prevented the incident,” it concludes. In one anonymous submission, a Hobart air traffic controller warns the current system is unsafe.

BTW the journo on this story isn't an aviation guy, he's the Oz's local correspondent, but usually reports pretty much down the line.

@AviatorInsight - what's your take on this? Are those separation breaches a bit of a yawn, as Airservices imply? What will the upgrade from D to C airspace mean for pilots and passengers?

 

[ric_melb]

Always interesting to see Rooflyer's updates on Hobart airport. By the passenger numbers it looks like the upgrade to Class C is well overdue. Upgrades at HBA to anything seem to happen at a glacial pace.

 

[AviatorInsight]

From the Oz (probably paywalled)

‘Unsafe’ airport in line for upgrade

The 'unsafe' bit in the headline is probably a bit of hyperbole, but it seems it was a word used by a HBA air traffic controller. I don't know what to think about the authorities' attitude to Hobart airport. Over the past year or so there has been a complete shermozzle when Air Services Australia changed the approach/departure corridors by fiat, without the local consultation that was required by the Act. The mayors simply got called in and informed about the changes (which took the corridors over populated areas). Big push back and ASA had to retreat.

Now, it looks like CASA is being dragged screaming into upgrading Hobart's airspace from Class D to class C - even though the airport's annual movements have been above the trigger level for a couple of years, at least.



I don't know what the bit I put in bold means - "anticipated transitional issue" ??




BTW the journo on this story isn't an aviation guy, he's the Oz's local correspondent, but usually reports pretty much down the line.

@AviatorInsight - what's your take on this? Are those separation breaches a bit of a yawn, as Airservices imply? What will the upgrade from D to C airspace mean for pilots and passengers?

I wouldn’t go as far as saying that the whole HBA airport is unsafe. There’s a few new restrictions on the SIDs and STARs that are catching a few pilots out. There’s an at or below on the KANLI 2 departure that means that if we get stuck down there it’s a low altitude level off which if you’re not in the right mode after take off you’ll go through it.

It seems to be more of a separation standard issue which according to the latest report from CASA, having it class C all the way down wouldn’t have prevented the breakdown in separation standards. They’ve just changed over the lower limit that Melbourne Centre controls us now and it’s down to 6500ft.

There’s a recommendation also to allow for continuous unrestricted climbs and descents also, so we’ll see what happens next month when the new charts become effective.

 

[RooFlyer]

They’ve just changed over the lower limit that Melbourne Centre controls us now and it’s down to 6500ft.

Thanks.

Is what you are saying that you are now under 'airspace' control to a lower altitude than before (now 6,500') and then under local tower control? If that's right, what does that mean in practice (for a layman )

 

[AviatorInsight]

Thanks.

Is what you are saying that you are now under 'airspace' control to a lower altitude than before (now 6,500') and then under local tower control? If that's right, what does that mean in practice (for a layman )

Correct, so we’re now under radar control a lot later in the descent/earlier in the climb. Once we’re under the tower’s control not much really changes. All they do is then separate us from Cambridge traffic and will clear us for the approach. They have a terrain awareness situational display radar but that can’t legally be used to separate traffic. We still need to report to tower crossing certain waypoints which then allows them to clear other traffic within their airspace.