Hot but handled

HOT BUT HANDLED BUSHFIRES, SMOKE AND TURBULENCE

In recent months, serious or fatal accidents have occurred to a number of pilots operating not only RAAus aircraft but a range of light aircraft. A common factor in many of these accidents appears to involve pilots struggling to control their aircraft due to un-forecast or more challenging conditions than expected. At this time of year, during spring, throughout summer and even into autumn, a range of weather issues are relevant. These include increased thermal activity, strong winds resulting in turbulence on the lee side of mountains, fire activity resulting in significant smoke and dust storms due to the drought. These issues create significant visibility challenges. We wrote about many of the weather issues in a recent member eNews “Spring Fever”. So why are we revisiting this now? Because these weather related decision making challenges are not going to go away and in fact will probably become even more challenging during the next few months. It also appears pilots will be dealing with significant smoke from the tragic bush fires in many states in Australia. Residual smoke haze and smog will be hanging around and will significantly reduce visibility in the circuit and away from airports, potentially increasing the risk of near misses, collisions and loss of Visual Meteorological Conditions (VMC). Pilots also must carefully plan when operating near bushfires as extensive use of drones, water dropping aircraft flying at low level and fire spotting assessment aircraft in poor visibility and turbulent conditions increase the challenges. There are ongoing Notice to Airmen (NOTAMs) advising pilots of the increased activity levels in the vicinity of any fire. These NOTAMs are buried deep in the area briefing for both Melbourne and Brisbane Flight Information Regions (FIR). Careful flight planning to avoid these areas is another additional consideration to factor in before flying in the next few months. NOTAMs confirm there will be intense activity (aircraft, drones, unusual low level flights, etc.) within 5 nm and up to 3000 FT Above Ground Level (AGL) of an observed fire. As there is generally lots of smoke in these areas, the

specific fire location can be difficult to determine by pilots, so avoidance of a larger area is wise. Coordination of these firefighting aircraft is through the relevant state fire authority, so ATC may not be aware of specific aircraft types and their operational intentions, making this an even greater challenge.

In real terms, smoke can suddenly envelop your aircraft, resulting in what was manageable conditions deteriorating extremely rapidly into non-VMC. Consider also if your aircraft is operating in or around these environments there will be maintenance considerations regarding potential blockage of air filters, engine wear and damage due to ash, smoke and debris. So what do pilots need to do? How can pilots help themselves in these stressful situations? Pilots finding themselves in any difficulty during any flight should consider a range of resources or actions which are available to them. These include: • Alternative area and aerodrome radio frequencies in your plan • Declaring a PAN on the local CTAF or if relevant, Area frequency • If close to controlled airspace, requesting assistance from ATC • If operationally necessary to ensure the safety of the flight, decide early to divert to a controlled airspace aerodrome and land to wait out the conditions • Call other pilots to confirm visibility at locations • Be prepared to turn around 180° to exit an area when a sudden change in visibility occurs • Use any lighting available on your aircraft to make your aircraft more visible • Activate Personal Locating Beacons (PLBs) while still in flight to alert resources about a stressful situation if you find yourself in smoke or serious non-VMC • In summary, ask for help Regardless of the action, the key message for this article is for pilots to consider and plan what their responses or actions may be, as an action plan well before finding themselves in a difficult situation. It is hard enough to dial up alternate radio frequencies while experiencing turbulence, but to try to reference En-Route Supplement Australia (ERSA) in flight to find out what frequency is needed presents an extra degree of difficulty. Placing pre-prepared actions in the front of mind will help pilots’ workload considerably if they find themselves in challenging conditions. RAAus was recently invited to provide a presentation to a RAAF Aviation Safety Officer conference in Williamtown. While interacting with RAAF personnel we were pleased to have controllers confirm our understanding that they

would prefer pilots contact them for assistance when experiencing the sorts of in-flight flight conditions noted above, even if they are not qualified to operate into controlled airspace. One officer noted, “we would rather get the pilot down safely and deal with non-compliances later, than hear about a pilot being injured or worse because they wouldn’t talk to us”. RAAus was informed about two recent examples, not always related to RAAus pilots. One pilot was obviously struggling with turbulence inflight, to the extent he could not manage to change frequencies when requested by the tower to contact approach and the other was from a pilot who was operating over cloud, became unsure of his position and contacted ATC. They coordinated with a local military airfield who provided guidance to the airfield. The pilots were able to safely complete their flights and resume their respective journeys once conditions had improved. A far better outcome than a loss of control due to flight in cloud or severe turbulence! From RAAus perspective it is far better for pilots in difficulty to safely arrive at an aerodrome, with assistance from controllers as required, than worry about not entering controlled airspace. The pilot may subsequently receive some phone calls to explain their planning actions but at least they will be alive to do so! Of course, pilots should not view this as blanket permission to stroll into controlled airspace, but rather remember this is a flight option available to them if wind, thermal activity, smoke, fog, dust or other issues result in a potential loss of control of the aircraft. The final word should be as recreational pilots, sometimes the best strategy to remove the need to make any of these difficult inflight decisions, is to make the decision not to fly at all. Tomorrow is another day and it is better to be on the ground wishing you were in the air, than in the air wishing you were on the ground. The Ops Team.